Writing

B2C

Underwriters: The most important person you'll never meet

If you are applying for a mortgage for the first time, or even getting your current mortgage refinanced, you may not know exactly who approves your loan or how they decide whether you are a good candidate.

This person is called an underwriter and is likely someone you will never meet or even see. However, whether or not you are approved for a mortgage largely rests on your underwriter's shoulders. Depending on the state of your finances, he may simply have to ensure that all of your paperwork is in order and double check the figures to approve your loan. However, he may also have to go through all of your paperwork and consider your financial and employment history before giving a stamp of approval on your mortgage.

What does an underwriter do?

When you were preapproved or prequalified for a mortgage, your lender more or less accepted your financial information as being presented truthfully. However, when you submit your official loan application, it is up to the underwriter to confirm that you are truly a qualified candidate for a loan.

Your credit score will be checked with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, the three major credit bureaus. Keep in mind that if you have imperfect credit, it may not disqualify you from a mortgage completely, though you might have to prove solid employment history or make a larger down payment.

The underwriter also has to ensure that all of the tax, title, insurance and closing documentation is as it should be. In addition, he must check the appraisal of the home in question to make sure the information is accurate and the value given to the home is appropriate.

In all, the underwriter has final approval of the loan, a decision he will take seriously because he will also take responsibility for the loan.

Should you get denied by the underwriter, the decision may be appealed by a head underwriter or another superior of your underwriter, though you will need to have facts that back up your request to overturn his initial decision.

Types of underwriting

Not all mortgages are underwritten by an actual person. Some cases allow for an automated underwriting system. Data is provided to a program, which will use a formula or algorithm to assess the risks of your loan and approve or deny your loan.

Should you be approved by an automated underwriting system, a human underwriter will then review the data used and look for any errors in what was put into the system. Should the information not line up, your file will be sent back to the processor and generally the errors will be corrected or additional information will be provided.

Manual underwriting is often required because automated underwriting systems are not able to consider gray areas. On the other hand, a manual underwriter will allow for more flexible debt rules and will compile files that are more narrative in nature to help explain why credit errors may have occurred in your past, or why you had some gaps in your employment.

The importance of the underwriter

Essentially, it is the underwriter's duty to ensure that the risk – or perceived risk – of providing you with a large amount of money is worth the reward. He is essentially poring through your credit history in order to establish whether or not you are a good candidate for a loan. If he approves the loan and you default, it can not only cost his company money, but it may also damage the company's relationship with the lenders who fund its loans.

The underwriter may ask for additional information about your employment or credit history. If he does, the best thing you can do is respond quickly with complete and accurate information.

Welcome Letter

The Age of Reason for Neurosurgery

The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall.
— Thomas Paine, 1794

Though Thomas Paine wrote these words 225 ago, they remain as true as ever. In fact, the last several years have shown us that reason still is the most important tool we have in the journey toward truth.

Paine's book, The Age of Reason, came in a time of great change: The United States was establishing its freedom, the newly accepted germ theory meant doctors were practicing sanitation for the first time, and the first vaccines were just years away. And while science was advancing in many ways, it would be the better part of a century before William Macewen pioneered brain surgery in 1879. Meanwhile, Paine's contemporary medical professionals still practiced bloodletting and believed depression was caused by too much black bile.

How did we get from the rudimentary idea of the four humors to 21st century neurosurgery? The answer is both simple and complex. Of course it took centuries of attempts and failures, medical geniuses and their test subjects, and an adherence to the scientific method. At the center of all of this is Paine's formidable weapon: reason. Reason and critical thinking are what have allowed medical technology to advance, and they are what we will use to ensure scientific progress doesn't slip away.

That's why I am inviting you to join me at the 2019 Annual Meeting in San Francisco and celebrate reason. In a world of “fake news” and falsehoods that spread quicker than the truth, we in the medical community must remain pillars against misinformation. We should celebrate The Age of Reason for Neurosurgery.

This Preliminary Program will be your guide to getting the most out of your week at the Annual Meeting. As in years past, you can depend on joining other leaders in neurosurgery to find cutting-edge science and get hands on with the latest technology. We're bringing back live surgery in the Presentation Theater and the Paper of the Year Awards. But 2019 is going to hold so much more. In order to provide attendees with the most CME at the best value, we are pleased to introduce more than 20 full- and half-day symposia at a new, lower price on Saturday and Sunday.

