General Insurance Management Course: Underwriting, Claims, Reinsurance and Profitability

Programme Summary

General insurance management is the subject of this one-week training course for senior managers and executives who run or oversee non-life insurance operations, ending in a technical result improvement plan for one portfolio. Insurers earn or lose money in underwriting choices, claims outcomes and reinsurance structure long before the annual accounts show it. The programme moves from the business model to underwriting and pricing, claims and reserving, risk transfer and a finished plan. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on general insurance management to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

A general insurer sells a promise before it knows the cost of keeping it. Weak risk selection, slow or generous claims handling and poorly placed reinsurance show up late as a worse combined ratio and a thinner capital margin. Leaders who read the technical result by portfolio can act while there is still time to reprice, restrict or restructure cover.

• Combined Ratio: Improves as loss and expense drivers are traced to portfolios and acted on.
• Claims Leakage: Falls as settlement authority, fraud signals and supplier costs are controlled.
• Capital Efficiency: Rises as reinsurance cover is matched to the risk the portfolio really carries.

Principles and Evidence Base

• IFRS 17 Insurance Contracts: Sets how insurance revenue, service result and contract margin are reported, used in Sessions 1 and 4 to read performance.
• IAIS Insurance Core Principles: Frame insurer governance, risk management and conduct, applied to the control review in Session 3.
• ISO 31000 Risk Management: Supplies the process for identifying, assessing and treating portfolio and counterparty risk, used in Sessions 2 and 4.

Intended Participants

• Insurer executives who set underwriting appetite and portfolio targets.
• Claims and technical leaders who own settlement quality and reserve adequacy.
• Broker and intermediary leaders who place business and manage insurer relationships.
• Finance and risk managers who report the technical result and capital position.

Typical settings include commercial insurers, brokerages, reinsurers, bancassurance units and corporate risk departments.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose the drivers of a general insurer's technical result from portfolio data.
2. Participants will be able to evaluate underwriting appetite and pricing adequacy for a class of business.
3. Participants will be able to construct a claims control framework covering authority, fraud signals and reserving.
4. Participants will be able to compare reinsurance structures against retained risk and capital use.
5. Participants will be able to prioritise portfolio actions by their effect on the combined ratio.
6. Participants will be able to justify an improvement plan to a board or underwriting committee.

Programme Structure

Day 1: The General Insurance Business Model

How does a general insurer make or lose money across a cycle?

• Insurance Value Chain Map
• Technical Result Bridge
• Loss, Expense and Combined Ratio Tree
• Portfolio Mix Analysis
• IFRS 17 Performance Reading Sheet

Day 2: Underwriting and Pricing Discipline

Which risks should be written, at what price and on what terms?

• Underwriting Appetite Statement
• Risk Selection Scorecard
• Rate Adequacy Review
• Policy Wording and Exclusion Audit
• Broker Performance Matrix

Day 3: Claims Management and Reserving

How are claims settled fairly and cheaply, and are reserves enough?

• Claims Lifecycle Process Map
• Settlement Authority Matrix
• Fraud Indicator Checklist
• Reserve Adequacy Test
• Insurance Core Principles Control Review

Day 4: Reinsurance, Capital and Risk Transfer

What risk should be kept, what ceded and at what cost?

• Reinsurance Programme Structure Chart
• Retention and Limit Calculator
• Catastrophe Exposure Scenario
• Counterparty Risk Register
• Solvency Impact Grid

Day 5: Technical Result Improvement Plan

Do the earlier tools form one plan that an underwriting committee can approve?

• Applying the Session 1 Combined Ratio Tree
• Testing the Session 2 Rate Adequacy Review
• Checking the Session 3 Reserve Adequacy Test
• Rehearsing the Session 4 Retention Calculator
• Completing the Technical Result Improvement Plan

Methodology

The programme uses a data workshop built on a prepared file for one commercial motor portfolio and one property portfolio, each with premium, claims, reserve and reinsurance data. Participants work in small groups, read the technical result, test pricing and reserves and defend their proposals to peers acting as an underwriting committee.

• Suggested activity: Tracing a worsening combined ratio to its loss and expense drivers.
• Suggested activity: Testing whether a rate increase offsets a rise in claims cost.
• Suggested activity: Comparing two reinsurance structures for retained risk and cost.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a technical result improvement plan for one portfolio. It holds a result bridge, an underwriting and pricing action list, a claims and reserving control note, a reinsurance recommendation and a decision paper for the committee. The plan is used at work to brief the executive team and to set owners and review points for each action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a general insurance management course suitable for managers outside underwriting?

Yes. General insurance management is taught from the business model upward through a prepared portfolio file and templates. It assumes experience in an insurer, broker, finance or risk role, but no actuarial training.

Which standards does general insurance management rest on?

General insurance management rests on IFRS 17 for reporting insurance contracts, the IAIS Insurance Core Principles for governance and conduct, and ISO 31000 for the risk management process.

How is the plan from general insurance management training used at work?

You use the technical result improvement plan to brief your executive team, agree portfolio actions with underwriting and claims, and set owners and review points.

How does general insurance management differ from a life insurance course?

General insurance management concentrates on short-term cover, claims, reserving and reinsurance for property and liability risk, while a life insurance course concentrates on long-term products, savings and mortality risk.