How to become an insurance underwriter
Official title: Insurance underwriters
Also called: Underwriter, Insurance handler, Underwriter's agent, Insurance inspector, Medical underwriter, Mortgage underwriter, Insurance underwriter, Commercial underwriter, Insurance account handler, Insurance underwriting controller, Team leader, Life inspector
Insurance underwriters identify and measure the risks associated with an activity, determine whether this risk is insurable and issue insurance policies which provide financial compensation in the event of loss.
Main tasks
- Receives and assesses proposals and propositions for insurance from brokers and clients
- Identifies and evaluates the risks associated with a proposal
- Liaises with insurance surveyors, actuaries and risk managers where the risks associated with a proposal are not clear
- Calculates premiums, provides quotations and, if acceptable to the client, issues policies
- Ensures that the insurance policy clearly defines the liabilities accepted and any exceptions or exclusions
- Negotiates terms of reinsurance contracts
How to become one
There are no formal academic requirements, although many employers expect entrants to study for and attain the associateship examinations of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Entrants to professional examinations usually require GCSEs/S grades and A levels/H grades, or a BTEC/SQA award.
Ways in
- University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
- University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £41,610 a year The middle half earn £32,604 to null.
- About 47,400 people work in this job now, and about 49,600 are projected by 2035. (+4.6%)
Related jobs
Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz
Questions people ask
How do I become an insurance underwriter?
There are no formal academic requirements, although many employers expect entrants to study for and attain the associateship examinations of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Entrants to professional examinations usually require GCSEs/S grades and A levels/H grades, or a BTEC/SQA award.
How much does an insurance underwriter earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £41,610 a year (Office for National Statistics).
Is an insurance underwriter a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 5% by 2035, from about 47,400 to about 49,600 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become an insurance underwriter?
Not always. 38% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Arts & Humanities degrees; Business & Commerce degrees.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.