Insurance Underwriter

Employment Type
Full-Time
Seniority Level
Senior Individual Contributor
Location
Remote ( Open to South Africans)
Working hours
9am -6pm CST
Compensation:
$2500- $3500 Per Month depending on experience.. ($4000 for exceptional candidate with over 10 years experience)

About the Role

A growing insurance organization specializing in high-value personal property coverage is seeking an experienced Underwriter to join its underwriting team. This role is ideal for a seasoned underwriting professional who thrives in a fast-paced environment exercises strong judgment and can independently manage complex underwriting decisions with minimal oversight.

The successful candidate will take ownership of a full underwriting workload evaluating referred applications appraisals photographs and customer risk profiles to ensure accurate coverage decisions and appropriate insured values. This role requires a strong balance of analytical thinking risk assessment customer communication and documentation accuracy.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys working within a modern technology-driven insurance environment while contributing to underwriting quality operational improvements and customer experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Review referred quotes and insurance applications to evaluate risk exposure and make sound underwriting decisions
• Document underwriting rationale and decision-making processes clearly and thoroughly for auditability and future reference
• Review appraisal reports photographs and supporting documentation submitted for new and existing policies
• Assess documentation authenticity completeness and overall acceptability
• Determine appropriate insured values by evaluating appraisals requested coverage limits and internal pricing tools
• Initiate pricing verification or price checks when discrepancies or concerns are identified
• Conduct comprehensive risk reviews including:
  • Decline history checks
  • Cancellation history reviews
  • Loss history evaluations
  • Assessment of primary and additional insured parties
• Identify underwriting red flags across:
  • Applicant profiles
  • Insured items
  • Supporting documentation
• Execute underwriting decisions including:
  • Issuing policies
  • Requesting additional information
  • Adjusting coverage limits
  • Recommending cancellations
  • Escalating files when necessary
• Escalate complex high-risk or out-of-authority cases to management with detailed recommendations and supporting context
• Communicate directly with customers through phone email and chat to:
  • Resolve documentation issues
  • Answer policy and coverage questions
  • Address eligibility inquiries
  • Assist with billing-related concerns
• Partner closely with underwriting assistants responsible for file pre-processing by reviewing work quality and providing constructive feedback
• Participate in team discussions related to:
  • Risk appetite
  • Product development
  • Underwriting operations
  • Process improvement initiatives
• Adapt quickly to proprietary underwriting systems and internal tools

Required Qualifications

• 8 years of underwriting experience within personal lines property insurance
• Proven ability to independently make underwriting decisions including:
  • Issue decisions
  • Decline decisions
  • Cancellation decisions
• Strong experience identifying risk indicators across complete applicant profiles
• Direct customer communication experience via phone email and chat
• Excellent written communication and documentation skills
• Ability to clearly articulate underwriting rationale and recommendations
• Comfortable working within proprietary technology platforms and learning new systems quickly
• Strong analytical thinking and decision-making skills
• Ability to perform effectively in fast-paced high-volume underwriting environments
• Bachelors degree or equivalent professional underwriting experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience underwriting:
  • Jewelry insurance
  • Watches
  • Fine art
  • High-value personal property or valuables
• Familiarity with appraisal evaluation and validation processes
• Ability to recognize credentialed appraisers and identify common appraisal inconsistencies or pitfalls
• Previous experience working within InsurTech or digitally-native insurance environments
• Property & Casualty Producer License
• Previous sales or customer service experience

Required Hard Skills

• Personal lines property underwriting
• Risk assessment and analysis
• Appraisal review and evaluation
• Policy issuance and cancellation decision-making
• Loss history analysis
• Documentation review and validation
• Underwriting file management
• Insurance pricing evaluation
• Audit-ready documentation practices
• CRM and underwriting system proficiency
• Written underwriting documentation
• Customer communication across multiple channels

Required Soft Skills

• Sound judgment and decision-making
• Attention to detail
• Critical thinking
• Strong communication skills
• Professional discretion
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Accountability and ownership
• Adaptability
• Time management
• Problem-solving
• Ability to work independently
• Process improvement mindset

What Success Looks Like

• Consistently making accurate and well-documented underwriting decisions
• Effectively identifying risk indicators and preventing exposure issues
• Delivering high-quality customer interactions with professionalism and clarity
• Maintaining strong attention to detail across documentation and policy reviews
• Collaborating effectively with underwriting assistants and cross-functional teams
• Contributing to operational efficiency and underwriting process improvements

Why This Role is Exciting

This role offers the opportunity to work on specialized high-value insurance products within a modern and technology-driven underwriting environment. The position provides meaningful ownership autonomy in decision-making and the chance to directly influence underwriting quality customer experience and operational improvements while protecting some of customers most valued personal assets.