What does an underwriting consultant do?
An underwriting consultant is an individual who provides underwriting guidelines to underwriters as well as coordinates revision of the underwriting manual. Underwriting consultants are required to handle complex cases and situations by using their strong knowledge of company services, product standards, and underwriting policies. They must use their verbal and written communication skills to guide the account management team across several business segments. Underwriting consultants must also assist with special projects and handle confidential matters assigned by the senior consultant or manager.
Underwriting consultant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real underwriting consultant resumes:
- Risk assessment to achieve profitability on assign book of business through renewal calculations and RFP responses.
- Provide evidence and assurance that the credit quality of the portfolio remains within standards establish by senior management.
- Review lender appeals to determine if the documentation provide cures the deficiencies.
- Direct responsibility for monitoring and auditing lending activity and loan portfolio to ensure compliance with regulations.
- Review of appeals; concluding and processing the finalization; communicating the adjustments to the original underwriter for educational purposes.
- Monitor performance, to include turn-times, productivity, volume, QC audits on a daily basis.
- Review all internal and external QC finding, dispute / rebuttal findings, or provide coaching to underwriter.
- Develop underwriting training on ISO and proprietary forms and guidelines for implementation of company strategy.
Underwriting consultant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 16% of Underwriting Consultants are proficient in Life Insurance, National Accounts, and Underwriting Guidelines. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Analytical skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Underwriting Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Life Insurance, 16%
Negotiated risk assessments and developed strong relationships with life insurance agents and producers.
- National Accounts, 10%
Executed financial management on a book of national accounts to achieve profit, growth, service and expense objectives.
- Underwriting Guidelines, 9%
Reviewed potential applications for brokerage offices and assisted in the development of underwriting guidelines.
- Underwriting Decisions, 8%
Communicate with internal agents and brokers regarding underwriting decisions and additional requirements as needed.
- Underwriting Process, 4%
Established as a team lead/trainer to mentor and developed junior underwriter into underwriting process.
- Underwriting Policies, 4%
Negotiate and explain rate development, pricing components and application of underwriting policies.
"life insurance," "national accounts," and "underwriting guidelines" are among the most common skills that underwriting consultants use at work. You can find even more underwriting consultant responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for an underwriting consultant to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role 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." Additionally, an underwriting consultant resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "cited for excellence in interpersonal communications, teamwork, customer service, flexibility and reliability. "
Analytical skills. Another essential skill to perform underwriting consultant duties is analytical skills. Underwriting consultants responsibilities require that "underwriters must evaluate information from a variety of sources to balance risk against caution." Underwriting consultants also use analytical skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assisted underwriting by gathering and evaluating claim and reserve data for short and long term disability renewals. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for underwriting consultants to perform their duties. For an example of how underwriting consultant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "underwriters must stay focused when reviewing insurance applications because each item may affect the coverage decision." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an underwriting consultant: "review detailed historical and projected financial analysis utilizing tax returns and financial statements. ".
Math skills. A big part of what underwriting consultants do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to underwriting consultant responsibilities because "underwriters need math knowledge to ensure accuracy in determining the probability of losses and calculating appropriate premiums on an insurance policy." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical underwriting consultant tasks: "used extensive quantitative and qualitative skills by reviewing data to make timely and accurate credit decisions while adhering to lending guidelines. "
The three companies that hire the most underwriting consultants are:
- Lincoln Financial Group104 underwriting consultants jobs
- CNA Insurance42 underwriting consultants jobs
- MassMutual23 underwriting consultants jobs
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Compare different underwriting consultants
Underwriting consultant 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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, underwriting consultant responsibilities require skills like "life insurance," "national accounts," "underwriting guidelines," and "underwriting decisions." Meanwhile a typical closer has skills in areas such as "customer service," "cleanliness," "punctuality," and "dependability." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Closers tend to reach lower levels of education than underwriting consultants. In fact, closers are 6.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Underwriting consultant vs. Mortgage banker
A Mortgage Banker is specialized in offering financing to buy homes or refinance previous mortgages. They work as part of a banks loan department.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real underwriting consultant resumes. While underwriting consultant responsibilities can utilize skills like "life insurance," "national accounts," "underwriting decisions," and "underwriting process," mortgage bankers use skills like "customer service," "nmls," "federal regulations," and "bank products."
In general, mortgage bankers achieve similar levels of education than underwriting consultants. They're 2.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Underwriting consultant 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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, underwriting consultants are more likely to have skills like "life insurance," "national accounts," "underwriting decisions," and "underwriting process." But a credit officer is more likely to have skills like "risk management," "credit risk," "credit analysis," and "real estate."
Credit officers earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $120,621. Underwriting consultants earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $86,694.Most credit officers achieve a higher degree level compared to underwriting consultants. For example, they're 8.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Underwriting consultant vs. Bank officer
A bank officer is in charge of overseeing the daily operations at banking establishments, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities include gathering and analyzing requests, approving and denying loan applications, providing consultations, processing client requests, and producing progress reports. There are also instances where they sign important documents, delegate tasks, and resolve issues and concerns. Moreover, as a bank officer, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between underwriting consultants and bank officers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an underwriting consultant might have more use for skills like "life insurance," "national accounts," "underwriting guidelines," and "underwriting decisions." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of bank officers require skills like "customer service," "real estate," "business development," and "bank products. "
The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for bank officers, with average annual pay of $69,266. Comparatively, the highest underwriting consultant annual salary comes from the health care industry.The average resume of bank officers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to underwriting consultants. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 3.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.6%.Types of underwriting consultant
Updated January 8, 2025
