Always wanted to pen this down. Apologies for the length.
I am often asked by my fellow colleagues as to how I maintain a balance as an underwriter while deciding on a case when I have such an inevitable "Claims" bent of mind. I am sure there are many underwriters like me in the market and needless to say, I have learnt it all from my mentors through observations and discussions. .
I always trust in Nature and her ways and today, I sincerely believe that underwriting a life is no different than maintaining a balance in the "Triguna" of a human mind/psychic constitution while deciding on anything. Although, these gunas hold multiple interpretations in various other arenas, I would stick to one particular trait each of these resonates with and how I interpret its relevance in Underwriting.
1. Sattva Guna and Underwriting: Sattva gun symbolises goodness or seeing positive in everything. If this Guna predominates while Underwriting, we fail to notice the probable high risk triggers in a case and end up taking decisions that might cost the company as early claims.
2. Rajas Guna and Underwriting: This Guna symbolises selfishness. Targets are crucial, however, working towards achieving only individual targets and choosing a backseat for the fundamental objective behind Underwriting brings down the capability of judging as to which cases require our extra time/complete attention or ADD (additional due diligence). At the end of the day, it's all about maintaining or bringing down the A/E ratio.
3. Tamas Guna and Underwriting: This Guna symbolises illusion/negativity. If this Guna predominates, we tend to focus on/assume only the negative points in a case which otherwise are supposed to be weighed against the plus points in order to have an unbiased approach. A balance in this Guna helps us to analyse "worth the risk/doable" business efficiently.
I try to inculcate this whenever I am underwriting any given case. There are so many encounters when the fines lines get hazy, however, I firmly believe that underwriting is not just limited to business and targets. There is so much more to do. The departments of Claims, Underwriting and IFD (Investigations and Fraud Detection) are all siblings and hence, there is no harm in having an unbiased claim bent of mind while underwriting a case.
Would love to hear from the industry experts and fellow colleagues if this post reaches you.
Happy Underwriting. Happy Ram Navami.
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Underwriter: Tech & Cyber
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