As insurance products develop in the Ukrainian market, each insurance company hires underwriters to assess risks when creating new products or introducing new prices. Below, we will take a closer look at these concepts.
Concepts and definitions
Underwriting is the process of analyzing the risks offered for insurance and deciding on the insurance rate.
An underwriter is a person or company that assesses and assumes the risks associated with accepting or not accepting an object for insurance.
What is the underwriter responsible for in insurance?
Let's look at a simple example of car insurance. For example, a client applies to an insurance company for CASCO insurance for an elite and expensive car. The data on this car is sent to the relevant employee (underwriter), who, in turn, assesses what rate can be offered to the client and whether it is worth taking out insurance for such a car at all. As a rule, the more expensive the car, the lower the insurance rate can be. However, if the car brand is among the most interesting for criminals or the cost of spare parts reaches incredible prices, it can be very expensive for the insurance company to make such a decision in the future.
The same applies to other insurance products where you need to evaluate a particular object before insuring it. For example, insurance for apartments, offices, health, and other risks.
What areas do underwriters work in?
As you know, underwriters exist not only in the insurance industry, but also in other industries. Popular areas for employment of specialists:
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Insurance
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Securities
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Banking
While insurance has already been described above, we will discuss other areas separately.
Banking
Banks need underwriters no less than insurance companies. After all, every bank is primarily interested in issuing loans and receiving deposits. But to whom can they issue these loans or at what interest rate can they take money from people today? It is a special person, an underwriter, who answers these basic questions. He or she assesses the possible risks for today and the near future in order to invest money as rationally as possible and minimize losses.
Securities
In the securities market, an underwriter is most often a company or a bank. They help other companies place their shares and set the price of those shares.
What risks do underwriters take into account in insurance?
Depending on the insurance product, the risks may vary, but all products have common and different features.
Common:
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Policyholder assessment - a person who plans to insure his or her property must be checked. The check is based on many factors, including previous insurance claims.
Different:
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In car insurance, the vehicle is checked according to the main parameters, such as make, model, cost, etc.
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In property insurance - the presence of wooden floors, location, etc.
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In health insurance - the presence of diseases, general health, etc.