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Finally! A Telephone Interview
AND a Decision.

For the most part, nearly all IBU clients have an existing underwriting department. Our role in providing telephone interviews by underwriters is to support services to their in-house resources. However, for one company that IBU conducts telephone interviews, we are now also providing decisions resulting from the telephone interview.

IBU is working collaboratively to help the company build its underwriting department around the power of an interview by an experienced underwriter. We have been underway for a couple of months and here is how the underwriting process works…

The IBU underwriter checks a database that pulls up MIB, MVR, and prescription profile information. Armed with this information and the application, the IBU underwriter calls the applicant, asks a series of questions, and makes the underwriting decision on the spot. No blood! No urine! No paramed!

“We are able to reach by telephone and approve about 80% of the cases within three days,” says IBU team leader Mary Lou Brignano. “Most of the applicants have been prepared that they need to complete the phone interview to get the insurance. This makes the applicants relatively easy to reach by phone.”

“If there’s a hit from one of the databases, I’m usually able to resolve the issue right over the phone,” says IBU underwriter Debbie Stewart.

The product is low face amount term insurance, $250,000 and under. The idea is to win applicants and agents on fast turnaround time while providing reasonably competitive term insurance to the under served middle market.

As of this writing (June 2006) IBU has done about 200 cases and expects steady GROWTH…