A beginner's guide to underwriting workbenches

There is a commonly held view that underwriting processes are slow, outdated and inefficient. This is in part due to the lack of modern technology enabling underwriters to spend more time doing their jobs rather than undertaking repetitive administration tasks. A survey conducted by Accenture uncovered that only 46% of underwriters found that their current tech stack had a positive impact on reducing their time spent on non-core tasks.

Enter the underwriting workbench. Like the name suggests, the workbench provides underwriters with the tools they need to actually begin to automate non-core, administrative tasks. These underwriting workbenches help to automate such tasks as opening and populating submissions. In addition, the underwriting workbench can be used by managers to ensure regulatory compliance and monitor their team’s performance.

The workbench represents an opportunity for underwriting teams to increase their efficiency and competitive edge. InsTech have written this beginner’s guide to underwriting workbenches in partnership with Send, an underwriting workbench provider and Sollers Consulting (Sollers), their implementation partner.

This report covers:
• Why underwriting workbenches have become more relevant in recent years and how they keep insurers ahead of the innovation curve.
• What comes with an underwriting workbench and what you have to integrate into it.
• How underwriting, technology and operations teams can advocate for a workbench.
• Whether you should build or buy an underwriting workbench or stick with your policy administration system (PAS).
• How the most junior and senior underwriters can benefit from an underwriting workbench in their day-to- day activities.