According to UnderwriteMe head of Asia Pacific Paul Hughes, the company’s main purpose is to make insurance more accessible. Through technology and its underwriting engine, it enable insurers across the globe to make the underwriting process easier and quicker. This, in turn, will help more people get protected.

 

“We have operated for more than 10 years and have achieved the highest level of satisfaction (first in automated underwriting satisfaction survey conducted by NMG Consulting) in all of our markets for multiple years,” he said.

 

"By extending our product offering from the Underwriting Engine to a broader technology ecosystem known as the "Decision Platform", we take digitisation to new heights by automating mroe of the underwriting journey, including automatic assessments for medical exams and lab tests. This has been transformational and allows insurers to not only operate at a lower cost base, but also transform the customer journey."

 

He added that it does more than just underwriting - the company also has the same solutions for claims decisioning, which is gathering more and more traction as insurers seek further operational efficiencies and ways to improve the entire customer experience.

 

One of the main challenges that an insurer faces today is competition – not only for customers, but also in recruitment. In today’s world, a competitive advantage in technology is a key strategic driver for attracting and retaining talent in distribution.

“In addition to helping insurers scale their operations and transform the customer experience, UnderwriteMe’s technology also enables distributors to be more efficient by introducing clarity and simplicity into the sales process. Time spent on administrative tasks are greatly reduced, enabling distributors to focus on advisory work as well as relationship building,” he said.

“We support all distribution channels such as agency, bancassurance and IFAs as well as fully underwritten comparison marketplaces, to name a few. This means insurers can leverage our technology to extend their distribution reach,” he said. “Those insurers with the best underwriting technology and application journey, will in our view, win the distribution war.”

However, he also pointed out that most insurers should not attempt to build their automation solutions in-house, as it requires a lot of investment and expertise that insurers might not necessarily have.

 

“UnderwriteMe is a specialist in automating decisioning and we are more than 10 years into that without other distractions. In our experience those that attempt to build inhouse or through external vendors to replicate this will most likely fail to achieve the full benefits that specialist systems can provide,” he said.

 

Beyond simple efficiency improvements, automation can also allow customers to benefit from a personalised experience, which often means a quicker and shorter process to get cover in place.

 

“Advisers and distribution channels will be able to operate more efficiently and close more applications. Their reach will be expanded therefore leading to greater access to insurance,” he said.

 

“Operational teams will benefit by having a scalable solution, meaning headcount costs can be reduced over time. In addition, there will always be some applications that will require a human assessment and this means our technology will allow those resources to focus on the cases that require their experience the most.”

 

Digitisation has led to a huge increase in available data. UnderwriteMe's technology enables insurers to access these new data sources, enabling continued process improvements and transformation opportunities. A study conducted by UnderwriteMe discovered that for a typical insurance journey through the Underwriting Engine, the data points gathered increase by more than 150 times.

“You can imagine how this data will help transform the purchasing process from removing unnecessary questions and tests to understanding how best to ask for disclosure, and how other data sources can be used to augment the process,” he said.

 

“We have seen a shift with many of clients valuing this data and the visualisation that our technology provides. In one example, one of our clients made over 120 changes to their underwriting processes in a 12-month period. This would be impossible without automation and the data it brings.”

 

There is a strong desire to use AI to replicate the underwriting process. This is not as simple as it sounds especially in the very dynamic Asian market where new products and channels are frequently launched, and where the different markets are at different levels of development.

 

In response, UnderwriteMe has designed its technology to work in partnership with AI models either on its own platform or with the clients’ existing models. In this way its ecosystem can support ongoing model learning and allow for A/B testing to ensure models are performing as they should and are more explainable. This augmentation will further improve automation results.

 

Currently, UnderwriteMe has partnered with over 35 insurers across the globe, with almost 20 being in Asia Pacific. “In addition to our clients, we are happy to be working with a network of InsurTechs, consultants and innovators in the life and health industry as we continue to explore new ways of working,” he said. A