Thinklytics

Regional Commercial Lines Insurer · Insurance · Atlanta, GA · 10 weeks

Loss ratio analytics deployed to 42 underwriters

A regional commercial lines insurer lacked loss ratio data at the underwriter level, so underwriters priced risks blindly without performance feedback. We developed a loss ratio analytics platform that delivered real-time performance insights to each underwriter. This direct visibility helped improve the combined ratio by 3.2 points within six months.

Challenge

The actuarial team delivered loss ratio reports quarterly as static PDFs. Underwriters got data that was already 90 days old and summarized only at the division level. This delay and aggregation meant underwriters couldn’t use the reports to improve specific underwriting decisions.

Approach

We created a near-real-time loss ratio analytics platform in Power BI by linking claims and policy data. Underwriters received personalized dashboards displaying loss ratio, combined ratio, and loss trends broken down by industry class, coverage type, and policy vintage. We set up automated alerts to notify when a book’s loss ratio went beyond set limits.

Outcome

Underwriters got loss ratio data broken down by individual books for the first time. They used this insight to adjust pricing on weak segments, cutting the combined ratio by 3.2 points in six months. Meanwhile, the actuarial team cut quarterly reporting from about three weeks of effort to roughly one, giving back about seven analyst-weeks a year, by switching from manual PDF reports to an automated platform.

How We Kept Tabs on Underwriter Performance to Make Better Calls

Instead of just eyeballing loss ratios by division or product line, we dug into each underwriter’s numbers. That way, every underwriter could see exactly how their own policies were doing. It put the ball in their court. And frankly, the info was way richer than those boring quarterly PDFs they used to get.

We set up alerts to spot gear wear long before anything breaks.

We built automated alerts that shoot a quick ping to underwriters and managers as soon as a segment’s loss ratio spikes past a set point. No more waiting around for quarterly reviews, they get the warning instantly. This way, they can adjust pricing on the spot and stop losses from getting out of hand.

Results

  • 3.2 points Combined ratio improvement in two quarters
  • 90 days to real-time Loss ratio feedback latency
  • 7 weeks/yr Actuarial reporting time given back
  • 42 Underwriters with personalized loss ratio dashboards

Before, our underwriters couldn’t track how their risks were actually doing. With Thinklytics, they started seeing loss ratios in real time for the first time. In just two quarters, our combined ratio improved by 3.2 points, saving us tens of millions.

Chief Underwriting Officer, Regional Commercial Lines Insurer

In the client's terms

The question

What decisions is this reporting supposed to support?

The situation

Actuarial issued loss ratio reports quarterly as static PDFs, aggregated to division level. An underwriter received data 90 days old about a division rather than about their own book.

What we found

The reporting was accurate and unusable. Nothing an underwriter could act on survives aggregation to division level, so the report described the outcome of decisions rather than informing the next ones.

What it produced

Underwriters saw loss ratio at book level for the first time and repriced the weak segments, taking 3.2 points off the combined ratio in two quarters. Actuarial quarterly reporting fell from roughly three weeks to one, returning about seven analyst-weeks a year.

The roadmap

Claims and policy data were joined into a near real-time loss ratio platform in Power BI. Each underwriter gets their own book broken down by industry class, coverage type and policy vintage, which is the grain at which pricing decisions are actually made. Automated alerts fire when a book crosses a threshold.

The work behind this result

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Frequently asked questions

At what level should underwriters see loss ratio?

Their own book. Division and product-line aggregates describe an outcome no individual controls. Cutting to book level for 42 underwriters here, by industry class, coverage type and policy vintage, took 3.2 points off the combined ratio in two quarters.

How stale is quarterly loss ratio reporting?

Ninety days at this commercial lines insurer, issued as static PDFs. Automated alerts now reach the underwriter and their manager when a segment crosses a threshold, so repricing happens while the deterioration is still recoverable.

What does automating actuarial reporting release?

About seven analyst-weeks a year here. Quarterly reporting fell from roughly three weeks of effort to one once the platform replaced manual PDF assembly.