Engineering Blog · Post #58

Prior Year Decision History: Learning from Past Declinations, Wins, and Losses

Before quoting a submission, know whether you've seen this insured before — and what happened last time.

The Problem

A D&O submission arrives for Solaris Energy Holdings. The UW starts a fresh review — not realizing the same insured was declined last year for ESG litigation risk, and the year before that the account was quoted but lost to a competitor. That history should inform the current decision: is the situation different now? Should we re-engage? Or are the same red flags still present?

Without historical context, every submission is treated as brand new — even when it isn't.

The InsightUW Approach

InsightUW automatically surfaces prior year decisions for the same insured whenever a submission detail is opened. The panel shows all previous submissions, their outcomes (bound, quoted, declined, lost), decline reasons, and a prioritization recommendation.

graph TD subgraph Current["Current Submission"] SUB["Solaris Energy Holdings D&O — $20M limit 2026"] end subgraph History["Prior Year Decisions"] H1["2025: D&O — Quoted $15M · Lockton Lost to competitor"] H2["2024: D&O — Declined $10M · Lockton ESG litigation risk"] end subgraph Context["Prioritization Context"] CTX["Previously Declined Review prior decline reasons before quoting"] end subgraph Broker["Broker History"] BRK["Lockton Risk Advisors 20 total submissions Hit ratio: 5% By LOB breakdown"] end SUB --> History History --> CTX SUB --> BRK

Three Prioritization Contexts

Context	Trigger	Recommendation	Color
Returning Client	Had prior bound submission	"Prioritize for retention"	Green
Previously Declined	Had prior declination	"Review prior decline reasons before quoting"	Amber
New Insured	No prior history	"Standard processing"	Gray

Prior Decisions Panel

For each prior submission, the panel shows:
- Status badge — bound (green), quoted (blue), declined (red), lost (amber)
- LOB and broker — may differ from current submission
- Year and limit — for trend analysis
- Decline detail — if previously declined, shows the reason
- Link — click to open the prior submission

Broker History

Separate from the insured, the system also tracks broker patterns:
- Hit ratio — % of submissions that resulted in bound policies
- Decline ratio — % that were declined
- By LOB — which lines the broker submits most, and their success rate

LOB-Specific Example

D&O for Solaris Energy Holdings (2026):

The prior decisions panel shows:

Year	LOB	Status	Limit	Broker	Detail
2025	D&O	Quoted	$15M	Lockton	Lost — competitor offered lower premium
2024	D&O	Declined	$10M	Lockton	ESG litigation risk + CFO departure

Prioritization context: "Previously declined — review prior decline reasons before quoting."

The UW now knows: (1) Lockton has submitted this account 3 years running, showing persistence; (2) the 2024 decline was for ESG litigation — is that still pending?; (3) the 2025 quote was lost on price — is there room to compete this year?

What This Means for Underwriters

Context before action — know the insured's history before investing time in a review
Decline reasons visible — if previously declined, see exactly why and assess if conditions changed
Returning client flag — renewal/retention accounts get prioritized automatically
Broker patterns — understand whether this broker's submissions align with your appetite
Cross-year analysis — spot trends (improving financials, resolved litigation, persistent red flags)

What's Next

Next: AI Research Assistant — Proactive Intelligence During the Underwriting Process

Want to see prior year decisions on every submission? Request a demo.