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Underwriting

Always about making the right decision for the customer

Underwriting

We have over 400 people in the Underwriting function at NFU Mutual. They can be found in our Stratford-upon-Avon Head Office, in our regional centres in Belfast, Bristol, Glasgow, and York, and alongside teams of home-based Underwriters. No matter where they’re based, they focus on providing Underwriting Services to NFU Mutual Agents and our Customer Contact Centre in Glasgow.

Our Underwriting Strategy

Our goal in both setting our Underwriting Strategy and providing Underwriting Services to agents and customers is two-fold. Firstly, to provide members with the reassurance of first class insurance protection. Secondly, to do so within a framework of Underwriting Excellence which delivers a sustainable and profitable book of insurance risk to NFU Mutual.

We work hard to ensure our Underwriting philosophy is always 100% aligned to NFU Mutual’s three key strategic objectives of being a great company to do business with, a great place to work and delivering sustainable profitable growth.

Our key Underwriting teams

Large Corporate Insurance Underwriting

Counter Fraud Underwriting

Mutual Direct (Underwriting team)

Performance, Operations and Governance

Personal Lines Underwriting

Regional Underwriting

Reinsurance

Large Corporate Insurance Underwriting

Our Large Corporate Insurance underwriters work closely with colleagues in the Claims and Risk Management teams to deliver bespoke, added value services that support our clients in managing their risks. They also work in partnership with the Agency Network and our partner Insurance Brokers to deliver solutions. We underwrite and manage the largest and most complex corporate risks with premiums typically in excess of £100,000 and up to £10 million. We underwrite Property, Liability and Motor Fleet risks to develop long term sustainable profitable growth.

Counter Fraud Underwriting

Put simply, we protect the business and our customers. With over 20 people, we manage and deliver NFU Mutual’s underwriting fraud strategy - setting out what our tolerances are. We’re also responsible for our underwriting fraud system as well as the regulatory governance and control of the fraud. We investigate fraud following our own NFU Mutual guidelines while working closely with fraud regulatory bodies and the wider market.

Mutual Direct (Underwriting team)

We're involved in a range of underwriting support for insurance policies held through the NFU Mutual Direct account. It's important work, as we make sure the Direct division applies the company’s overall underwriting strategy effectively, manage performance and provide a range of support to customers. This Involves answering customer questions on technical issues, premiums or cover, dealing with new business sales, reviewing renewals and handling customer requests. In short, we provide a strong service to the business on a variety of topics.

Performance, Operations and Governance

Through the Operations team we are responsible for the design of key Underwriting processes, looking to deploy our Underwriting and Pricing strategy in ways that balance efficiency and effectiveness. The Risk and Control Team are responsible for our governance framework, ensuring that we have appropriate first line controls in respect of both the Head Office Underwriting and Pricing Team, and Regional Underwriters. The Performance Team analyse the numbers, ensuring that the actions in place are delivering the required result, and where we are off plan, they are responsible for recommending remedial action to get us back on track.

Personal Lines Underwriting

We’re responsible for NFU Mutual’s Personal Lines underwriting strategy – which is aimed at delivering sustainable profitable growth whilst effectively managing and controlling our personal lines exposure and risk. We decide where we want to write business, what lines of business we want to write and what type of risks we want to attract. Our strong technical underwriting capability ensures that we’re delivering excellent underwriting judgement and consistent decision making across our General Insurance business. We’re also responsible for governance and control around technical underwriting.

Regional Underwriting

Our Regional Commercial and Personal Lines Underwriting teams sit across our offices in York, Bristol, Stratford upon Avon, Belfast, Chester, Norwich and Glasgow. We work with 288 agencies across the UK-wide NFU Mutual Agency Network to provide Underwriting Services for our members, both from the business communities and the general public. We focus our energy and underwriting expertise to help agents provide innovative insurance and risk management solutions to protect their property, assets and their responsibilities. We do this by analysing and assessing individual customers risk and understanding their requirements.

Reinsurance

We facilitate NFU Mutual’s ability to manage and reduce insurance volatility, by transferring risk through the use of reinsurance. Our work involves the negotiation, placement and management of reinsurance Treaties with a number of different external reinsurance companies. This process supports both our Corporate strategic objectives and our wider underwriting strategy.

Commercial Underwriting

As Underwriters, it's our job to analyse and assess the risk associated with our customers. In the Commercial Underwriting team, we work hard to understand the unique needs of businesses and other organisations, so we can ensure they have the right level of cover to protect against those risks. Whether it's water leakage, theft, property or vehicle damage, we determine the terms and the cost to provide appropriate coverage to our customers. 

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Supporting the Agency Network

We work closely with more than 300 Agents in our UK-wide Agency Network and operate out of Regional Service Centres across the UK. Our focus and drive to deliver sustainable, profitable growth while managing commercial risk, means that the Commercial Underwriting Team is vital to the success of NFU Mutual.  

