The Spark of Human Connection (Page 2 of 2)

A Friendly Voice on the Phone

There seems to be a spark of human connection that occurs when applicants speak with an intelligent, personable underwriter. The conversational tone gets applicants talking, and keeps them talking.

The secret to conducting an effective interview with a life insurance applicant is to ask the questions in such as way that applicants don’t feel threatened or that they’re being judged in any way. Rather than reading from a rigid script of drill down questions, experienced underwriters are able to rephrase questions to encourage truthful answers.

For example, if a case is flagged for special attention due to a medication that is recognized as being prescribed for depression, when the underwriter asks, “Do you have any history of mental disorder?”, the applicant may likely say no because they don’t view their condition as being a “mental disorder.” Later in the interview when the applicant confirms their prescribed medication, an experienced underwriter will know to rephrase questions in a more sensitive way. Instead of saying, “Do you have depression?”, which can be viewed harsh or judgmental, the underwriter will ask, “Are you taking that for some stress?” or “Can you tell me about when you began taking that medication.”

At this point, applicants generally begin to open up and disclose the root cause of the problem such as, “I am going through a divorce” or “My work was very stressful.” Pretty soon, the underwriter is able to discern the full picture of the applicant’s story, and that’s the real difference between an APS and an interview by an underwriter. An interview tells the story whereas the APS only reflects the clinical details.

The gut instinct of experienced underwriters lets them to pick up on nuances in the conversation and probe more deeply to determine if whether or not there is reason for concern. With depression and anxiety cases, an interview reveals a story; a story that is rarely found in an APS. The benefit for insurers and applicants is that more cases are able to be underwritten favorably, and in less time, than otherwise would be allowed based olely on an APS. For example, it is now common for anti-depression medications to be prescribed for menopause, which in itself does not present a significant mortality risk. Another example is depression medications that are prescribed to treat ADHD.

In conducting interviews with applicants throughout the US and the United Kingdom, IBU’s experienced underwriters have found applicants to generally be honest and forthcoming. In fact, applicants in the UK are even more open as there is less social stigma associated with depression and anxiety as medical conditions.

Getting Good Risks on the Books Faster

Insurance companies in the US and UK are “carving out” depression / anxiety APS’S and GPR’s and instead using an interview by an underwriter.

Besides gathering better information than an APS, interviews by underwriters save significant time and money. In the US, an APS typically costs around $50. In the UK, the cost for a GPR is £65. In contrast, the cost for an interview by an underwriter is around $26 US and £18 UK. This represents savings of about $24 per application in raw costs for most insurers in the US and £47 in the UK. In terms of cycle time, an interview by an underwriter is generally completed in three days as opposed to three weeks or more for an APS or GP report. Good risks get on the books faster long before the inevitable buyers remorse sets in.

Any underwriting department, whether they are using teleunderwriting or not, can benefit from "carving out" depression and anxiety cases and using an interview by an underwriter. Companies using this approach are already reaping the rewards of lower underwriting costs and faster cycle time, while concentrating APS’s and GPR’s to the risks where they are truly warranted.

About the Author
Lincoln Tedeschi is founder and president of Interviews by Underwriters (IBU) Inc. An innovative concept in life and health underwriting, IBU has established the model for using experienced, professional underwriters to conduct phone interviews with insurance applicants. Lincoln is a well-known and respected leader in the utilization of life/health insurance underwriting talent. He holds a BA in Economics at the University of Connecticut.