Risk assessment and referral
🎯 Purpose
Procedure governing the assessment and handling of quotes referred to Underwriting due to rating exceptions, unusual risk characteristics, or automated system-triggered controls.
Process owner: Underwriting Operations Manager Service level expectation: Referral response issued within 1 working day
✅ Referral handling procedure
Receive and classify underwriting referrals generated through intermediary authority exceptions or automated system triggers
Validate whether the referral falls outside delegated authority and return invalid referrals with the applicable authority reference where appropriate
Assess the exposure against underwriting guidance and document all material risk considerations, proposed terms, or decline rationale
Communicate revised terms, loadings, exclusions, or excess changes in clear customer-ready wording
Issue the referral outcome through the underwriting queue within SLA requirements and confirm any verbal decisions in-system on the same business day
Record the operational outcome code and retain evidence supporting the underwriting decision trail
🛡 Governance and authority controls
⚠️ Delegated authority control
Underwriters must only bind risks within their approved delegated authority limits. All breaches, including retrospective discoveries, must be recorded in the operational risk register and escalated through the defined governance route.
The delegated authority matrix is maintained within Roles and Responsibilities and defines escalation routes for authority decisions exceeding personal underwriting limits.