In a softening market, few phrases carry as much weight as “holding the line.” For underwriters, it can often be more than just price.
At a recent panel hosted by Send, industry leaders argued that the true test of customer-centric underwriting isn’t flexibility, but discipline. As insurers balance growth targets with capital pressure and client expectations, the ability to say no – or at least not yet – is becoming a mark of professionalism, not rigidity.
“There is a real tension here,” said Deborah McBrearty, client account lead for London Markets Insurance at Accenture. “Underwriters are constantly juggling targets, pricing discipline and also that trust that they need to build with clients and brokers.”
McBrearty, who began her career as a lawyer and broker before moving into underwriting, said the temptation to be overly accommodating can be strong – especially when client relationships are on the line. But giving in too easily can be its own form of risk.
“Sometimes doing what's best for your client actually means holding the line as an underwriter, even when that's uncomfortable,” she said.
Russell Brown, principal, vessel pollution, at Falvey Insurance Group, agreed that profitability and customer centricity aren’t opposing forces – they reinforce one another when transparency is part of the process.
“I think they're the two sides of the same coin, really,” Brown said. “If, as underwriters, we’re transparent in how we come up with our pricing, what we can write and what we cannot write, I feel like we can actually communicate that to our clients. That will foster a little bit of respect and comfort, and they’re more likely to stay with us even if we stay down to those kinds of risks.”
That same message came from Hayley Robinson, a non-executive director and advisor to the commercial and specialty markets, who said the industry needs to think beyond individual deals and focus on the health of entire portfolios.
“Whilst there’s potentially a tension, particularly when you look at it on a risk-by-risk basis… what we always have to remember is you’re writing a portfolio,” Robinson said. “You will have clients in there and risks in there that don’t make you any money. But that doesn’t mean to say they detract from the portfolio, because you’re looking for a balance in totality,” said Robinson, who previously served as Zurich Group’s chief underwriting officer.
She added that insurers need to prioritize steady, long-term profitability rather than chasing short-term wins. “Insurers are also there to make money. If we didn’t make money, we’d go out of business, and nobody would have any insurance,” she said. “One of the things I don’t particularly like is these large swings in the market cycle. Personally, I would like something that is a little less bumpy and a little bit more predictable, because I think that’s good for insurers and it’s much better for clients as well.”
That balance between commercial discipline and client partnership also defines how Robinson approaches risk appetite – and how flexible underwriters should be within it.
“I've worked at three insurers, and whether you call it red, amber, green, one-two-three, insurers have criteria, generally speaking, for what's in appetite, what's out of appetite, and then what's in the middle, that could be in or out,” she said. “Those criteria exist broadly, but again, I don't think they should be applied rigidly.”
Robinson said that disciplined underwriting isn’t about saying no for the sake of it, but understanding how far out of appetite a risk truly is – and whether it can be managed into viability. “You can have something that is on the edge of appetite, but through risk management, through terms and conditions, through price, you can pull it back into a reasonable appetite,” she said.
Conversely, she warned that underwriters who stretch too far beyond their expertise or risk management capabilities can create exposure that’s difficult to recover from. “If you don't have the skills to write oil and gas, you shouldn't be writing oil and gas business,” she said.
To illustrate her point, Robinson recalled one case where a multi-site food manufacturer included a facility prone to significant flooding. “One of our underwriters was able to work with that client to put risk management measures in place, deductibles in place, and move that site out of the almost uninsurable, into the insurable over a period of time,” she said. “If you're prepared to commit to five years, and the client's prepared to commit to five years to make that work, that makes for a good relationship.”