Our key Commercial Underwriting teams

Commercial Lines Underwriting

Package Insurance

Small Medium Enterprise and Mid-Market

Mid-Corporate and Estates

New Business

Commercial Lines Underwriting

We’re responsible for NFU Mutual’s Commercial Lines underwriting strategy – which is aimed at delivering sustainable profitable growth whilst effectively managing and controlling our commercial insurance exposure and risk. We decide where we want to write business, what lines of business we want to write and what type of risks we want to attract. Our strong technical underwriting capability ensures that we’re delivering excellent underwriting judgement and consistent decision making across our General Insurance business. We’re also responsible for governance and control around technical underwriting. 

Package Insurance

Package Insurance is all about protecting business owners, their employees, and their business assets. At NFU Mutual, when we say, "Package Insurance", we're talking about business clients with up to a £3 million turnover. This means a fast-paced, dynamic environment - with work split between phone calls and actions coming through the Agency. 

Small Medium Enterprise and Mid-Market

This team looks after existing customers who may want to change or renew their policies. This means looking at the annual renewal to ensure customers keep the correct level of coverage. This involves managing any changes to a policy that a customer might want mid-term, such as taking on new risks. We work with a wide variety of sectors and businesses, everything from castles to water parks. 

Mid-Corporate and Estates

The Mid-Corporate and Estates Team deals with our higher value policies, such as estates and any premium exceeding £35,000. These larger cases will usually be more complex, with broader levels of risk, and often involve dealing with Agencies and third parties rather than directly with the business. The team works with high-net-worth customers, such as mansion houses and farms, as well as renewables, solar farms and biomass boilers, making sure they have the cover they need.

New Business

Working closely with our Agency Network, the New Business Team assesses Agents' quotes for new insurance policies under £10,000 and decides whether they're acceptable and offer the right level of cover. On top of this, we also develop training workshops to help Agents refine their submissions. This allows NFU Mutual and the Agencies to help each other, creating a smooth and efficient process for delivering to new customers.  

What you could be working on

Whichever Underwriting team you join, you'll play an important role in maintaining NFU Mutual's reputation as a fair and reliable insurer. You could be involved in:

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Controlling and managing insurance exposure and risk to create sustainable, profitable growth.

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Protecting the business and our customers from potential fraud.

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Providing Underwriting Service to our Agents and members, going home knowing what you’ve done today could make a real difference if the worst happens.

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Helping to keep us on track to hit our financial plans.

 

Meet some of the team

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Alex Baker, Policy Validation Officer

The Policy Validation team is spread across Bristol, York, and Glasgow. Our goal is to protect NFU Mutual and their genuine customers. I’m based in Bristol but the whole team works together to detect and prevent policy fraud, with a focus on identifying non-disclosure and misrepresentation. 

My role is challenging but rewarding. I especially enjoy conducting thorough searches, gathering intelligence, and completing fact finds to support my investigations, ensuring the right outcomes are achieved. 

I enjoy being part of a team that brings a wealth of knowledge from different backgrounds, including Underwriting, Claims, Claims Validation, Delegated Underwriting Authority, and the Police. We utilise our diverse expertise to collaborate, support each other, and provide valuable assistance.

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Simon Mayo, LCI Underwriting Team Manager

I joined NFU Mutual in 2001 and remember thinking the people were very open, honest and friendly. They were clearly proud of the business. Since I joined, I’ve had lots of support from the people around me - managers, coaches and colleagues across the business. This has enabled me to move from underwriting roles into team leading and now management.

The culture here is about performance, giving everyone the opportunities to do their best and achieve their goals. I’ve always been able to challenge myself and increase my knowledge by taking on new responsibilities outside my role to prepare me for my next one.

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Lucy Francis, Underwriter (Bespoke and High Net Worth)

Working in High Net Worth, it’s all about using my expertise to support Agents in our UK-wide Agency Network, so they can pass on that knowledge to our customers. For example, I’m really interested in art and jewellery and love getting to see our customer’s collections, hearing the stories behind it all and making sure we provide the best insurance solution for them. 

I started my career at NFU Mutual but left to be a broker. I soon came back! When I was a broker, I felt really isolated with no support, but here, everyone works so well together. That makes a massive difference.

Current vacancies

Here are just some of the vacancies that we currently have in Underwriting. Simply, click on the job title to find out more.

You can see all the jobs we have available by clicking the ‘See all jobs’ button. But don’t forget, if you can’t find your perfect job right now, you can 'Register for job alerts' or ‘Make a speculative application’. That way, we’ll get in touch when a relevant job does come up.

If you have any questions about the opportunities that we have available, or if there's anything else you'd like to know before you apply (or indeed during the application process), please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Email the resourcing team