Instant Issue Is Still Years Off

If you have been wondering when instant issue of life insurance would be a reality, the answer is still the same -- a few more years.

Those involved in developing systems say that 2020 might be optimistic, but still a possibility. What is known is that there is a vast amount of data that is only getting larger, said the panelists at "Advancing Underwriting Trends Toward Instant Issue" on Monday at the LIMRA Annual Conference in Chicago.

Scott Grandmont, vice president, underwriting solutions, RGAx, was agreeing with fellow panelist, Michael Taht, senior vice president, individual insurance, Munich Re, that "millions" of different data sources were becoming available.

"In fact, we have a glut of data," Grandmont said. But at the moment, much of predictive analytics don't appear to be outperforming traditional tests.

Grandmont said the challenge was to get the industry to apply imagination as large as the data.

"Think big," Grandmont said, "then think about whether it can be done."

Steven A. Morelli is editor-in-chief for InsuranceNewsNet. He has more than 25 years of experience as a reporter and editor for newspapers, magazines and insurance periodicals. He was also vice president of communications for an insurance agents’ association. Steve can be reached at smorelli@insurancenewsnet.com.

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