12202 Insurance underwriters

What this occupation covers

Insurance underwriters review and evaluate insurance applications to determine insurance risks, insurance premiums and extent of insurance coverage according to company policies. They are employed at head and branch offices of insurance companies.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 6 main duties for this code.

• Review individual and group applications for automobile, fire, health, liability, life, property, marine, aircraft and other insurance
• Evaluate new and renewal applications to determine insurance risks, insurance premiums, extent of insurance coverage and other conditions of the insurance contract using medical reports, rate tables and other documents and reference materials; adjust premiums, coverage or risk itself to make acceptance of new and renewal applications possible
• Approve sale of insurance policies and ensure compliance with government regulations
• Provide recommendations on individual or group insurance plan designs
• Provide underwriting advice and answer inquiries from clients and from insurance agents, consultants and other company personnel
• Prepare underwriting reports and update insurance forms when necessary.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 6 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 63100 Insurance agents and brokers
• 10020 Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers

Excluded from this code

• Insurance agents and brokers (See 63100 Insurance agents and brokers)
• Insurance manager (See 10020 Insurance, real estate and financial brokerage managers)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

accident and sickness underwriter - insurance · assistant underwriter - insurance · automobile and home insurance consultant · automobile underwriter - insurance · boiler and machinery underwriter - insurance · casualty insurance products analyst-designer · casualty underwriter - insurance · commercial underwriter - insurance · farm underwriter - insurance · fire underwriter - insurance · group underwriter · group underwriter - insurance · head office underwriter - insurance · home office underwriter - insurance · insurance rating analyst · insurance underwriter · junior underwriter - insurance · liability underwriter · life underwriter · marine and aircraft underwriter - insurance · marine underwriter - insurance · package underwriter - insurance · personal lines underwriter · property underwriter

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school and some general insurance experience or A bachelor's degree, college diploma or some post-secondary education is required.
• Several years of on-the-job training and completion of insurance industry underwriting courses and training programs are required.