Insurance Underwriter

Underwriting means to back or guarantee something. Insurance underwriters decide whether or not to accept the risk of providing financial protection to clients and how much the insurance premiums should be. 

The work involves carefully analysing and assessing how likely risks such as accidents, flood damage or theft may be investigating to establish the facts - eg about existing illnesses, or the value of property  finding out about the client’s past claims and what safety precautions they are taking. 

Insurance underwriters deal with straightforward cases as well as unusual or complex insurance portfolios valued at millions of pounds. They often specialise in a product area such as household or motor insurance, or life assurance. 

Salaries may range from around £13,000 to £28,000 for trainees, to up to about £95,000 for senior class insurance underwriters. 

Insurance underwriters should be decisive and logical, have good written and verbal communication skills, be good with numbers and computers, be good at negotiating, but diplomatic and enjoy working with statistics. 

Approximately 22,000 underwriters work in the UK insurance industry. Employers vary from multinational insurers to smaller specialist firms. Insurance Underwriters can also work for Lloyd’s of London.

Typically there are two ways into insurance underwriting.  Most large insurers take on graduates on training programmes. School leavers can also start as insurance technicians and progress to become underwriters by working up through the ranks.

Training is usually a combination of practical experience and study for professional qualifications. Lloyd’s underwriters have to pass the Lloyd’s Introductory Test within 15 months of starting work.  As their career develops, insurance underwriters may progress to handling more complex risks and possibly supervising a team of underwriters. They may also move into risk management, surveying and claims recovery.

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