Engagement snapshot
- Mandate
- Turn a manual submission pipeline into a broker-ready production product.
- Timeline
- 16 weeks from product shaping to launch with pilot brokers.
- Team shape
- Distribution lead, underwriting lead, 3 engineers, and 4 broker advisors.
The problem
Brokers emailed PDFs and spreadsheets into shared inboxes, and internal teams rekeyed submissions into rating tools and policy systems before underwriting could even begin.
What we built
Built a broker portal with intake validation, document handling, rating integration, and underwriter workflow controls.
Operating context
The MGA had product demand but not the submission infrastructure to handle it cleanly. Turnaround was slow because the early workflow still assumed internal staff would normalize every submission before it entered the real process.
Key constraints
- Brokers needed enough guidance to submit clean files without turning the portal into a training burden.
- Rating and underwriting systems already existed and could not be replaced in phase one.
- Submission states had to remain auditable across broker, ops, and underwriting views.
What we built
Validated intake flows
Moved core submission checks into the portal so bad or incomplete files were caught before they entered underwriting.
System-of-record boundaries
Kept the portal as the orchestration layer while respecting downstream rating and policy systems.
Broker and underwriter workspaces
Created tailored interfaces for brokers and internal teams so both sides could see status, blockers, and next actions.
Delivery path
Submission path design
Defined which lines, states, and policy classes were safe for phase-one portal intake.
Pilot broker launch
Started with a controlled broker group to validate usability, data quality, and underwriter workload effects.
Underwriting hardening
Expanded status handling, exception routing, and audit trails once submission quality stabilized.
Why it mattered
The portal created leverage by improving submission quality before underwriters touched the file. The speed gain came from fewer broken handoffs and less rekeying, not from trying to automate underwriting judgment.
Implementation notes
- Broker self-service only works when validation is clear and forgiving, not punitive.
- Productizing intake often delivers more value than trying to automate the final decision layer first.
- Shared submission state reduced broker frustration almost as much as the turnaround improvement itself.