Taste of Medicine for insurers

Delegates from some of the top UK insurance and reinsurance companies benefitted from the specialist medical knowledge offered by the University at a unique half day training session held in Bristol on 5^th September 2011.

The Centre for Lifelong Learning organised the session as a taster for their new Assessing and Managing Medical Risk for Insurers course. Delegates attended practically-focussed lectures on medical issues relating to Cardiology and Mental Health, specifically considering how these issues should be dealt with from a Life and health underwriting and claims perspective.


The training proved to be a hit, with one delegate stating "I had high hopes and I wasn’t disappointed!" Delegates particularly commented on the value of applying medical theory directly to underwriting and claims cases, so they could see immediate benefit and impact on their roles.

The new course builds on Cardiff’s award winning track record in providing specialist medical courses for underwriters and claims assessors. The new course, will enable delegates from a range of different companies to share experience and best practice, as well as gain knowledge from the University’s expertise.

Development has been based on extensive customer/ market research and feedback from the industry. The course is constructed in such a way as to be independent from any one individual company’s philosophy and can be applied to all lines of business within the Life and Health environment. It covers conditions within four key medical areas: Cardiology, Neurology, Mental Health and Diabetes. For each of these topics, delegates will learn about the symptoms, prognosis, and treatments involved, and the specific issues to consider in relation to underwriting and claims assessments.

To ensure the training is delivered with minimal impact on organisation’s day to day operations and recognising individual learning styles, the University has adopted a blended learning approach for the programme, with delegates working through course materials online before attending two days of interactive workshops at the University.

Similar training has in the past proved to have significant impact on the organisations attending, with tangible benefits reported including: cost savings from a reduction in cases referred to external medical experts; a reduction in errors and improved quality in decisions; quicker decision making, resulting in improved customer service; increased delegate confidence; and increased confidence from reinsurers.