4299 Altus Insurance Whitepaper FINAL SPREAD - Flipbook - Page 19
Chapter 3: Optimising
Processes: The Devil is in
the Process Detail
The insurance industry is both in thrall to, and in fear of, technology. It
promises to deliver a bright future, one where data will deliver greater risk
insight than ever before, providing underwriters with the con昀椀dence they
need to make the right plays more of the time.
However, it also has the potential to signi昀椀cantly alter
the insurance model itself. The Insurtech threat to
disrupt the industry hasn’t yet materialised, but the
fear that technology will render people, particularly
underwriters, obsolete remains.
With the reality that around three quarters of
transformation programmes fail, it’s no surprise
that insurance has a love/hate relationship with
technology – it has failed to take insurance into the
future that was promised and has caused a lot of pain
in the process, but that future is not yet lost. If a more
fundamental approach to modernisation is taken –
focused on process, capability and connectivity –
it becomes clear that optimisation, modernisation
and ultimately transformation, can be delivered in a
number of ways. Technology may be the star of the
show but it’s not the only answer.
To uncover the answers for individual businesses, it’s
necessary to understand the flow of that business,
what operating models are in place and what
capabilities exist. Stripping it back to the basics of
process allows a business to truly understand why it
operates in the way it does and how it can improve.
Insurance value chain linked to Underwriting Process
Product
Dev
Marketing &
Distribution
Quotations
UW & Risk
Management
Billings &
payments
Policy
Issuance
Policy
Admin
Claims
Capital &
Inv. Mgmt
Underwriting 昀甀nction
Submission
Review/
Analysis
Ingestion/
Application
Pricing
Exposure
Assessment
Provision
of T&Cs
Quote or
Response
Figure 3.1: Underwriting across the insurance value chain
19