Why underwriting inefficiency is holding back performance and profitability

Underwriters deserve better - but legacy processes are holding them back

Underwriters enter the profession to assess risks, price them strategically, and build strong broker relationships. But instead of focusing on high-value decision-making, they are often stuck in a cycle of manual processes, fragmented systems, and inefficient workflows.

The numbers from our State of Pricing Report tell the story:

• Underwriters spend an average of 3 hours per day on manual data entry, time that should be spent on risk assessment.

• The peer review process takes 10 days on average, delaying critical decisions.

• It takes an average of 8 days from submission to quote, and another 12 days from quote to bind, putting insurers at a competitive disadvantage.

Despite years of discussion about modernization, 70% of underwriters say they haven’t seen meaningful improvements in their workflows, and nearly 20% call it an urgent issue.

The root cause: why underwriting workflows are broken

Too many insurers still rely on disconnected systems and legacy processes that slow down underwriting instead of enabling it. While fewer insurers today rely entirely on spreadsheets, the so-called "super spreadsheet" is still a core tool in many underwriting teams.

1. Siloed systems drain efficiency

• Submission data arrives in varied formats across multiple platforms, requiring underwriters to manually clean, reformat, and reconcile information before they can even begin pricing.

• Disjointed data management leads to version control challenges—an underwriter pricing a risk may rely on outdated exposure data, while an actuary conducting simulations or trend analysis works with a completely different dataset. These version control issues create inefficiencies, increase the risk of errors, and make it difficult for insurers to maintain a single source of truth.

• Poor integration between pricing models, underwriting workbenches, and policy admin systems slow down workflows and increase the risk of errors.

• Underwriters often need to manually search third-party data sources - such as public datasets (e.g. Companies House) or news articles - to supplement pricing models. This extra step adds complexity and further delays decision-making.

🔹 54% of underwriters say they waste too much time on admin and inefficient processes.

2. Slow pricing model adjustments damage competitiveness

• Rigid legacy systems make it difficult for underwriters to efficiently price complex risks. This can lead them to relying on judgment-based pricing, instead of benefiting from structured models.

• For more complex policies, underwriters may need to work across multiple pricing models (sometimes four or five) before consolidating the results into a final, weighted quote. While this can be done in Excel, many underwriters avoid it as they find that Excel struggles to handle the workload at scale.

• Slow and cumbersome model updates mean pricing tools become less useful over time, leaving underwriters stuck with outdated assumptions or workarounds that undermine your pricing accuracy.

🔹 47% of underwriters say their pricing models are not fit for purpose.

3. Lack of actionable insights limit continuous improvement

• Insurers struggle to capture data from lost deals, leaving them guessing about what’s driving success or failure.

• Without a clear feedback loop between underwriting decisions and portfolio outcomes, insurers are missing key opportunities to refine pricing and optimize risk selection.

• Underwriters lack real-time visibility into the impact of pricing decisions, which makes it difficult to track profitability across their book of business.

How hx Renew transforms underwriting workflows

hx Renew moves underwriting from manual, siloed, and rigid to agile, data-driven, and scalable. It empowers underwriters to make better decisions at the point of pricing, reduce time spent on admin, and unlock hidden margins.

1. Streamlines data ingestion & eliminates re-keying

• hx Renew streamlines the ingestion of submission data, reducing the burden of manual data cleaning, reformatting, and entry.

• External data sources are integrated directly into the underwriting workflow, eliminating hours of manual data entry and time wasted on low-value tasks.

2. Connects pricing, underwriting, and portfolio management

• hx Renew creates a seamless feedback loop between underwriters, actuaries, and decision-makers, so your pricing, risk selection, and portfolio strategy are always aligned.

• Peer review is automated and integrated into internal communication platforms like Microsoft Teams to reduce bottlenecks.

• Underwriters work from a single source of truth, avoiding discrepancies between disconnected systems.

3. Enables instant pricing adjustments to keep pace with market changes

• Underwriters can adjust key pricing variables in real-time - whether it’s attachment points, coverage tiers, or layer structures - without waiting for IT support.

• Changes are instantly reflected in the pricing workflow, enabling faster broker responses and improving win rates.

4. Captures data for continuous optimisation

• hx Renew retains all underwriting decisions, including declined and lost quotes. This creates an ever-growing data asset for better pricing strategies.

• Underwriters gain real-time visibility into portfolio impact, enabling smarter, data-driven decision-making.

• This continuous feedback loop allows underwriters and actuaries to refine models based on real-world underwriting performance.

Beyond cost savings—underwriting as a competitive advantage

The true value of hx Renew goes beyond cutting inefficiencies. It all about turning underwriting into a proactive, strategic function that fuels growth, improves profitability, and sets insurers apart from the competition.

• Faster quote turnaround times mean insurers win more business.

• Underwriters spend less time on admin and more time on high-value risk assessment.

• Actuarial collaboration improves, leading to stronger pricing models and better decision-making.

Most insurance professionals have seen pricing transformations come and go over the years, often with varied levels of success. Despite decades of technological advancement, many underwriters are still spending a good chunk of their day in spreadsheets that are splitting at the seams, waiting half an hour for a model to load and manually copying data. It’s important to remember that pricing doesn’t have to be slow, frustrating, or inefficient; there’s a solution, and many leading insurers are already taking advantage of it.

Insurers who modernize today will gain a strategic advantage tomorrow. To learn more about how you could transform your pricing with hx Renew, reach out and have a chat with our team.