{"id":19130,"date":"2020-07-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/Life-Insurance-Blog\/whats-the-catch-with-accelerated-underwriting\/"},"modified":"2020-07-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T04:00:00","slug":"whats-the-catch-with-accelerated-underwriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2020\/07\/29\/whats-the-catch-with-accelerated-underwriting\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s the catch with accelerated underwriting?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With the introduction of social distancing measures and lockdowns to contain the spread of COVID-19, the life insurance industry has received a long-overdue push into an era of innovation. A lot of that has happened on the digital front, notably with respect to the applications process.<\/p>\n

A significant piece of that is accelerated underwriting, which seeks to supplant the traditional mode of long wait times, invasive procurement of bodily fluids, and potentially cumbersome paper requirements. In its place, clients now stand to benefit from potentially speedier approval times and the power of predictive analytics<\/a>, among other advantages.<\/p>\n

But should we assume all companies have undergone a beneficial shift to the technological? As John Grogan, EVP and chief product and innovation officer at Northwestern Mutual wrote in Digital Insurance<\/em>, the convenience factor is just one element to be considered.<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]here is an opportunity to move the conversation to best practices and competitive advantages regarding data-driven underwriting, as these have important ramifications for long-term product value and individual financial security,\u201d Grogan said.<\/p>\n

He argued that the ability of a life insurance company to honour claims hinges on its long-term performance, which ultimately relies on mortality risk management and consistent high-quality underwriting. As data-driven underwriting becomes more ubiquitous, that risk management will depend more on \u201crigorous design and execution of automated underwriting programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that in mind, he prescribed three questions for advisors to ask about insurers\u2019 accelerated underwriting processes:<\/p>\n