accelerated underwriting

Life insurance is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. The industry is slowly transforming from one entrenched in the old-age archaism of paper and manual processes to one embracing digital technology and artificial intelligence, which benefits consumers via a more enjoyable sales experience and better product pricing.

As accelerated underwriting programs grow more prevalent in the industry, some carriers may feel they are falling behind. But this may be more perception than reality. The following article from RGA addresses common misconceptions around accelerated underwriting and dispels many of the myths about implementing an accelerated underwriting program

In this episode of LIMRA Unplugged, LIMRA Research Director Alison Salka talks with Jim Scanlon, life insurance research director for LIMRA, about the impact of simplified underwriting.

In theory, it is the depersonalization of the consumer experience and process in search of the cheapest and easiest alternative in doing business.  Life insurance is unfortunately one of those entities subject to these forces, whether by Amazon or by other methods insurers are now using to amalgamate the process.

Why “We have always done it this way” is not an ideal approach for insurers today.

Although Ladder company has only 37 employees, it can issue fully, but quickly, underwritten policies while the applicants are sitting in front of their computers, with coverage limits ranging from $100,000 to $8 million.

Slides from presentations given at the 48th annual M.U.D. Conference have been posted at their website. Presentations include:

• The Population is Abusing Drugs, but Are Drugs Abusing Insurance? 
• Update from the Cuckoo’s Nest: Mental Health Underwriting  
• Electronic Medical Records - State of the Union Update
• The Rise and Fall of Liver Biopsy
• Prostate Cancer- To screen or not to screen that is the question 
• Through Thick and Thin – Red Blood Cell Disorders
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Evaluating Those with a Big Heart 
• Using Third Party Scoring in Accelerated Underwriting
• Data Analytics & Underwriting: Are 20th-century regulations still appropriate for 21st-century underwriting? 
• Anti Aging, Youthful Medication, Longevity/HGH 
• Mind the Gap- Understanding the influence of anti-selection and various holes in the underwriting process of accelerated versus traditional underwriting 

The predictive power of credit behavior data can accelerate the underwriting process for life insurers.

Increasingly, computer templates are making binding underwriting decisions through information that is programmed in with final decisions virtually unappealable.  It’s a frustrating situation that is taking the human element out of a very human situation of health and risk assessment.