This decision tree belongs to the underwriting referral triage guide. It is written for insurance transformation advisors who know an insurer or MGA with years of referral history and need to reach the person who can say yes. It is general information, not legal advice.
Why the person who routes referrals rarely signs
Referral triage is a chain of authority by design. When a submission exceeds an underwriter's limit, the policy system raises a flag and the case moves up. In Guidewire PolicyCenter, for example, an underwriting issue is a flag that may need review, and a user who cannot clear it can request approval from another user, typically one with greater authority. The people who live inside that chain every day are the line underwriters, the referral desk and the underwriting operations head who keeps the authority grids current.
That makes the operations head the best first conversation. They can say how many referrals a year reach senior underwriters, whether conditions are recorded as fields or free text, and when the legacy workbench goes read-only. What they usually cannot do is commit the company to discussing its records with an outside party. Knowing the routing is not the same as owning the outcome, in underwriting or in licensing.
The tree: five questions, in order
Ask these in sequence. Each answer either names who decides or adds a reviewer before the introduction.
- Whose paper are the policies written on?
- The company's own: it is a carrier, and its referral files are its records. Go to question 2.
- A carrier's, under delegated authority: the company is an MGA or coverholder. Note each carrier relationship and the years it covers, then go to question 2. The delegated authority or binding agreement may say who owns or may reuse underwriting files; MGA data ownership explains why that matters.
- Who wrote the record?
- Company staff: referral questions, senior decision notes, approval conditions, authority grid versions. These are the core of the discussion.
- Brokers or third parties: submission packs, loss runs, inspection reports. Broker terms or vendor contracts may apply. Flag them for counsel and continue.
- Do the files hold nonpublic personal information?
- Yes, as most personal lines and some small commercial files do: privacy rules apply. In the U.S., many states base theirs on NAIC Model 672, which sets conditions on disclosing nonpublic personal financial and health information to nonaffiliated third parties. Counsel decides what is excluded or de-identified. Go to question 4.
- Mainly commercial risks with business contacts only: still note it; go to question 4.
- Is a sale, merger or capital raise under way?
- Yes: the board, the acquirer or investors may need to approve material agreements. If an acquirer is weighing the insurer, underwriting data monetization upside in an acquisition covers how buyers see it.
- No: go to question 5.
- Will the CEO take a short call?
- Yes: introduce the CEO, with the underwriting operations head as sponsor and the chief underwriting officer available for content questions.
- Not yet: do not submit. Ask the sponsor to raise it with the CEO.
Roles and what each can settle
| Role | What they know | Can authorize a licensing discussion? |
|---|---|---|
| Underwriting operations head | Workbench, referral volumes, gaps, migration dates | Rarely alone; the natural sponsor |
| Chief underwriting officer | Authority grids, the judgment in the files, sensitivity | No; advises on content |
| Line underwriters and referral desk | How cases actually move | No; informs only |
| Workbench or IT administrator | Export formats, archive plans | No; technical access only |
| General counsel or compliance lead | Carrier, broker and privacy terms | Advises and may gate parts of the record |
| CEO | Strategy and material contracts | Yes, the signer |
| Board, parent or investor | Approval of material agreements | Only where governance requires it |
Where a second signature comes from
Carriers behind an MGA. A coverholder that writes under several carriers may hold files under different terms for each. One carrier's agreement may be silent on reuse; another may reserve the underwriting file to the carrier. Rights review reads each one. The advisor's job is only to list which carriers, which years, and that agreements exist.
Privacy and data security rules. Beyond privacy notices, insurers in states that adopted the NAIC Insurance Data Security Model Law must keep a written information security program and exercise due diligence in selecting third-party service providers that access nonpublic information. That is a reason the compliance lead will want to know how any data review would be run. It is also why partners never ask for a sample file.
Group structures. Some insurers share a workbench with a parent or sister company. The CFO identifies which legal entity owns which book of business and therefore which referral history.
Signals the conversation has stalled with a sponsor
- The contact offers to "pull a few referrals" to show what exists. Anyone willing to share files before the CEO has agreed is acting beyond their authority.
- They can describe every field in the workbench but not who signs carrier agreements.
- They promise to "mention it to leadership" without naming a person.
- Answers focus on what the system can export rather than what the company decided.
None of this makes the contact unhelpful. It makes them a sponsor, and the next move is to ask directly for an introduction to the CEO.
What stays unknown until SourceX's rights review
The tree tells a partner whom to introduce. It does not settle which referral years and lines are in scope, what each carrier agreement allows, how policyholder and broker details are de-identified, whether buyers want referral triage histories, or what the company would be offered. Why data rights matter sets out what that review establishes. SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation, and manages agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout.
An introduced company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting introductions, and the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application. The referral brief template has a field for the executive this tree identifies, and the systems map shows where each record sits. More insurance context is on the insurance industry page.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
Once the tree points to a CEO willing to discuss the company's referral history, register as a partner, check the insurer against who qualifies and read the program terms before you make the introduction.