Business Development Underwriter

Company Details

 

Berkley Aspire is an operating unit of the W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE – WRB), a Fortune 500 global insurer founded in 1967.

 

Aspire underwrites excess & surplus lines insurance solutions across the United States for hard-to-place commercial risks. Our direct to retail distribution strategy is unique, and we underwrite general liability, excess liability, property, and inland marine coverages. Verticals we specialize in include construction/contractors, habitational/real estate, hospitality/special events, entertainment/amusements, and manufacturing/products liability. Most of our customers are small to medium sized businesses and we operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

 

At Aspire, we strive to make surplus lines insurance easy to understand and easy to navigate. We think big. We lean in and listen. We work hard. We are open to new ideas. We experiment and innovate. We take care of our customers and support our teammates. And, if we do it right and stay true to our core principles, then we deliver profitable growth on a consistent basis.

 

We are an organization dedicated to an employee-centric company culture and a positively disruptive business model.

 

By thinking outside the box, we are making insurance a little more exciting and a little more fun.

 

Our home office is in Scottsdale, AZ. We also have offices in Cincinnati, OH, Richmond, VA, and Charlotte, NC. Our growing number of work-from-home teammates are located across the country.

We are always looking to add talented, motivated, and creative people to our team, so please reach out if you are interested in learning more about us.

 

www.berkleyapire.com

Responsibilities

Manage an assigned underwriting territory to achieve profitable growth, including underwriting new business, renewals, endorsements and other transactions.  Identify new business opportunities and manage agency relationships.

• Develop relationships and educate agents within agency plant to maximize opportunities and achieve profitable growth.
• Initiate outbound calls to agencies to identify sales opportunities and collect agent intelligence.
• Achieve new business premium, renewal premium retention and rate change objectives.
• Within company guidelines and granted underwriting authority, evaluate new and renewal account information to determine risk acceptability, terms / conditions to be quoted, and pricing.
• Make sound risk and pricing decisions that achieve profitable loss ratios.
• Maintain underwriting quality score of 90% or greater. Document underwriting file to support acceptability and pricing in accordance with company guidelines.
• Achieve customer service standards, including established objectives for:
• New business quote turnaround
• Renewal quotes
• Endorsement, cancellation, audits and other transactions
• Policy issuance
• Provide detailed issuance instructions to ensure policy is delivered consistent with quoted terms and conditions and in accordance with established guidelines relative to policy construction.
• Review mid-term endorsement requests for acceptability and provide instructions for processing.
• Evaluate premium audit referrals to determine class acceptability and/or appropriateness of current exposure base. Adjust current term with acceptable changes to ensure company gets timely payment of adequate premium.
• Order and review inspections to confirm accounts written are consistent with preliminary underwriting information and takes action when the inspection reveals unacceptable risk characteristics.
• Assist with training, mentoring and coaching of less experienced team members.
• Determine if facultative reinsurance is needed and if so, factor reinsurance cost in gross pricing, complete cession procedures; documentation file, and follow established workflow procedure to ensure proper reporting / accounting.
• Utilize various underwriting tools to:
• Determine acceptable risk characteristics
• Determine accurate exposure classifications
• Set adequate property limits to accomplish appropriate insurance to value
• Rate and quote business to agents
• Support other underwriters as assigned when the other underwriter is traveling or out on vacation / sick time.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated success in commercial lines property casualty insurance businesses.
• Past experience working with independent agents is preferred. Surplus lines underwriting experience is highly preferred.
• Basic knowledge of computer programs in a Windows environment, including Word, Excel and E-mail is required.
• Prior experience working in a paperless environment, including familiarity with on-line underwriting tools is preferred (e.g. SAGE, Silver Plume, and Reference Connect).
• Ability to travel within your territory up to 50%.

Additional Company Details

The Company is an equal employment opportunity employer We do not accept any unsolicited resumes from external recruiting agencies or firms. The company offers a competitive compensation plan and robust benefits package for full time regular employees. The actual salary for this position will be determined by a number of factors, including the scope, complexity and location of the role; the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; and other conditions of employment.