What does an insurance underwriter do?
An insurance underwriter specializes in identifying and assessing financial risks in insurance policies. It is their duty to gather and review insurance applications, understand the coverage of policies and claims, determine a client's ability to uphold financial obligations by studying their personal information, and develop strategies to prevent the impact of risks and financial losses. They may also negotiate with external parties while adhering to the company's rules and regulations. Moreover, there are instances when an insurance underwriter must produce progress reports and presentations for managers and executives.
Insurance underwriter responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real insurance underwriter resumes:
- Manage patient's records, appointments, and account balances while adhering to HIPPA standards.
- Manage A/R, A/P, credentialing, surgery scheduling, and coordinate patient referrals to other physicians.
- Manage operating procedure and accounting systems for payroll, operating expenses, supplies and inventory management and commercial accounts.
- Prepare all HCFA billing with proper ICD-9 codes and CPT codes for accurate turn around time on payments.
- Follow up with insurance carriers and patients to expedite the recovery of payment obligations
- File insurance and process billing and payments, coordinate patients financial arrangements, present treatment plans, verify insurance coverage.
- Experience with ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversion.
- Review policies and practices affecting HIPAA regulations and standards.
- Enter charges which require knowledge of ICD-9 coding and CDT coding guidelines.
- Work with CVO's, hospital medical staff offices, DEA, licensing and specialty boards, Medicare, and Medicaid.
- Codify payroll processing for employees/distribute time cards.
- Determine origination of underwriting deficiencies and misrepresentation.
- Review individual mortgage origination/post origination documentation and perform database research.
- Review appraisal for acceptability of FNMA standards and ensure title commitment adheres to lender requirements.
- Determine misrepresentation of occupancy, misrepresentation of employment/income and if the loan are eligible for delivery to FNMA.
Insurance underwriter skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Insurance Underwriters are proficient in Health Insurance, Insurance Underwriting, and Insurance Coverage. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Interpersonal skills, and Math skills.
We break down the percentage of Insurance Underwriters that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Health Insurance, 11%
Evaluate and classify risks by determining eligibility for Health Insurance coverage via Underwriting Guidelines.
- Insurance Underwriting, 8%
Used in-depth knowledge of agency and mortgage insurance underwriting requirements and company contractual obligations.
- Insurance Coverage, 8%
Record information through computer database & determine eligibility for the individual insurance coverage they applied for.
- Customer Service, 8%
Provide wide range of customer service, applying diplomacy and assertiveness to obtain extensive business information for policy coverage.
- Underwriting Guidelines, 7%
Advised customers of decisions by providing timely resolution of customer inquiries and effectively communicating United Guaranty's underwriting guidelines and policies.
- Insurance Products, 6%
Interacted with current and prospective policyholders as requested by agency to market commercial insurance products and services to target audience.
"health insurance," "insurance underwriting," and "insurance coverage" are among the most common skills that insurance underwriters use at work. You can find even more insurance underwriter responsibilities below, including:
Detail oriented. The most essential soft skill for an insurance underwriter to carry out their responsibilities is detail oriented. This skill is important for the role because "underwriters must stay focused when reviewing insurance applications because each item may affect the coverage decision." Additionally, an insurance underwriter resume shows how their duties depend on detail oriented: "initiated studies and presented reports detailing loss trends resulting in company-wide policy changes on homeowner insurance requirements. "
Interpersonal skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling insurance underwriter duties is interpersonal skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "underwriters need to communicate and relate well with people because much of their work involves dealing with clients or others, such as insurance sales agents." According to an insurance underwriter resume, here's how insurance underwriters can utilize interpersonal skills in their job responsibilities: "cited for excellence in interpersonal communications, teamwork, qc review, flexibility and reliability. "
Math skills. insurance underwriters are also known for math skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to insurance underwriter responsibilities, because "underwriters need math knowledge to ensure accuracy in determining the probability of losses and calculating appropriate premiums on an insurance policy." An insurance underwriter resume example shows how math skills is used in the workplace: "mortgage due diligence, quantitative analysis and risk analysis. "
Analytical skills. For certain insurance underwriter responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "analytical skills." The day-to-day duties of an insurance underwriter rely on this skill, as "underwriters must evaluate information from a variety of sources to balance risk against caution." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what insurance underwriters do: "analyze risk in insurance proposals, determine policy terms and calculate premiums on basis of risk exposure. "
The three companies that hire the most insurance underwriters are:
- Crum & Forster
22 insurance underwriters jobs
- Distinguished Programs
9 insurance underwriters jobs
- Criterion Executive Search7 insurance underwriters jobs
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Compare different insurance underwriters
Insurance underwriter vs. Closer
The duties of a closer depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around liaising with clients to ensure that they understand and adhere to all terms of the agreement, completing all requirements and necessary documents, and maintaining records of all transactions. A closer must also monitor the regular payments of clients to ensure their compliance with the agreement, answer any inquiries, perform follow-up calls, and address any issues or concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between insurance underwriters and closer. For instance, insurance underwriter responsibilities require skills such as "health insurance," "insurance underwriting," "insurance coverage," and "underwriting guidelines." Whereas a closer is skilled in "cleanliness," "punctuality," "dependability," and "food orders." This is part of what separates the two careers.
The education levels that closers earn slightly differ from insurance underwriters. In particular, closers are 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an insurance underwriter. Additionally, they're 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Insurance underwriter vs. Credit officer
A credit officer is responsible for evaluating financial documents and account statements to determine the eligibility of an applicant for a loan option. Credit officers communicate with the applicant to discuss the loan process, explain the terms of service, and provide them alternative options that would fit their payment ability and loan needs. They create financial reports and recommend the qualified applicant to the manager for approval. A credit officer should have excellent communication and analytical skills, ensuring that the loan policies adhere to the federal and state regulations.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, insurance underwriter responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "health insurance," "insurance underwriting," "insurance coverage," and "insurance products." Meanwhile, a credit officer has duties that require skills in areas such as "risk management," "credit risk," "credit analysis," and "real estate." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, credit officers achieve higher levels of education than insurance underwriters. They're 12.8% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Insurance underwriter vs. Loan administrator
A Loan Administrator is a person that takes care of all the documentation part of the loan process. Loans require a lot of documents and requirements, and a loan administrator is a person that helps the client accomplish all these requirements. It is also their job to help clients resolve issues and problems during the loan process. A Loan Administrator is a crucial and hectic job. The one qualified for this position must be good at handling pressure, be good at resolving issues, handle complaints, and communicate with people.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an insurance underwriter is likely to be skilled in "health insurance," "insurance underwriting," "insurance coverage," and "underwriting guidelines," while a typical loan administrator is skilled in "data entry," "loan administration," "loan processing," and "due diligence."
Loan administrators typically earn similar educational levels compared to insurance underwriters. Specifically, they're 1.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Insurance underwriter vs. Commercial loan officer
Commercial loan officers are financial professionals who are responsible for assessing and processing business loan applications at financial institutions. These loan officers must advise clients about their suitable loan and credit options while consulting with managers on credit policies, credit lines, and procedures. They are required to obtain and assess the financial information of applicants that includes their financial statements and credit histories. Commercial loan officers must also collaborate with other financial institutions to set up loan packages for extensive loans.
Types of insurance underwriter
Updated January 8, 2025
