Our research found that most advisers are confident talking to clients with serious or multiple health conditions1, but do clients have the same level of confidence?
Delegated underwriting allows clients to input their own medical information into their application after their meeting with you. This saves you time in client meetings as well as removing the need for potentially uncomfortable conversations and allowing the client to double check their medication and dosage, avoiding guesswork.
How does delegated underwriting work?
You’ll already be aware that our pre-sales and underwriting tool gives an instant underwriting decision for most income protection and life insurance quotes with details of ratings, exclusions and medical evidence requirements. But what happens once you’re at the application stage?
Our underwriting questionnaire asks reflexive questions, so whether your client has a relatively straightforward medical history, or one that needs a bit more consideration, your client only needs to answer the questions relevant to their own health.
The beauty of delegated underwriting is that you can send your client the medical history section of their application, allowing them to answer questions in their own time. Perhaps they’re unsure of the name of their medication, or just uncomfortable talking about their medical history - delegated underwriting allows them the time or privacy they need.
The process is simple and, using the client’s email address and mobile phone number, allows multi-factor authentication to ensure your clients information is sent and received securely. It’s important that you use the client’s details as this is the information they’ll use to login later.
Importantly, you remain in control. You’ll be able to see when your client has answered the questions, allowing you to complete the application process. And you’ll also be able to see if they’ve forgotten – so you can give them a gentle nudge.
Our continued underwriting improvements
Delegated underwriting is just one way we streamline the application process, helping to make things easier for both you and your clients.
You can now track the status of medical reports and have greater visibility on completion times because we’ve integrated our online portal with iGPR’s digital platform. By reducing the need for time-consuming paper handling and minimising the risk of lost documents and human error, we’ve made requests for medical information more efficient and accurate.
You can find out more about our approach to underwriting, or take a look at some of the other tools we have available. Perhaps our BMI calculator to find an indicative loading, or medical limits tool allowing you to check the level of sum assured we require further medical evidence.
Source: 1 – The Exeter research, survey of 400 UK financial advisers. March 2025
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