The THiNK Blog

The huge variety of products, special cases, and unique considerations that underwriters face every day make it an exciting but challenging industry to keep up with. Our expert series aims to make it a little easier by providing resources straight from industry experts on the topics that underwriters are facing now.

Critical illness (CI) insurance is an area that life underwriters face that can be complex and involve detailed review to get right. Karen McLeod, Senior Underwriter & Learning Specialist, shares her advice and top tips how to approach critical illness as a life underwriter.

Diabetes has been a longstanding area of interest for life underwriters. The Centre for Disease Control estimates that more than 30 million Americans have diabetes. The numbers appear to be rising, and it’s estimated that as many as 80 million Americans are living with prediabetes – the condition that typically leads to type II diabetes within five years. The numbers are impactful, especially since nearly 1 in 4 people with prediabetes are undiagnosed.

In this edition of our Underwriters Expert Series, we’re uncovering the risks associated with lung cancer – beyond cigarettes. Learn about other causes of this fatal disease and why life underwriters need to look at more than smoking status for assessment.

Welcome to our thirteenth installment of our Underwriting Expert Series. Check out the full series for more risk assessment tips. This week, our Senior Underwriter, Karen McLeod provides the essential knowledge you need to know as a life underwriter with regards to Concussions for Critical Illness (CI) and Life Insurance. Let's get right into it!

“A who?” is the typical response from anyone who has never heard of AHOU; The Association of Home Office Underwriters. If you happen to be in the life insurance industry, then you may have attended the Annual Conference which is held annually across North America. In 2018, the conference was in Chicago, and I was fortunate to be able to attend this four-day action packed conference. This was my first time attending AHOU, it was an exciting experience from which I was able to take away several expert insights to apply to my work.

It's Week 12 of our Underwriting Expert Series, and we are excited to be exploring an overview of Pharmacogenetics with Senior Underwriter, Garen Markarian. Make sure to subscribe to our blog to receive the latest expert series in your inbox.

For this edition of our Underwriting Expert Series, Senior Underwriter, Karen McLeod, provides a detailed overview of the importance of colon cancer for life underwriters. As the second leading cause of death from cancer in men and third leading cause in women, it is imperative that life underwriters learn how to recognize and insure this disease.

In this installment of our Underwriting Expert Series, Senior Underwriter, Karen McLeod continues the discussion on COPD. If you haven’t read part one, check it out for an overview of what life underwriters need to know about COPD. Then, read below to discover key information underwriters should consider when underwriting applicants with COPD. 

Why is This Important to Life Underwriters?

Underwriters with a strong understanding of COPD will know what to look for in their cases and be able to better identify when a case may be an uninsurable risk.

Building your ideal team of life underwriters can be intimidating but with the right tools and partners who understand the unique considerations of the industry, it becomes a lot easier. Straightforward yet powerful tools like behavioral metrics are available for managers who are looking to support their team’s career development at the individual level while driving progress toward broader organizational goals. Behavioral metrics also offer actionable insights that can be leveraged to turn your ‘gut feeling’ during hiring or ‘best guess’ in leadership approaches into strategic decision-making and planning that is backed by data about your team members’ motivations, stressors, and communication styles.

Welcome to the  seventh edition of our Underwriting Expert Series. Missed the previous articles in the series? View them here! This week, we are excited to share Senior Underwriting Specialist and Claims Manager, Mervyn Gillson’s, perspective on the driving risk of the millennial generation.