Engineering Blog · Post #47

Configurable Auto-Decline Rules: How InsightUW Evaluates Submissions Against Your Underwriting Guidelines

18 configurable rules, 8 condition operators, and a priority-based engine that auto-declines non-appetite submissions before an underwriter lifts a finger.

The Problem

Every carrier has underwriting guidelines — appetite limits, restricted classes, capacity thresholds. But enforcing these consistently across hundreds of daily submissions is impossible when the rules live in PDF memos and tribal knowledge. One underwriter declines a risk that another quotes. A submission outside appetite sits in queue for days before someone catches it. Meanwhile, broker relationships suffer from slow "no" responses.

The InsightUW Approach

InsightUW stores auto-decline rules as configurable Appetite Rule records with action = "decline". When a submission arrives, the rule engine evaluates all active decline rules against the submission context and auto-triggers the decline workflow when a rule matches.

graph TD subgraph Submission["New Submission"] SUB["Submission arrives with context data"] end subgraph Context["Evaluation Context"] CTX["appetite score, lob, clearance status, loss ratio, requested limit, prior premium, claim count, broker name"] end subgraph Rules["Decline Rulesets"] R1["Rule 1: Appetite < 30 Priority: 200"] R2["Rule 2: Clearance Blocked Priority: 300"] R3["Rule 3: WC Loss > 100% Priority: 150"] R4["Rule 4: Limit > $50M Priority: 100"] R5["Rule 5: Cyber No Prior Priority: 120"] end subgraph Evaluate["Condition Engine"] Eval["Evaluate each rule AND logic per rule Highest priority wins"] end subgraph Result["Outcome"] Match["Rule Matched → Auto-Decline Triggered + Draft Email Generated"] Pass["No Match → Submission Continues"] end SUB --> CTX CTX --> R1 CTX --> R2 CTX --> R3 CTX --> R4 CTX --> R5 R1 --> Eval R2 --> Eval R3 --> Eval R4 --> Eval R5 --> Eval Eval -->|"Match"| Match Eval -->|"No match"| Pass

Condition Engine

Each rule contains a JSON array of conditions evaluated with AND logic:

Operator	Example	Description
`==`	`clearance_status == "blocked"`	Exact match
`!=`	`lob != "GL"`	Not equal
`>=`, `<=`	`appetite_score <= 30`	Numeric comparison
`>`, `<`	`loss_ratio > 100`	Strict comparison
`in`	`state in ["FL", "NY"]`	List membership
not in	`lob not_in ["BOP"]`	Exclusion
`contains`	`insured_name contains "Sanctioned"`	Substring

Default Decline Rules

Rule	LOB	Priority	Conditions
Appetite Score Below 30	ALL	200	appetite_score > 0 AND < 30
Clearance Blocked	ALL	300	clearance_status == "blocked"
WC Loss Ratio > 100%	Workers Comp	150	lob == "Workers Comp" AND loss_ratio > 100
Limit > $50M	ALL	100	requested_limit > 50,000,000
Cyber No Prior Coverage	Cyber	120	lob == "Cyber" AND prior_premium == 0

Plus 13 LOB-specific decline rules from appetite seeds covering MedMal, D&O, Cyber, Environmental, Excess Casualty, and more.

How Priority Works

When multiple rules match, the highest-priority rule wins. This prevents conflicting actions — the most critical rule always takes precedence.

LOB-Specific Example

Workers Comp for Ironclad Construction Inc:

Ironclad has a loss ratio of 115% — well above the 100% WC threshold. When "Run Decline Rules" is clicked:

Engine loads 4 applicable rules (3 ALL + 1 WC-specific)
WC Loss Ratio rule fires: lob == "Workers Comp" AND loss_ratio > 100 — MATCH
Auto-decline created with category "appetite" and loss experience email template
Draft email auto-generated: "Adverse loss experience... loss ratio exceeds 100%"
UW reviews and sends

What This Means for Underwriters

Consistent enforcement — every submission evaluated against the same rules, no exceptions from inconsistency
Instant triage — non-appetite submissions flagged immediately, not after days in queue
Configurable without code — rules managed via API/admin, conditions as JSON, toggle active/inactive
LOB-scoped — rules can apply to ALL LOBs or specific lines (WC, Cyber, MedMal, etc.)
Audit trail — every rule evaluation logged in Appetite Evaluation with full context

What's Next

Want to see how InsightUW enforces your underwriting guidelines automatically? Request a demo.