Underwriters should be trained to decide what an agent refers to them, not to redo what it prepares. This template sets out each underwriter's track, a two-week practicum on real referrals, sign-off matched to their written underwriting authority, and a renewal cycle, so approval rights over agent work move in step with demonstrated competence.
What is this plan for?
An underwriting agent typically gathers the submission, pulls loss history and third-party data, checks the risk against appetite and drafts a summary with a recommendation. That is depth 1 and 2 work. Some insurers let it quote standard risks inside tight bounds at depth 3. Binding cover, declining a risk, and anything outside appetite stay with a named underwriter.
Underwriters already work under a written authority: limits by line, sum insured and risk type. The plan should mirror that. An underwriter's right to approve an agent's held quote should sit inside their existing authority, and should depend on a current certificate as well. Where the business prices life or health insurance for individuals, the EU AI Act lists that risk assessment and pricing as high-risk, which raises the bar for human oversight and records.
Use the plan before the agent drafts its first live summary, and again when it gains a line of business or a higher depth. The broader sequence is in the guide to training teams for AI agents.
How do you fill it in?
- Copy each underwriter's authority into the plan: lines, limits, referral rules.
- Map the agent's work onto it. Which capabilities feed this underwriter, and at what depth?
- Pick the track. Every underwriter who decides held quotes or referrals takes the certified reviewer track. A senior underwriter who helps shape the agent's brief and appetite rules should take the builder track; the plan for other builders is often shared with the training plan template for IT administrators, who handle the data connections.
- Choose the practicum cases. Real referrals, including ones where the agent's source was weak: a declared claim about prior losses, an external broker note.
- Set sign-off and renewal. Sign-off grants approval rights within authority; a lapsed certificate pauses them.
A plan is a type of study plan: it fixes what each person learns, in what order and by when. The difference here is that it ends in assessed decisions, not attendance.
The template
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Underwriter | Name, team, line of business |
| Written authority | Lines, maximum sum insured, referral triggers |
| Agent capabilities feeding this underwriter | Each with depth |
| Held actions they will decide | Quotes outside bounds, referrals, declines |
| Red lines | Never bind on an external or declared source alone; never approve outside own authority |
| Track | Foundation; certified reviewer; builder (if shaping appetite rules) |
| Foundation complete | Date |
| Reviewer modules complete | Date |
| Written exam | Date |
| Practicum | Two weeks; case list attached |
| Assessor sign-off | Name and date |
| Approval rights on sign-off | Within written authority only |
| Calibration | Frequency and owner |
| Renewal | Twelve months from issue |
| Pause rule | Approval rights pause if the certificate lapses or authority changes |
Worked example
An illustrative commercial property team has five underwriters. The agent drafts risk summaries at depth 2 and quotes standard shops and offices up to a sum insured of 1,000,000 at depth 3. Above that, or with any prior claim, it holds the quote.
Sample Underwriter C holds authority to 5,000,000. Foundation is done in week 1, reviewer modules in weeks 2 to 4, exam in week 5. Her practicum runs in weeks 6 and 7 and includes 40 held quotes. Among them: a risk where the only loss history came from a broker email, which she must not accept as proof, and a quote the agent refused because the occupancy fell outside appetite. An assessor signs her off in week 7. From then she approves held quotes to 5,000,000. Her renewal falls 12 months later, aligned with her annual authority review.
A senior underwriter takes the builder track in parallel, so appetite changes reach the agent's brief through someone who understands certification. The plan structure is similar to the training plan template for operations managers, but tied to written authority rather than queue ownership.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy supplies the tracks in this plan. Operator certifies reviewers with a written exam and a two-week practicum of real decisions, signed off by a Pryme assessor; Builder certifies whoever shapes the agent, ending in a capstone agent certified in Attest to depth 2 or higher. Both certificates are valid 12 months and checkable by number or QR code.
Questions people ask
Should certification replace the authority letter?
No. The authority letter says what an underwriter may accept; the certificate shows they can judge agent-prepared work. Approval rights should need both to be current.
How long does training take for a full team?
About two months from foundation to sign-off for most teams, depending on referral volume. The detail is in how long it takes to train underwriters to supervise AI agents.
How do you keep underwriters consistent after sign-off?
Calibrate. Every few weeks, each underwriter decides the same referrals separately, then the team compares reasons. The method is set out in how to run calibration sessions for underwriters.