Why Underwriting Workbenches Are Essential for P&C Insurers in 2025

The Evolving Landscape of Underwriting in 2025

In 2025, the property and casualty (P&C) insurance sector faces mounting pressures from escalating submission volumes and heightened broker expectations for rapid turnaround. At the same time, there is an increasing imperative for data-driven decision-making to optimize underwriting portfolios. These challenges are intensifying due to an aging workforce and increasingly complex regulatory landscapes. To navigate this evolving landscape, insurers are increasingly adopting modern tools such as underwriting workbenches.

Why Underwriting Workbenches Are Critical for P&C Insurers

A 2021 Accenture survey revealed that underwriters spend up to 40% of their time on non-core and administrative activities. The underwriting process has historically been fragmented, involving multiple systems for data ingestion, document review, pricing, and approval. This patchwork approach creates inefficiencies, delays, and inconsistencies.

Core Capabilities of a Modern Underwriting Workbench 

A modern underwriting workbench streamlines repetitive, manual tasks—freeing underwriters to focus on strategic decision-making and in-depth risk analysis. Key capabilities include automation, real-time data access, and seamless workflow integration.  Research states that underwriters can reallocate 14 hours per week to high-value broker/customer relationships and portfolio management instead of working on manual and repetitive tasks.  

Here’s a closer look at what makes it stand out: 

1. Fast Quoting & Intake Triaging: Reduces the time needed to provide quotes (time-to-quote) through efficient initial handling of submissions, helping to win more competitive business. 
2. Third-Party Data Integration: Enhances submission information by incorporating third-party risk data, contributing to more accurate risk assessment and better pricing outcomes. 
3. Agile Rate & Rule Management: Enables rapid management and updates of underwriting rates and rules using flexible low-code tools and familiar Excel interfaces, providing the agility needed to keep pace with market changes. 
4. Contextual Collaboration: Enables direct communication between underwriters and agents/brokers via chat functionalities tied directly to specific underwriting cases, improving clarity and response times. 
5. Automated Underwriting (STP): Uses configurable underwriting rules to enable straight-through processing (STP) for standard, straightforward cases, increasing operational efficiency and freeing up underwriters for complex risks. 

The Rise of Underwriting Co-Pilots 

Co-pilots are AI-powered tools that act like smart digital assistants for underwriters, offering real-time suggestions, automating repetitive tasks and manage complex tasks with ease 

1. Analyze structured and unstructured data to uncover actionable insights to classify submissions and detect complex risk patterns 
2. Uses generative AI to automate repetitive tasks and offers smart recommendations. 
3. Analyzes both internal and external information to identify patterns and predict risks.  
4. Support faster, more accurate underwriting while reducing manual effort.  
5. Apply natural language processing to interpret documents and extract critical information 
6. The tool brings natural language understanding and advanced automation into the underwriting process.    

As agentic AI continues to advance, these co-pilots are becoming valuable partners, improving portfolio quality, improving efficiency, and enabling a smarter, data-driven approach to underwriting. 

Insillion Featured in the Celent Underwriting Report

Insillion has earned a spot in Celent’s prestigious 2024 reports Unlocking Underwriting Success: Global Edition and North American Edition. The reports highlight the rise in underwriting workbenches as insurers improve decision-making and operational efficiency. These workbenches address the limitations of traditional PAS by providing tools that help underwriters. The report outlines its features and showcases available solutions in the marketplace.

Out of 15 global and 21 North American platforms reviewed, Insillion stands out for its modern, cloud-native architecture and API-first design.