• By Andy Flower
• Published 11/8/2012

In a traditional life insurance set up, applying for an insurance policy and getting the necessary coverage involves a number of different stages. This often makes it a long and elaborate process. In a conventional paper-based manual arrangement, the steps involved in the insurance application processing include the following.

1. The potential customer seeks the advice of an intermediary, i.e. an agent or a broker, for finding a suitable policy to apply for
2. The potential customer fills up the application form and provides details regarding his/her lifestyle and medical history
3. The underwriters working for the insurance company complete the risk assessment based on the details in the application
4. The insurance company requests further details about the applicant and arranges for a medical check up, if necessary
5. The insurance company accepts the application and issues the policy terms and conditions for the applicant

The approach is a little different in the case of Tele-underwriting. In this method, a telephone interview is used to collect the data from the applicant. This data is required to complete the risk assessment. The call centre representatives or health care executives working for the insurance company gather these details in the telephone interview.

The questions to be asked of an applicant in the telephone interview are determined by the automated underwriting engine. This depends on the product or policy that the individual has applied for. The answers to the basic questions decide whether in-depth questions on a specific point are necessary.

For example, if you answer that you have diabetes, the automated underwriting system may require you to answer further questions regarding this particular health condition. This may include questions about how long you had this condition, how severe is the condition, what medications you require and whether someone else in your family has diabetes.

It is much easier to collect all relevant details regarding an applicant from the telephone interview. It saves on the cost and time of arranging for medical tests and checkups. Moreover, there is no necessity to involve human underwriters as the underwriting system can arrive at decisions based on the data collected from the applicant.

It is also possible to automate the entire underwriting process. The increasing competition and the continuing changes in the business environment make it necessary to focus on enhancing product quality and speed and accuracy of the service. Automating the underwriting process will enable your company to achieve this objective.

The automated risk assessment process speeds up the application process and reduces costs. The dependence on traditional medical evidence is also eliminated with this. Along with this, automated underwriting also frees professional underwriters from repetitive tasks; they can invest their skills into productive tasks such as product planning.

The self-service portals used for automated underwriting solutions also make the process easier for the customers and intermediaries. The decisions arrived at by the use of the system is free from errors and inconsistencies, which is a problem with the manual process. Using new distribution channels is possible with the use of this solution.

Author Bio

Andy Flower is a professional underwriter. He provides a brief overview of the ways in which manual, Tele and automated underwriting system works. If you are looking for more information regarding rapid issue insurance underwriting, he suggests you to visit http://automation.munichre.com/ for further details.

Hello, myself Andy Flower. I am an Author and doing the same for a long time. To know more about me…..please visit my website!!!!