Associate Underwriter Windstorm Risk

Classification: Full-Time

Division: Windstorm Risk

Salary: $70,000.00-$85,000.00

Travel: 0-10%

Work Environment: Hybrid

Location: Chicago, IL

Role overview

DUAL North America is seeking an Associate Underwriter for the Windstorm Risk division.  

At DUAL, Associate Underwriters play a key supportive role through the risk underwriting process. In this role, you will assist with account quoting and binding, prepare and distribute various types of communications, and provide quality customer service through the underwriting life cycle.

Supporting a team of Underwriters within the Windstorm Risk division, you will assist in evaluating windstorm risk exposures, gathering data, and supporting the underwriting process for wind insurance policies.

Role responsibilities

• Process submissions by providing account triage for Underwriters 

• Provide backup support for Underwriters when traveling in the market 

• Gather and compile information required to quote and/or bind an account 

• Generate, edit, and send out a variety of correspondences on behalf of the Underwriters such as declination letters, quote follow ups and subjectivity reminders 

• Demonstrate basic understanding of technical underwriting principles and risk underwriting characteristics 

• Learn market dynamics, competitive landscape, and product differences

• Attend weekly underwriting meetings if applicable, ask questions – need to understand what business is selling and understanding why deals are lost and adjusting accordingly

• Provide customer service and underwriting support to help achieve team new and renewal premium goals 

• Build relationships with producers with supervision from more senior Underwriters  

• Fill in for other team members to ensure business continuity during peak periods and/or when team members are unavailable 

• Assist Underwriters as requested 

• Complete other related clerical and administrative duties as assigned

• Conduct inspection review and analysis resulting in appropriate issue identification, and process post inspection changes as necessary  

Underwriting Authority:

• Working towards Underwriting Authority, but does not have it yet 

Key requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in risk management, finance, business or a related field preferred

• 0–1 year underwriting or insurance experience

• Foundational knowledge of insurance principles

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)

• Ability to follow policies and procedures

• Complete assigned tasks correctly, on time and able to learn quickly

• Self-motivated and demonstrating attention to detail

• Be able to work independently for extended periods

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as general business understanding

• Travel up to 10% with an Underwriter to shadow and participate in interactions between Underwriters and brokers

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time, with occasional movement in the office to access cabinets and equipment

• If you do not meet all the qualifications for this role, we still encourage you to apply, as we are always looking for diverse talent to join our growing team.

About DUAL

Working across 21 countries, DUAL has built a reputation as a specialist underwriting group and the market of choice for insurance intermediaries around the world. That’s how we have become one of the world’s largest international underwriting agencies (or MGAs) with US$3.5bn of GWP.

DUAL North America is the leading underwriting organization in the US offering commercial property, casualty, financial lines, and personal property insurance products underwritten through several specialized subsidiaries. Since 2013, we have grown to over 650 employees in 14 offices across the US, and we are continuing to grow.

DUAL is part of Howden, an international insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. The group was founded in 1994 and now has divisions in broking and underwriting, operates in 55 territories and employs over 19,000 people handling US$42bn of premium on behalf of clients.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

Yes, we offer all the usual rewards and benefits - including medical, dental, vision, a wide variety of wellbeing offers, competitive salary, unlimited PTO, 401k with company match, paid volunteer days and more.

What you might not expect is a job where everyone has a voice, where volunteering in the community is part of the day job, and where everyone is encouraged to play a part towards our sustainability goals. We want people who want to make a difference - not just in the workplace, but in the industry and in the wider community.

Our culture: people first

Our core values dictate how we live and work. We’re a group with independence and people at its heart and we’re a home for talent with a unique culture: the biggest small company in the world.

The focus on being a people-first business has always been at the very heart of the group; Our vision was to create an independent business with a unique culture and one that would survive and thrive as a business controlled by the people working for it. And finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people to join the group has been and will continue to be key.