Did you know that 82% of surveyed respondents believe that their underwriters spend at least half of their time on data collection and administrative tasks rather than making decisions? Today’s underwriting departments must juggle a constant stream of business in an underwriting process that touches multiple systems and data sources. As you can see from the statistic above, a great deal of business may never get processed, leading to lost deals, dissatisfied agents and brokers, and unhappy customers. Since underwriting is a key driver of growth and profitability, carriers need to focus on making their underwriting teams as efficient as possible to ensure the best decisions are being made in the shortest time possible. Read the Underwriting Efficiency 2013 report to learn how you compare in efficiency challenges such as: Lost business Time spent underwriting Systems accessed View and download the complimentary report today.

1. FIRSTBEST
SURVEYS

2. Underwriting Efficiency 2013
2
SURVEY
RESULTS
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

3. Table of Contents
3
FirstBest Suite
Underwriting Efficiency Trends
The Survey
Underwriting Drives Profitability & Growth
Efficiency Challenges:
Systems Accessed In Underwriting Process
Systems Used for Underwriting: PAS vs Purpose‐Built
Lost Business
Time Spent Underwriting
About FirstBest
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

4. Underwriting Efficiency Trends
4
Today’s underwriting departments must juggle a constant stream of business in an underwriting process that
touches multiple systems and data sources. As a result, many underwriting teams struggle to actually handle
all of the business that comes in. Much of the business may never get processed, leading to lost deals,
dissatisfied agents and brokers, and unhappy customers. Did you lose the best business or the worst?
You won’t know unless you process the business.
A majority of carriers stated that underwriting was a key driver of growth and profitability. But
underwriting’s impact is often limited because of deals lost through slow processing, as well as process
inefficiencies. For example, some 82% of respondents stated that underwriters spent 50% or less of their
time actually underwriting. And close to 50% have to access four or more systems during the underwriting
process. Read on for further details.
FIRSTBEST
UNCOVERS THE
STATE OF
UNDERWRITING
EFFICIENCY.
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

5. 34% 5%
The Survey
FirstBest Surveyed the Following Types of Insurers
5
46%
Both Commercial
and Personal
Life and Health
Commercial
Insurer
Personal
Insurance
To assess the state of underwriting
efficiency, FirstBest surveyed insurance
carriers.
Respondents hailed primarily from P&C,
although some Life & Health insurers
participated as well.
Question: Of the following, which most
closely describes your organization?
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
15%

6. Underwriting Priorities
6
Not a FocusModerateTop Priority
Question: How important is underwriting as a driving force for
your business expansion, growth, and profitability? (choose one)
Underwriting is a top priority for insurers surveyed. When it’s done right,
underwriting can be a engine for growth and profitability.
 66% listed underwriting as a top priority for driving expansion and profits.
 29% stated that underwriting was only a moderate focus.
 5% stated that underwriting was not a focus.
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
Underwriting Drives Growth and Profitability
29%
66%
5%

7. Efficiency Challenges
7
Question: What percentage of deals do you think you lose because you
simply cannot get to them all?
Slow and inefficient processing drives lost deals. 71% of carriers stated that they had lost
deals because they could not get to them:
 46% of respondents had lost 1 to 25% of deals because they could not process them.
 23% of respondents had lost 26 to 50% of deals.
 3% of respondents had lost 50% or more deals.
29%
No Deals
Lost
71%
Some
Deals Lost
1% to 25% of
Deals
26% to 50%
of deals 46%
23%
50% or More
3%
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
Carriers Lose Deals They Can’t Process

8. Efficiency Challenges
8
41% 41%
5% 13%
10 to 25%
of Time
26 to 50%
of Time
51 to 75%
of Time
76% or More
of Time
Question: What percentage of their time do you
think your underwriters spend on actually
underwriting the risk ‐ and not collating the data?
Underwriters spend a great deal of time on tasks
other than underwriting. While some non‐
underwriting activities, such as agent and insured
field visits, may provide value, manual tasks do not.
82% of respondents spend 50% or less of their
time underwriting:
• 41% spend 10 to 25% of their time on
underwriting.
• 41% spend 26 to 50% of their time on
underwriting.
• Only 18% spend more than 51% of their time on
underwriting.
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
Less Time Spent on Underwriting

9. Efficiency Challenges
9
51%
21%
28%
0 to 3 Systems
4 to 6 Systems
7 or More Systems
51% of respondents use 0 to 3 systems.
21% use 4 to 6 systems.
28% use 7 or more systems.
Question: How many systems do your
underwriters have to interact with while
underwriting a risk?
Efficient underwriters can manage the
underwriting process without having to
directly access a multitude of back‐end and
third‐party systems. An underwriter should
use the right information to make the best
decisions. But the more systems that an
underwriter needs to access directly, the
greater the potential for inconsistencies,
errors, delays, and lost business.
Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved
Systems Accessed During Underwriting

10. 12%
6%
12%
35%
47%
Manual Process, No Tech Tools
Home-Grown PAS
Vendor-Provided PAS
Home-Grown Underwriting System
Vendor-Provided Underwriting System
Systems Used for Underwriting
Most insurers rely on purpose-built underwriting systems.
*Respondents could choose multiple answers.
Question: What current technologies are you leveraging in your underwriting
process? (select all that apply)
Designed to meet the unique needs of underwriting and the underwriting process,
underwriting systems are the tool of choice for insurers surveyed. A majority of
respondents use underwriting systems to manage the underwriting process:
• 47% of respondents use vendor‐provided underwriting systems; 35% use homegrown.
• Only 12% use vendor‐provided policy systems, while 6% use homegrown.
• 12% use manual processes.
10Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

11. © 2015 FirstBest Systems | All Rights Reserved
FirstBest is the #1 provider of underwriting
workstations for property and casualty
insurance companies.
Built by underwriters for underwriters, the
award-winning technology of FirstBest
uniquely delivers speed, collaboration, and
data-powered decisions.
With FirstBest solutions, commercial, specialty,
and workers’ compensation insurers make
better underwriting decisions that rapidly grow
their business.
ABOUT FIRSTBEST
Click here to
download a copy
of this e-book:
FREE DOWNLOAD

12. Agents, BrokersUnderwriting Teams
FirstBest Suite
Strategic Technology for Risk Intelligence, Workflow Efficiency, and Profitable Growth
Underwriting
Workstation
Mobile
Underwriting
Configuration
Tools
Underwriting
Analytics
ACORD Form
Processing Agent Portal
FirstBest UMS® FirstBest UMS
Mobile™
FirstBest BA Studio™ FirstBest Insight™
FirstBest
AppReader™
FirstBest Agent™
12Copyright (c) 2006-2015 FirstBest Systems, Inc. | All Rights Reserved

13. FirstBest Systems, Inc.
213 Burlington Road
Bedford, MA 01730
888.863.6027
FirstBest and FirstBest UMS are registered trademarks of FirstBest Systems, Inc. FirstBest Suite, FirstBest
UMS Mobile, FirstBest BA Studio, FirstBest Agent, FirstBest Insight, and FirstBest AppReader are
trademarks of FirstBest Systems, Inc.
©2006-2014 FirstBest Systems, Inc.