Who wants to be a PI underwriter?

Route to job
Having qualified in marine law and business I headed to Lloyd's, where I started out in 1994 as a placing broker for PYV. From there, I joined ITT L&E in 1997 as a professional indemnity (PI) underwriter in the London Market division. I spent two years there before moving with a colleague to DPMann Syndicate to start writing a UK PI account. I joined Hiscox in 2000 as a PI underwriter and after building up a successful retail PI team I then took on full responsibility for the Hiscox Insurance PI account.

Current Job
I am now Hiscox's UK PI manager, responsible for the Professional Insurances division. My major project at the moment is the new Hiscox Professional Insurances Portfolio (PIP) - our insurance package covering the professional and practical risks faced by SMEs. This product was created to meet all the insurance needs of small businesses. We have a team of 25 underwriters who all deal with PI, internet and email liability, directors' and officers' (D&O), EPLI, property, travel and PA.

Alongside PIP, the other key aspect of my job is managing relationships with our selected brokers.

Typical day
No two days are the same, but I think my typical day can be summed up as looking after the underwriters and making sure the team is happy and motivated, which I believe is really important. We make sure there is a lot of communication within the team.

I also spend as much time as possible with our brokers explaining our strategy and ensuring they are kept up-to-date with our new products and activity.

Biggest challenge
The key to long-term, profitable underwriting in liability business is accurate, consistent, logical analysis and facing up frankly to the losses you can suffer.

Maintaining a consistent, high standard of analysis and appraisal can be difficult, but it is crucial in the long run. The challenge for me directly is to help the underwriters remain focused on what this means in relation to their day to day business and how best to respond to it.

Risk management issue with most impact
The biggest risks we face are underpricing or poor selection of risks.

I'm fortunate in the fact that at Hiscox I have access to constant technical analysis, which, at the touch of the button, can allow me to identify where training or further work is required.

A good example is our technical underwriting review group report, which allows me to view the most dangerous risks being written in any one month.

Largest issue going forward
Staying ahead in the market both in terms of expertise and movements in price or policy coverage. Our business needs to stay on top of the risks our customers, and potential customers, will face. In an ever-changing world this is always a challenge.

Greatest achievement so far.
Getting to where I am now and helping to create the team I have around me. As part of that team, I think the greatest achievement has to be our implementation of the PIP product.

Training all our underwriters in all products was no mean feat and required huge effort and coordination on a number of levels. For me this meant taking on the continuous task of helping the underwriting teams to deliver a measured, consistent and focussed approach to underwriting across the whole of the UK - and between us I think we're getting there.

Advice to someone wanting to do the job
It is important to have independence and strength of character. In long-tail business you also need integrity. You have to be realistic with claims patterns and pragmatic about the business you write. PI can be a dangerous place to be.