If you are hiring an underwriter, you are probably looking for someone who thinks analytically, makes logic-driven decisions, and enjoys working with facts and figures. In some cases, you may also need someone who is comfortable negotiating for terms and conditions. The Omnia Profile identifies all of these qualities.

An underwriter must analyze information, assess risks, calculate rates, and make objective decisions based on financial data and statistics. A candidate who can perform these tasks well is likely to have a tall column 4 on the Profile. The column 4 measures a candidate’s objectivity, tendency to seek proof, and skepticism. In addition, it can help tell you how comfortable he or she will be working closely with technical information, such as medical reports and actuarial studies that must be examined and evaluated.

If the candidate does not have a tall column 4, he or she may need to rely heavily (even more so than the tall column 4 underwriter) on the industry’s computer applications to help in analysis, rating, acceptance or denial decisions, and premium rate adjustments, in order to manage risks more accurately.

The Profile also measures comfort with risk (column 1) versus cautious behavior (column 2), as well as the need to make quick decisions (column 7) and the need to avoid mistakes (column 8). An insurance company should know how circumspect and careful, or on the flip side, how aggressive and results-driven, an underwriting candidate is. This is important to know because the company may lose business to competitors if the underwriter appraises risks too conservatively, or it may lose money on claims it must pay if the underwriter’s assessments are too liberal.

Please contact your Omnia client relations manager at 800-525-7117 if you need help completing your job set-up and position description for your next underwriter.