UNDERWRITING & NEW BUSINESS

Automate what can move. Focus underwriters on what needs judgment.

Connecting application data, evidence, rules, underwriting decisions, reinsurance, case work, and issue can help reduce avoidable handoffs and delays. Zinnia brings those steps into one workflow so cases that meet carrier-configured criteria can move through approved straight-through workflows, while more complex cases are routed for underwriter review with the context they need.

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New business slows down between decisions

The delay often comes from rebuilding context between those steps.

Evidence comes from many places
Evidence arrives from different sources.
Requirements are not static
Requirements change.
Cases cross the automated and manual line
Cases move between automated rules and manual review.
Reinsurance adds a step
Reinsurance adds another handoff.

AUTOMATED PATH

Straight-through and accelerated cases

Apply the carrier’s configured rules to identify cases eligible for the carrier’s approved straight-through handling and route everything else to the appropriate underwriter review path. The carrier defines the rules and remains responsible for its underwriting framework.

Configurable underwriting rules
Carrier-defined eligibility and acceleration rules
Automated routing and triage
Carrier-approved straight-through processing for cases that meet carrier-configured criteria
Clear exception paths

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UNDERWRITER PATH

Complex cases with the context assembled

Bring case data, evidence, highlighted findings, decisions, tasks, and reinsurance into one workspace.

Evidence summaries and highlighted findings
Single workspace for case data and decisions
Task, queue, and case management
Embedded reinsurance workflows
Decision history and supporting context retained for review

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Where underwriting and new-business platforms differ

Compare how well the full process holds together around automated rules and the underwriter workbench.

Automated decisioning and manual review in one operating model

Evaluate how cases move between rules, acceleration, exception routing, underwriter review, and final decision without losing context or duplicating work.

Evidence orchestration

Look at how the platform applies carrier-configured requirements to identify, acquire, track, and manage evidence, how it summarizes that evidence, and how it helps reduce duplicate or unnecessary requirements based on carrier-configured rules.

Case orchestration from application to issue

Map requirements, tasks, queues, service levels, reinsurance, approvals, and the path into issue. A fast decision still fails if the case stalls before or after it.

Explainability and governance

Ask what the platform records and surfaces about why a case was routed, what evidence informed the decision, which rules applied, and where human judgment entered the process, and confirm that against your governance requirements.

Integration across the new-business ecosystem

Trace the path from eApp and order entry into evidence providers, underwriting, reinsurance, carrier systems, and policy administration.

Bring evidence into the case

The Policy Processor is designed to apply carrier-configured evidence requirements, manage the evidence needed for a case, and bring it into the underwriting workflow, surfacing the information most relevant to the underwriter’s decision. Evidence summaries and highlighted findings are designed to help underwriters locate relevant information more efficiently. Underwriters make decisions on cases requiring human review, while carrier-configured rules govern the carrier’s approved straight-through cases. Governance controls remain with the carrier.

One workspace from case intake through decision

The Policy Processor brings new-business orchestration and underwriting into a connected workspace. Application data can arrive from LifeSpeed or other order-entry sources. Evidence and requirements are assembled around the case. Carrier-configured rules identify which cases are eligible for the carrier’s approved straight-through workflows and which are routed to an underwriter for review. Business approved under the carrier’s underwriting process then moves into issue and policy administration.

Application + Case Intake

Application data arrives from LifeSpeed or other order-entry sources.

Evidence + Requirements

Evidence and requirements are assembled around the case.

Rules + Triage

Carrier-configured rules identify which cases are eligible for the carrier’s approved straight-through workflows and which are routed to an underwriter for review.

Underwriter + Reinsurance

Cases that need judgment reach an underwriter with case data, decisions, tasks, and reinsurance in one place.

Decision + Issue

Business approved under the carrier’s underwriting process moves into issue and policy administration.

Connectivity that reduces manual handoffs

The Policy Processor connects to carrier systems and evidence providers through a library of services. The aim is to help reduce manual handoffs and make it easier for underwriters to reach the information they need.

Order Entry & eApp

Carry application data that has passed configured checks from LifeSpeed and other order-entry sources into new business and underwriting.

Explore order entry and eApp

Quotes & Illustrations

Preserve case and product context from the earlier sales journey.

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Policy Administration

Move approved business into issue and administration with the required decision and case data.

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Agent Services

Add operational support from insurance-experienced professionals, licensed where the work calls for it, when the need is capacity as well as technology.

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Underwriting

Insights

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December 15, 2025

Insurance Underwriting 2030

Insurance underwriting has been stuck in the same cycle for decades—necessary but slow, thorough but frustrating. By 2030, that changes completely. Underwriting...

Building the Underwriting Team That Will Win in 2030

The underwriting departments that thrive in 2030 won't look like today's teams. They won't be bigger—they'll be different. Smarter. More ...

The Revolution in Life Insurance Underwriting

From Bottleneck to Growth Engine Remember applying for life insurance? The endless forms, the medical exams, the waiting… and more...

Podcasts

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S1E21 · 43:02

The Robots Took the Easy Cases — What's Left for Human Underwriters

Frank Chechel — VP and Head of Individual Life Underwriting at Gen Re, and an actuary who fell into underwriting a decade ago building an R&D team — argues underwriting is only just scratching the surface after a hundred years. He and Paul trace how COVID turned accelerated underwriting from experiment into mandate overnight, why wellness programs went quiet and are now roaring back, and how to think about AI in three layers: predictive, generative, and the still-early agentic frontier. Frank is blunt about the limits: a summary that's 95% accurate is a good way to get fired, and the same case put in front of five underwriters yields five answers. The robots are taking the easy cases — which makes the human's job harder, not obsolete.

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S1E1 · 27:24

Ash Sawhney On The Future Of Underwriting And AI

Paul Tyler speaks with Ash Sawhney, President and Chief Revenue Officer of Zinnia, about the transformative changes in the life insurance and annuity sectors. They discuss the evolution of underwriting, the impact of technology and AI, and the entrepreneurial journey within the insurance industry.