As always, you can expect world-class speakers from a wide range of backgrounds who will entertain and enlighten attendees on topics like medical ethics, presidential history, and genetics. We hope you'll leave the 2019 Annual Meeting inspired by the accomplishments and possibilities in the field of Neurosurgery.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, the Scientific Program Committee, and the 2019 Honored Guest, I warmly welcome you to attend this year's Meeting in San Francisco, California.

Internal Communications

MapAction: Technology and recovery

When disasters escalate to major crises, they become all-hands-on-deck situations. While we typically think of sending water, food and shelter to those in need, one charity provides something equally valuable: information.

Our colleague Chris Ewing has been working with MapAction, a charity dedicated to gathering and providing data in the wake of disasters of all kinds, for a decade. Volunteers like Chris can be deployed halfway around the world in mere hours when needed.

That is how Chris found himself in the Caribbean country of Dominica within 60 hours of Hurricane Maria devastating the island. He explained that his colleague was able to arrive the day after the storm, but Chris's flight from the UK was delayed because airports were shut down.

“We were based in the government operations center before there was energy or water in the capital,” Chris explained. “The first couple of days were pretty chaotic.”

MapAction's mission is to help coordinate efforts to ensure help reaches where it is most needed. The charity gathers information regarding transportation options, where the most vulnerable populations are, and where medical supplies are and where they are most needed.

All of this data is compiled and turned into a visual map—known as a shared operational picture—that is shared with the local government and other aid agencies.

The hurricane in Dominica presented specific challenges for MapAction. The mountainous island caused major communication issues, as roads were impassable, and phone and mobile networks were down. With 95% of buildings damaged, the situation was dire.

Chris remained onsite for two weeks to help coordinate recovery efforts, but he explained that a surge team would likely remain in place for as long as nine months along with workers dispatched by the UN.

The ability to catch the next flight from the UK to the Caribbean, South America or Africa and stay there for weeks at a time requires a lot of support. Chris noted that he has an incredibly understanding family. In addition, he said his managers and the firm in general have been incredibly supportive.

“The main thing they've given me is flexibility with my time,” Chris explained. “But the firm has provided much-needed funds. A few years ago, our office sponsored MapAction and Aon matched our donations. While we're partly funded by the UK and Dutch governments, donations make up a huge part of our financial resources.”

Internal Communications

‘The cloud is in a warehouse’: How we help protect Microsoft's technology

When we partner with a powerhouse company like Microsoft, it is easy to assume that all of claims with them are multi-million-dollar transactions.

And that is certainly a true assumption in many cases, according to Stephanie Lampi, a Senior Risk Manager at the tech company. When she sat down with our colleague Sherril Kist, a Managing Director, during a Client Insight Session on Empower Results Day for Clients 2017, she discussed just how we have helped grow their business when it comes to cloud-based computing.

“We always think of cyber risk as some sort of hack, but cyber growth for us is in data centers.” Stephanie explained. “The cloud is not really in the clouds— we all know that right? The cloud is in a warehouse.”

So Microsoft has trusted in our firm to help them with contracts and leases to help secure as much physical property to house their servers as possible at the smartest price.

But while those big deals come with sizable price tags, Stephanie explained that they actually do not get the biggest ROI there.

“We buy fine art insurance,” she said. “It's about $6,000 per year – that's a drop in the bucket for Microsoft— not even a rounding error. But that policy has had the best return for us, as well as the best story.”

Sherril recounted the time she was touring Microsoft's campus when her guides pointed out a chandelier created by renowned Pacific Northwest glassblower and artist Dale Chihuly.

“Microsoft people were talking about the piece and how expensive it was and I looked at it and said ‘There's a hole in your Chihuly,’” she chuckled. “Someone— maybe a cleaning group— had put a hole right through the bottom of it.”

Sherril was able to start the claim on the spot, and it ended up costing $25,000 to fix the small hole. According to Stephanie, it became lore around the Microsoft campus that the best reason to have insurance is to have your Chihuly fixed.

But when it is all said and done, Stephanie explained why our firm is such an essential partner for Microsoft. While the risk department is usually a cost center, as opposed to a profit center, we have been able to actually help Microsoft secure sales, which makes Stephanie's conversations up the ladder much easier to have.

“We're trying to justify why we're spending money on insurance,” she told Sherril. “And we're able to tell this story and say ‘Here is something we're able to do with insurance. We're enabling sales. Now you're getting these million dollar deals, and some of them rely on us being able to provide that insurance policy.' That's getting the CFO on board with our team and supporting us as we go and create some more innovative solutions.”