Greater underwriting agility and adapting to the evolving insurance market are key to thriving in a hard market. Many large commercial carriers are already digitising and automating the underwriting process for more efficient insurance administration.

An Underwriting workbench implementation is probably at the forefront of defining a carrier’s long-term digitisation strategy. And all project delivery best practices and techniques will be required.

Having extensive experience in implementing an underwriting workbench, I’ve gained valuable insight into what strategies and approaches are most effective for the customer, as well as the critical considerations and areas of focus that are necessary for success.

Here are five essential best practices that some of the world’s largest property and casualty insurance companies have followed to successfully implement AdvantageGo Underwriting:

Involve the right people. An underwriting workbench implementation needs Subject Matter Experts across all Lines of Business as well as numerous supporting departments. A good understanding of current Business Process Flows and identified target Business Process Flows is vital to ensure the requirements are well defined and understood. Good client resource planning during the initial engagements helps identify your key roles and responsibilities needed to support and drive through successful project delivery.

Solution Architecture will be a key sign-off at the point of project initiation. We have designed our Underwriting workbench to allow it to become the centrepiece of an Underwriter’s technology stack, and as such, it will probably be heavily integrated with supporting systems such as data enrichment services, pricing system integrations, document management, and policy administration systems. An early understanding of the target application landscape ensures all parties are aligned.

Ensuring the right system architecture is in place and conforms to your organisation’s long-term strategies is critical. Prompt involvement of personnel within your organisation who can make these decisions and authorise architecture sign-offs at the required stages of the project are essential to keep timelines on-track.

Ensure you have a well-governed Change Control process. It’s typical for an underwriting workbench implementation to be accompanied by some substantial Business Change Management. Requirements are highly likely to change over the project’s duration. The right Change Control procedures ensure that true business value is delivered from the project.

Business Process Change Management is integral to successfully realising the benefits of the underwriting workbench implementation. The project can deliver all aspects within its scope, but your organisation needs to be well aligned to accommodate and adopt the changes that such a project provides; if not, the rewards will take longer to unfold.

Training plans must support the project timelines and will involve large numbers of (busy!) people, requiring organisation and careful management from the start of the project.

Don’t forget the transition of services to Business As Usual. Often this can be overlooked and becomes a rush to implement towards the end of the project. AdvantageGo provides appropriate Hypercare services post-go-live. It is important that the project transitions smoothly into adopting a set of well-defined service support procedures, and the planning for that needs to start well before the key go-live milestones are met.

To understand how to ensure your underwriting implementation is successful and follows the five best practices outlined above, contact AdvantageGo.

Proven Insights for a Seamless Underwriting Workbench Implementation