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Engineering Blog · Post #56

Rule-Based Priority Scoring: How InsightUW Ranks Every Submission by Business Importance

7 configurable factors. One score. Clear rationale for why this submission should be worked first.


The Problem

An underwriter opens their queue Monday morning to find 25 new submissions. Which one do they work first? In most shops, the answer depends on who emailed last, which broker called, or gut feel. The $25M Cyber submission from a key broker with an effective date in 10 days sits behind a $500K GL submission that arrived first. FIFO works for fast food — not for underwriting.

The InsightUW Approach

InsightUW calculates a 0-100 priority score for every submission using 7 configurable business rules. Each factor produces a weighted score with transparent rationale — so the UW sees not just "high priority" but exactly why.

graph TD subgraph Factors["7 Priority Factors"] F1["Key Broker (20)<br/>Lockton = key tier"] F2["Inception Date (20)<br/>9 days = high priority"] F3["Growth LOB (15)<br/>Cyber = 25% target"] F4["Premium Size (15)<br/>$15M = mid-large"] F5["Retention (15)<br/>Renewal = priority"] F6["Rush (10)<br/>Rush flagged = max"] F7["Appetite Fit (5)<br/>82/100 = strong"] end subgraph Score["Priority Score"] Calc["Sum all factors<br/>0-100 total"] Label["High (70+)<br/>Medium (40-69)<br/>LOW (0-39)"] end subgraph Queue["Work Queue"] Rank["Submissions ranked<br/>highest priority first"] end F1 --> Calc F2 --> Calc F3 --> Calc F4 --> Calc F5 --> Calc F6 --> Calc F7 --> Calc Calc --> Label Label --> Rank

The 7 Factors

Factor Max What It Rewards
Key Broker 20 Strategic broker relationships (configurable tiers)
Inception Date 20 Urgency — closer effective date = higher score
Growth LOB 15 LOBs targeted for growth in the strategic plan
Premium Size 15 Larger accounts = greater profitability impact
Retention 15 Renewals prioritized over new business
Rush 10 Rush-flagged submissions get maximum urgency
Appetite Fit 5 Strong appetite fit submissions rise in queue

Transparent Rationale

Every score comes with a per-factor breakdown:

LOB-Specific Example

Two submissions arrive the same morning:

Submission Score Top Factors Action
NovaPay Technologies (Cyber, $15M, Gallagher, effective in 9 days) 58 Inception urgency (16) + Growth LOB (15) + Premium size (12) Work first — inception is imminent
Ironclad Construction (WC, $1M, Lockton, effective in 40 days) 33 Key broker (20) only; low premium, distant inception, no growth target Can wait — no urgency despite key broker

The UW sees exactly why NovaPay ranks higher and can confidently start there.

What This Means for Underwriters

  1. Data-driven queue — submissions ranked by business impact, not arrival order
  2. Configurable to your strategy — broker tiers and growth LOBs reflect your carrier's actual goals
  3. Transparent — every score shows per-factor breakdown with progress bars
  4. Dynamic — scores update as inception dates approach or rush flags are set
  5. Leaderboard — API returns top 50 submissions by priority for management visibility

What's Next

Next: Quality Scoring — How Ready Is This Submission for Underwriting?


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