How IDP Accelerates Commercial Lines Underwriting & Submission Triage in 2025

The Commercial Underwriting Challenge: Buried in Manual Processing

While personal lines insurance has embraced digitization, commercial lines underwriting remains largely manual and document-intensive. Recent studies from ACORD reveal that only 25% of organizations have fully digitalized their value chain, while over 10% barely use digital technologies in their processes, and more than 50% are still determining how to apply digitalization to their business model.

According to the 2021 report by Accenture commercial lines underwriters spend 40% of their time on tasks unrelated to their core roles — a number that has likely not decreased despite continued technological investments.

This inefficiency creates significant challenges:

• Delayed broker response times - reducing placement ratios and damaging relationships
• Limited underwriting capacity - constraining growth without adding headcount
• Decreased job satisfaction - as skilled underwriters spend time on low-value tasks
• Inconsistent risk assessment - due to manual data extraction errors

For commercial underwriters, the problem begins with submissions. Each submission requires manually reviewing and extracting information from numerous complex documents:

Once underwriters manually extract this information—a process that's both time-consuming and error-prone—they can finally take action on the submission:

• Decline submissions that don't fit risk appetite
• Request additional information from brokers for incomplete submissions
• Fast-track promising submissions that meet underwriting guidelines

"Agents reported that only 43% of their top carriers improved the effectiveness of the technology used by their agents, while 49% actually fell backwards with technology."

— 2024 Deep Customer Survey

How SortSpoke's IDP Transforms Commercial Submission Triage

SortSpoke's Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) solution specifically addresses these challenges by automating data extraction while maintaining 100% accuracy through human validation.

The SortSpoke Difference: ML + LLMs + Human-in-the-Loop

Unlike traditional OCR, template-based solutions, or black-box AI, SortSpoke uses a unique approach:

1. Combined ML + LLM Technology - SortSpoke's algorithms recognize patterns across all document types, including complex, unstructured documents that traditional systems struggle with.
2. Human-in-the-Loop Validation - Underwriters maintain control by reviewing, validating and approving AI-extracted data, ensuring 100% accuracy and compliance.
3. Continuous Learning - The system improves with every document processed, becoming more efficient as it learns your specific document types and extraction needs.

From Data Extraction to Actionable Intelligence

SortSpoke doesn't just extract data—it transforms it into actionable intelligence that enables faster decision-making:

• Automated Submission Validation - Instantly flag missing or incomplete information
• Risk Assessment Acceleration - Key risk factors are highlighted and organized for quick evaluation
• Submission Prioritization - Automatically route submissions based on predefined criteria
• Data Integration - Connect extracted data directly to your underwriting systems

Empowering Commercial Underwriters To Focus on Core Expertise

Today's commercial lines underwriters face unprecedented pressure. They need to review and triage increasing submission volumes, respond to broker requests faster, assess complex risks accurately, and write more profitable business.

It's no surprise that year after year, 98% of the agents surveyed by Deep Customer Connections report that overall Ease of Business is a critically important factor in choosing which carrier they place business with.

SortSpoke addresses this imbalance by automating the data extraction process while maintaining underwriter control through human validation. This approach:

• Preserves the critical role of underwriter expertise in the process
• Eliminates the most time-consuming and error-prone manual tasks
• Enables underwriters to focus on value-added activities
• Improves both efficiency and job satisfaction

"A real strategic opportunity exists for carriers that target their transformation efforts to ensure that changes enhance efficiency where it matters most for both the carriers and their agents.."

— Deep Customer Connections

The Bottom Line: Transform Your Submission Process Today

In today's competitive insurance market, carriers and MGAs face mounting pressure: increasing submission volumes, underwriter shortages, and demands for faster response times. Effective triage is no longer just an operational nice-to-have — it's a strategic imperative for maintaining competitive advantage.

SortSpoke's human-in-the-loop approach to Intelligent Document Processing offers a proven solution:

• Process 5X more submissions with your existing team
• Maintain 100% accuracy through human validation
• Respond to brokers faster to win more business
• Keep underwriters focused on risk assessment and decision-making

For insurance carriers implementing SortSpoke's IDP solution, the results are measurable and significant. Our customers report processing their submission backlogs in hours rather than days. More importantly, they can focus their underwriting expertise on the estimated 30% of submissions that ultimately drive 80% of premium growth — a game-changer for both productivity and profitability.