What are the factors that an underwriter could use to select and classify risk?

Asked by: Brennan Boehm  |  Last update: May 3, 2025
Score: 4.8/5 (50 votes)

Once this information has been processed, the life insurance company underwriter will determine what risk category you fall in based on characteristics such as your age, occupation, family health history and overall health status. These findings will place you in a rating class that will determine your premiums.

Which of the following are factors that an underwriter could use to select and classify risk except?

An underwriter could use Occupation, Avocation, and Morals to classify risk, but not National origin, as it would be discriminatory. The correct option is C. Explanation: All of the following are factors that an underwriter could use to select and classify risk EXCEPT National origin.

What are the risk factors considered in underwriting?

Life insurance underwriting seeks to assess the risk of insuring a potential policyholder based on their age, health, lifestyle, occupation, family medical history, hobbies, and other factors determined by the underwriter.

What are the risk classification used by underwriters?

Insurance companies typically utilize three risk classes: super preferred, preferred, and standard. These can vary by insurance company. Insurance companies can also have a substandard risk class.

How do underwriters determine risk?

To do so, risk underwriters quantify the risks of financial operations and analyse the solvency of our customers' clients based on the examination of financial statements and solvency ratings. They also use internally-built sectorial and regional reports to identify trends that may impact customers.

Insurance Underwriting Factors

15 related questions found

What is the most important factor in underwriting?

In the insurance industry, each type of insurance deals with its own types of insurance risk.

What scores do most lenders use to determine risk?

FICO® scores are the credit scores most lenders use to determine your credit risk and the interest rate you will be charged.

What are the 4 risk classifications?

The 4 main categories of risk are financial risk, operational risk, compliance risk, and legal risk. Financial Risk: This category includes risks related to the financial performance of a business.

How do you classify underwriting?

Underwriting is commonly categorized into three main types:
  1. Loan Underwriting. The loan underwriting process involves assessing an individual's or business' eligibility for receiving debt financing. ...
  2. Insurance Underwriting. ...
  3. Securities Underwriting.

How can risk be classified?

And risks are normally classified as time (schedule), cost (budget), and scope but they could also include client transformation relationship risks, contractual risks, technological risks, scope and complexity risks, environmental (corporate) risks, personnel risks, and client acceptance risks.

What factors does the underwriter consider?

Let's discuss what underwriters look for in the loan approval process. In considering your application, they look at a variety of factors, including your credit history, income and any outstanding debts. This important step in the process focuses on the three C's of underwriting — credit, capacity and collateral.

What are the 4 main risk factors?

In general, risk factors can be categorised into the following groups:
  • Behavioural.
  • Physiological.
  • Demographic.
  • Environmental.
  • Genetic.

What are the 8 underwriting factors?

(1) current or reasonably expected income or assets; (2) current employment status; (3) the monthly payment on the covered transaction; (4) the monthly payment on any simultaneous loan; (5) the monthly payment for mortgage-related obligations; (6) current debt obligations, alimony, and child support; (7) the monthly “ ...

What factors must be considered when classifying risks?

“Risk analysis should consider factors such as”:
  • 1 – The likelihood of events and consequences. ...
  • 2 – The nature and magnitude of consequences. ...
  • 3 – Complexity and connectivity. ...
  • 4 – Time-related factors and volatility. ...
  • 5 – The effectiveness of existing controls. ...
  • 6 – Sensitivity and confidence levels.

Which are risk factors to be considered during the underwriting process?

How Insurance Risk Factors Into Insurance Underwriting
  • Age and gender of the insured.
  • Occupation.
  • Health status.
  • Height and weight.
  • Family health history.
  • Habits such as tobacco, alcohol, or drug use.
  • Risky hobbies such as deep-sea diving or sky diving.

What are key underwriting factors?

Example of Underwriting Standards
  • Assessment of the applicant's repayment willingness and capacity.
  • Credit history and performance on past and existing obligations.
  • Income assessments, such as self employment income, investment income, etc.
  • Consideration of the borrower's aggregate credit relationship with the bank.

What does the underwriter classify the risk into?

Life insurance underwriting entails assigning life insurance applicants a risk classification depending on factors such as age, medical history, and gender. The underwriter evaluates claims to determine the face amount (money paid to beneficiaries upon the death of the policyholder).

What are the three C's of underwriting?

Mortgage Fundamentals: The Three C's of Underwriting - Credit, Capacity, Collateral.

How do underwriters assess risk?

When underwriting a policy, insurers consider many factors in their assessment of risk. Some of the things taken into account include your age, health, credit history, and the type of coverage you're seeking. In some cases, you may need to undergo a medical exam to get coverage.

What is a risk classification used by underwriters for life insurance?

Standard*The three ratings classifications that denote the risk level of insured are standard, substandard, and preferred. This classification system helps insurers to decide if an insured should pay a higher premium.

What are the 3 ways of categorizing risk?

Categorizing risks as internal, external, or strategic can help a business in a number of ways, including helping to build strategies to avoid or minimize impact.

What are the 4 Cs of risk?

KCSIE groups online safety risks into four areas: content, contact, conduct and commerce (sometimes referred to as contract).

Do lenders use FICO or Vantage?

VantageScore vs.

FICO scores are the most widely used scores used by lenders to determine the creditworthiness of consumers. This means more institutions use FICO over any other scoring model to decide if someone should get a loan, mortgage, or any other credit product.

How do lenders assess risk?

Lenders can use a number of tools to help them assess the credit risks posed by individuals and companies. Chief among them are probability of default, loss given default, and exposure at default. The higher the risk, the more the borrower is likely to have to pay for a loan if they qualify for one at all.

What is a good risk score?

You can find a detailed explanation of how it's calculated below; however, for general reference, a score of 1–3 is considered low, 4–6 is medium, and 7–10 is high.