Misaligned technology and processes hinder the underwriting process

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A recent Accenture survey in the United States highlighted a puzzling statistic — 70 per cent of an underwriter’s time at work is involved in non-underwriting activities. Meanwhile, 40 per cent of their time was spent on administration and 30...

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David Hampton, BAIS Technology — Sponsored Post

11 May 2026

2 mins read

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Misaligned technology and processes hinder the underwriting process

A recent Accenture survey in the United States highlighted a puzzling statistic — 70 per cent of an underwriter’s time at work is involved in non-underwriting activities.

Meanwhile, 40 per cent of their time was spent on administration and 30 per cent on negotiation and sales support.

I suggest the experience in Australia is similar.

Given that underwriting is so fundamental to insurance, surely underwriters should be able to devote more of their time to actual underwriting?

The three top reasons cited by the survey for the lack of time spent underwriting are redundant inputs/manual processes (71per cent), outdated/inflexible systems (40 per cent) and a lack of information/analytics at the point of need (36 per cent).