Insurance carriers must assess the risk of each applicant during the underwriting process. Does the applicant have criminal history that may affect their approval? Does the applicant have debts or current bankruptcies that would conclusively alter the decision to cover? Insurance-specific background check products help carriers determine risk and ultimately accelerate the underwriting process.
Why Perform Insurance Background Check?
It is important to run a thorough and comprehensive background check on your applicant to gain access to their full background. This includes criminal, employment, credit, driving history, and more.
The principal portion of an insurance background check investigates the criminal history of an applicant. A criminal history record check with uncover any misdemeanor or felony records, the scope, timeline, and any outstanding criminal cases.
Verifying employment through an employment verification determines if an applicant is employed. This type of verification is practical in determining employment history, profession, and length of employment, all key pieces in making informed decisions.
A previous or current bankruptcy as well as any known debts will disclose if an applicant can manage premiums in their current financial state.
Searching the applicant’s driving record helps to determine other risks, such as a DUI or serious accidents.
Other portions of the background check could include drug and alcohol testing or a workers compensation search. It is ultimately the underwriter’s decision of what to check, but in order to remain compliant, you must treat each applicant equally and perform identical background check packages on each applicant.
Most Commonly Utilized Products by Underwriters
7 Year Misdemeanor & Felony Search – is the standard for a comprehensive background check because it is focused specifically on the applicant’s jurisdictions of residence within the last 7 years. With direct court record access, the report will include charges and severity, case status, disposition, sentencing details, and identifiers.
Verified Enhanced National Criminal Search - combines SSN validation, address history, alias name searches, plus access to over 1,000 sources and over 800 million criminal records. All records are verified by the researchers directly at the source prior to reporting.
Bankruptcy, Liens, & Judgments Search – reveals a complete picture of bankruptcies, commitments, and responsibilities with access to over 71 million lien records, 9 million federal records, 27 million state records, 12 million HOA liens, 4 million mechanics liens, and 33 million judgment records.
Employment Verification – is performed by a team of professional and experienced researchers who will confirm dates of employment, position, reason for leaving (if applicable), rehire eligibility, as well as any additional information provided by the employers.
Motor Vehicle Record Search – provides 3- or 7-year driving history with a direct DMV interface and includes driving restrictions, license status, moving violations and citation history, as well as criminal driving violations and accident history.
Click here for a list of all Choice Screening products and services.
Choice Screening’s team of experts have developed a technologically advanced application to help insurance carriers and underwriters improve their background screening process. Our innovative and proprietary API allows for direct access to robust reporting capabilities. We are your reliable source for real-time criminal history data. Are you ready to accelerate your underwriting process? Contact us for more information.
As part of any good hiring strategy, partner with a background screening provider you can trust, stay informed, and don’t forget to consult legal counsel. Please note: this blog is not all-encompassing and is not meant to provide legal advice.
