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Underwriting Assessor

Sandton
Salary: Market Related
Job Type: Permanent
Sectors: Insurance Management
Reference: 168881

Apply before Mar 17 2026 | 28 Days left

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Vacancy Details

Employer: Dis-Chem Life

Purpose of the Role:

At Dis-Chem Life, we understand that underwriting is more than a tick-box exercise it is a critical decision-making function that balances risk, responsibility, and fairness.

The Underwriting Assessor is central to this Function.

As our Underwriting Assessor, you are trusted to assess, analyse, and finalise life insurance applications using Dis-Chem Life’s underwriting rules, risk philosophy, and digital tools.

You will interact directly with intermediaries, reinsurers, and internal teams, applying judgement and precision to every case.

Whether it’s medical disclosures, financial capacity, or occupational risk, your decisions help shape the quality of our book and our reputation.

This role demands analytical strength, strong communication, and a commitment to fair and compliant underwriting.

It’s about making the right call and standing by it.

Role Summary

The Underwriting Assessor is responsible for assessing individual life applications for both personal and business protection products. The role evaluates disclosures and supporting documents to determine insurability, using a combination of digital tools, manual decisioning, and reinsurance consultation.

The Underwriting Assessor ensures underwriting decisions align with Dis-Chem Life’s risk philosophy, operational turnaround standards, and compliance expectations. This individual is a key support to the sales and QA teams and serves as the first point of contact for underwriting escalations and queries.

Benefits:

Be part of a high-integrity team focused on delivering quality and fairness in every decision.
Gain exposure to AI-led underwriting and work directly with reinsurers on complex case assessments.
Competitive salary and opportunities for professional development within a fast-scaling insurer.

Key Responsibilities:

Underwriting Risk Assessment

Independently assess and finalise life insurance applications in line with Dis-Chem Life’s underwriting policies and delegated authority limits.
Evaluate all core risk components including medical disclosures, financial standing, occupational and territorial risk, lifestyle indicators, and insurability history.
Apply appropriate underwriting loadings, exclusions, postponements, or declines in line with underwriting guidelines and reinsurer mandates.
Maintain high standards of accuracy, clarity, and auditability in all case decisions and notes.

Operational Excellence

Finalise underwriting decisions within defined service level agreements
Accurately update internal systems, load decisions, and apply underwriting codes where applicable.
Monitor and manage your own work queue in accordance with turnaround standards, complexity, and escalation procedures.
Support audit readiness and participate in quality assurance reviews or calibration sessions.
Maintain accurate records for internal quality checks and external audits.

Stakeholder Support & Escalation Handling

Provide support to the Sales, Broker, QA, and Admin teams by responding to underwriting queries.
Participate in training initiatives and present underwriting-related content to internal teams when required.
Act as the first-line point of escalation for complex cases and policy rule interpretations.

Digital Underwriting & Systems Contribution

Operate within and provide feedback on the digital underwriting platform and rule engine.
Identify rule logic gaps, edge cases, or system errors that need escalation or revision.
Support system testing and enhancement initiatives to improve STP (Straight-Through Processing) rates.

Technical Skills:

Deep understanding of life underwriting principles including medical, financial, and lifestyle risk assessment.
Proficient in underwriting across income protection, funeral, and business life cover.
Familiar with reinsurer communication protocols and facultative referral standards.
Comfortable navigating digital underwriting systems and working in tech-enabled environments.
Sound knowledge of relevant legislation (FAIS, POPIA, TCF, and insurance-related compliance).

Soft Skills:

Applies rigorous checks when assessing documents, disclosures, and system entries.
Stands by underwriting calls with clarity and consistency.
Able to simplify technical explanations for both internal and external audiences.
Acts with fairness, impartiality, and full responsibility for risk decisions.
Thrives in a hybrid, fast-paced, AI-enhanced underwriting environment.
Understands the importance of supporting Sales and QA while upholding risk principles.

Experience:

Minimum 3–5 years’ experience as a Life Underwriter (retail or business).
Experience in Underwriting Personal and Business Protection Products
Experience in AI/digital underwriting environments is advantageous.
Previous support or collaboration with Sales, QA, or Broker channels is beneficial.

Qualifications:

Matric/Grade 12 – Essential
Diploma/Degree in Medical, Financial, or Insurance-related field – Advantageous
FAIS-compliant or working towards RE5 – Advantageous

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About Dis-Chem Life

Who is Dis-Chem Life?

We get asked that a lot. The real question is, Who are we becoming?

We could tell you we were once a bold start-up called OneSpark.
That in 2020, we reimagined life insurance from the ground up with AI-driven underwriting, world-first product innovation, and a mission to make protection accessible for every South African.

We could tell you we are backed by global giants like Gen Re, and Guardrisk.

That we won awards for being one of the most innovative life insurers.

That our founders, Greg and Josh, didn’t just build a product they built a movement.

We could tell you that in 2024, we partnered with one of the most trusted names in retail healthcare, Dis-Chem and by 2025, became Dis-Chem Life, merging cutting-edge insurtech with a national footprint of over 295 pharmacies and 400 clinics.

But the real story? It’s who we are now.

We’re a company that moves fast, builds smart, and leads with purpose.

We create with curiosity, test with intensity, and act with heart. We are advisors, technologists, designers, and builders, working together to make life, disability, and funeral cover simpler, smarter, and available to the people who need it most.

Our culture is electric. Our ambition is unmatched. And our mission is personal, to protect the lives of South Africans in ways the industry never has.

We are not just offering jobs we are offering a chance to shape the future of insurance.

One product. One client. One breakthrough at a time.

We are Dis-Chem Life.