Reportage: Back to basics

Is underwriting becoming a lost art, or is technology helping to make it better than ever? Louise Meeson finds out

Despite effective underwriting being the most important weapon an insurer has against financial losses, many feel that skills in this discipline are diminishing. Brokers in particular are forever lamenting the lack of underwriting decision-makers, but is this fair? Has underwriting become too automated or has technology actually freed up skilled underwriters to concentrate on more complex risks? Is recruitment and training an issue, or, in fact, is underwriting in better shape than ever?

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