Graduate Development - Commercial Lines

A Career in Commercial Insurance

There's more to commercial underwriting than you might think. In the Graduate Development program, you'll learn the business of commercial lines and prepare for the variety of challenges you may encounter each day as a commercial lines underwriter.

Commercial lines underwriting involves:

• Networking and building relationships with insurance agents
• Visiting on-site with highly diverse commercial customers to understand their business needs
• Analyzing customer data to prepare account proposals

In commercial lines we offer opportunities in our Westfield Center, Ohio, home office; in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; or one of our field offices located in several states across the country. After completing the GDP, you will be placed in one of these positions, based on the best fit for you:

• Small Business Account Underwriter
• Home Office Account Underwriter
• Field Underwriter

Day in the Life of a Commercial Lines Underwriter

8:00 A.M. Organize my stack of work for the day. Should I work on renewals or new business first' Maybe I should get my mail endorsements done, as that should be quick.

8:10 A.M. Receive my first agent's call of the day. I quickly put on my problem-solving hat as I work through a coverage question with the agent. While we are on the phone, I initiate a pre-renewal sales strategy on an account I have renewing with him in 60 days. Where do we need the pricing to be for renewal? What coverages do we need to add for the insured this year? Is there any outside or internal competition?

9:00 A.M. Put the finishing touches on a new business proposal to an agent. I e-mail over the quote with a list of information I will need to have completed in order to issue the policy, as well as any recommendations that were made by our risk control department during the inspection.

10:30 A.M. Back to working on renewals. I receive a phone call from a different agent asking if I would like to accompany him on a renewal presentation with our client. "I would love to," I say. We'll make the appointment for next week. I make a note to review the policy again and see if I can identify any risk management techniques that I can share with the insured. I also put in a call to our local risk control representative to get his thoughts and insight on this type of account. It is important that I am prepared for this meeting, both on the operations of the specific account and the industry segment.

12:00 P.M. Head out for a lunch meeting with one of my local agents. We discuss what is going on in the current marketplace, local businesses, and how we can partner together to retain accounts.

1:00 P.M. After lunch, we go back to his office and I spend time with the account managers and other producers in the agency. I have a sizable new business goal this year and I want to make sure that I am looking at any possible new business opportunities with each of my agencies.

3:00 P.M. Head back to the office and check my messages. I return all of my phone calls and organize my desk for the next day.

5:00 P.M. Time to go home. It has been a very productive day and I have helped a lot of people. I received issue orders on the last of my month's renewals, bound 2 new business accounts, and spent a lot of time working my relationships with my agents. It has been very busy, but I go home to my family knowing that I made a big difference to our company's bottom-line.