Manual submission intake is outdated and inefficient. Technology -driven workflow is the modern approach. Here's how to use it.

1. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.
The Next Generation of
Submission Intake and Clearance
MANUAL SUBMISSION INTAKE IS OUTDATED;
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN WORKFLOW IS THE MODERN APPROACH

2. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc. 2
Today, insurers continue to face challenges with
legacy underwriting processes, specifically in the
area of submission intake and clearance. Manual
or paper-driven workflows have been the root of
operational inefficiency that is often a fixture in
conventional underwriting. Resulting challenges
include long processing and turnaround times
and producer and underwriter communication
delays. These challenges distract underwriters
from their key focus: making the best possible
risk evaluation decisions, as quickly as possible.
Let’s take a look at the major areas for improvement:
Intake, Data Validation and Clearance.
The Next Generation of Submission Intake and Clearance

3. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.
Submission Intake and Eligibility
THEN
In the past, the submission process typically included
an application being emailed by a producer, after
which an insurer employee manually created a file and
logged the submission. Determining whether or not a
submission was even an appropriate match for an
insurer was a manual process. Submissions often made
it all the way through clearance and landed on an
underwriter’s desk before eligibility was determined.
NOW
In a modern intake environment, underwriting
workstations are an efficient way to begin organizing
submissions in their earliest stages. This technology
allows agents to quickly and easily upload submissions,
secure quotes, and even bind — in effect, generally
automating the full submission and quoting process for
agents. Here, pre-qualifying and auto-declination
steps can actually be used to educate an agent
regarding an insurer’s appetite.
Using such approaches, an underwriter never needs to
see a risk that does not meet certain eligibility
criteria, and an automatically generated declination
notice is sent straight to the agent when the
submission is not a match for the insurer’s appetite.
In other cases, a data entry technician handled the
declination of business, communicated with the
producers and manually generated a declination
notice. These processes were all extremely high-
touch, manual and redundant.

4. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc. The Next Generation of Submission Intake and Clearance 4
EXAMPLE
An agent is trying to submit a “piece of business” in
New York to an insurer that is not licensed to write
business in the state. The agent enters the data, and
the program parameter rules warn them that this
submission will be declined. If the agent elects to
continue, once the submission is complete, a
declination notice is automatically generated and sent
to the agent.
This all happens without using a single moment of
insurer personnel time or effort, freeing staff to
concentrate on higher-value tasks.
WHAT THIS MEANS
When manual intake steps are automated, underwriters can focus on risk assessment and
producers can learn about viable business for the insurer, ultimately increasing hit ratios
and improving producer relationships. Leveraging responsive underwriting workstations
gives insurers a competitive advantage because doing business with these companies is easy
and seamless. All parties receive quick, accurate information and no time is wasted.

5. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.
Data Validation and Entry
THEN
Historically, submitted data was validated and entered
into various systems using manual and redundant
processes. Data was rekeyed into multiple systems as
a common part of the intake workflow, introducing the
potential for data entry errors and adding valuable
time to the submission-to-quote timeline.
NOW
Modern underwriting workstations not only support
data validation, but also consolidate all data into one
unified system. Application upload tools enable users
to easily upload an application and data is sent to the
insurer’s processing system, eliminating rekeying and
saving valuable time in the submission intake process.
Collecting cleaner data is made easy with field-level
validation. For instance, form fields can be required,
list options are provided instead of open fields, and
prompts are enabled to let users know they have
entered data that does not match eligibility criteria.
Overall, system-driven data validation ensures
complete and accurate submissions.
Underwriting workstations also create a unified
environment to accommodate all data, and a single
electronic file can include comprehensive submission
data and attachments. In this way, the insurer can
easily scan all information to make sure it is complete
and valid — in one location. The electronic file stays
intact and available to every authorized constituent
throughout the entire underwriting process.
A person manually reviewed information to make sure
it was complete, accurate and ready for underwriting
as a necessary step to avoid lengthy cycles of back and
forth between the insurer and the producer.

6. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc. The Next Generation of Submission Intake and Clearance 6
EXAMPLE
Let’s take a look at one of New England’s leading
workers’ compensation insurers who, after
implementing a modern underwriting workstation,
experienced increased quality and volume of new
submissions, time savings with automatic application
form upload, and visibility into their book of business.
Since implementation, this insurer reports a 25% year-
over-year increase in valid submissions with a hit ratio
of 58%!
WHAT THIS MEANS
Insurers do not want to provide submissions to their underwriters until the information is
complete and validated, so that the underwriting team does not waste time and efforts.
Supported by a modern underwriting workstation, submission validation is streamlined and
underwriters can focus their valuable time on the highest quality business.

7. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.
Clearance
THEN
The manual submission clearance process was
accomplished offshore, or by dedicated data entry
technicians, and required heavy resource and time
allocation. Often, the clearance process involved
insurers searching against their email box for insured
name, then their entry log, then at least one separate
clearance system.
NOW
Leveraging automated workflows, modern
underwriting workstations enforce a consistent
clearance process and prevent issuance of quotes for
submissions that have not been cleared. The
workstation can check for unique identifiers such as
FEIN and “name of insured” in one or more insurer
systems to act as “clear” or “not clear” indicators.
Some search capabilities were limited to exact name
match. If the submission was not clear, the insurer
would notify the producer and ask for “broker of
record” documentation. If the clearance process was
not accurately carried out — or not carried out at all —
quoting for unauthorized representatives resulted,
wasting valuable underwriting resources.
The entire auto-clear process is accomplished in the
workstation environment, eliminating rekeying and
multiple logins.

8. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc. The Next Generation of Submission Intake and Clearance 8
EXAMPLE
Looking at the experience of a Managing General
Agent that wanted to address legacy underwriting
processes to gain competitive advantage, investing in
an underwriting workstation was the answer to their
clearance challenges. Following implementation of an
underwriting workstation, the MGA's clearance process
was completely automated, freeing up time and
resources to write more business.
For instance, using a call to their policy system, a
clearance indicator enables agent on-line quoting for
their retail agents. A ‘not clear’ indicator triggers a
referral to their underwriters who investigate further.
This automation has reduced their operational
expenses and enabled rapid release of on-line quotes.
WHAT THIS MEANS
The quicker insurers can clear submissions, the quicker they can issue a policy. And
underwriters will be satisfied with the quality of business they are receiving, so they can
spend more time on risk assessment and decisioning.

9. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc.
What is an Underwriting Workstation?
The Next Generation of Submission Intake and Clearance 9
A central workspace… Separate from broader policy administration functionality…
Equips the underwriter and key stakeholders to perform the underwriting process
more collaboratively, efficiently, and consistently and arrive at a more accurate pricing of risk.
Collaboration between underwriter, agents/brokers, and
other external and internal parties
Embedded analytics and data services
Common set of calculation/underwriting tools
Improved business process management (BPM)
capabilities, enhanced workflow, and rules management
Configuration tools
Underwriting management tools, underwriting
performance tracking, and reporting
Audit trail
Skills-based routing for underwriting assignments

10. © 2016 FirstBest Systems, Inc. 10
Insurers investing in modern underwriting
workstations are seeing major benefits and ROI.
As your company seeks to grow, automating
manual operations is a vital step towards
processing submissions. By simplifying the intake
and clearance process with enhanced data
validation, your underwriters are able to focus on
risk assessment and customer service. And you
can scale the business without an increase in
resources.
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The Next Generation of Submission Intake and Clearance
Learn more about how state-of-the-art
underwriting workstations can propel your
company into the new age of underwriting
in as little as three months.