Personal Lines Technical Underwriter

NFU Mutual; York and North Yorkshire; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary up to £60,000

Annual bonus up to 17.5%

Contributory pension up to 20%

25 days annual leave + holidays

Job summary

NFU Mutual is seeking a Personal Lines Technical Underwriter to shape underwriting strategy for the Personal Lines product range, with a primary focus on Private Car. You will report to the Underwriting Segment Manager and develop the rules and guidance needed to implement the strategy.

You will use data, management information and portfolio performance analysis to identify opportunities, strengthen underwriting strategy and support evidence-based decisions, influencing stakeholders across

Qualifications

• Strong Personal Lines underwriting experience including Private Car.
• Analytical and commercially aware with ability to interpret portfolio performance and market data.
• Effective communicator able to tailor technical guidance for varied audiences.
• Collaborative with stakeholder management and independent judgement.

Responsibilities

• Recommend and develop underwriting strategy for Personal Lines, focusing on Private Car.
• Use data, MI and portfolio analysis to support responsible growth and customer outcomes.
• Provide expert judgement on risk rates and rating logic; deliver guidance for Agents and Underwriters.
• Build influential cross-functional relationships to ensure consistent underwriting appetite across the business.

Skills

Personal Lines underwriting

Private Car

Stakeholder management

Data analysis

Underwriting strategy

Job description

Personal Lines Technical Underwriter

• Help shape underwriting strategy and risk appetite across NFU Mutual’s Personal Lines product range, with a particular focus on Private Car
• Use your technical underwriting expertise, market insight and data-led judgement to support sustainable, profitable growth and fair customer outcomes
• Hybrid working on offer – spend up to 80% of your time at home, to achieve an excellent work-life balance, with 20% attendance at one of our offices: Stratford-upon Avon, York, Bristol, Belfast or Glasgow

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to join NFU Mutual's Head Office Underwriting Department in a specialist Personal Lines role. Reporting to the Underwriting Segment Manager, you will recommend and develop underwriting strategy for a Personal Lines product range, with a primary focus on Private Car, and help define the rules, processes and communications needed to put that strategy into practice.

Using independent underwriting expertise and judgement, you will help define risk appetite, recommend appropriate terms and risk features, and translate underwriting appetite into clear, workable guidance for Agents and Underwriters. Your work will support consistent decision-making, effective management of insurance risk and the delivery of sustainable profit and growth objectives.

You will use data, management information and portfolio performance analysis to identify opportunities, strengthen underwriting strategy and support responsive, evidence-based decisions. You will also provide expert judgement on risk rates and rating logic, contribute to improvements in underwriting knowledge and capability, and act as a final point of referral for complex, high-value or contentious cases within agreed authority, policies, procedures and service levels.

Building influential relationships will be central to the role. You will collaborate with colleagues across Pricing, Sales, Agency, Claims, Product, Propositions, Regions, Marketing and relevant industry bodies, communicating technical guidance clearly and helping stakeholders understand the rationale behind underwriting decisions. You will also contribute to short-term projects and one-off activities that improve customer experience, commercial performance and the effective management of insurance risk.

This role is known internally as: Class Underwriter - Segment

About you

You will bring strong Personal Lines underwriting experience, ideally including Private Car, together with experience of working in a team accountable for underwriting strategy, risk selection, account performance, underwriting rules or risk acceptance criteria.

Analytical and commercially aware, you can interpret portfolio performance and wider market information, identify the key issues and turn complex evidence into clear recommendations. You combine strategic and critical thinking with practical problem-solving, and you are comfortable applying expert judgement where information is incomplete or competing priorities need to be balanced.

You will be an effective communicator and confident report writer who can tailor technical information for different audiences. Your collaborative approach, customer focus and stakeholder management skills will help you build trusted relationships, influence decisions and support the consistent application of underwriting appetite across the business.

So, in short - what we're looking for….

• Personal Lines underwriting experience, ideally including Private Car, supported by sound general insurance knowledge
• Experience contributing to underwriting strategy, risk appetite, risk selection, underwriting rules or risk acceptance criteria
• Ability to analyse portfolio performance and management information, using data to inform decisions and actionable recommendations
• Experience producing clear reports and communicating technical underwriting guidance to varied audiences
• Strong stakeholder management, collaboration and influencing skills, with the confidence to build trusted relationships across technical and non-technical teams
• Strategic and critical thinking skills, alongside a practical approach to problem-solving and sound independent judgement
• A clear customer focus, with the ability to balance fair customer outcomes, commercial objectives and effective insurance risk management

At NFU Mutual, we support an inclusive workplace and value all the differences that make us unique. We celebrate the creativity and innovation that comes from diverse perspectives and experiences and share a common vision of doing the right thing for our customers and employees.

We recognise that some candidates may experience barriers during the recruitment process. So, we encourage candidates to discuss any adjustments or accommodations they need to be the best they can be throughout our recruitment process.

We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Race at Work and Women in Finance Charter signatory and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, regardless of age, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, gender, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background.

Benefits and Rewards

When you join our team, you can expect a supportive culture and an attractive range of rewards and benefits including:

• Salary up to £60,000
• Annual bonus (up to 17.5% of salary)
• Contributory pension scheme, up to 20%, including your 8% contribution
• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays + buy/sell/save holiday trading scheme
• A Family Friendly policy that helps you balance your work and family responsibilities
• Access to savings at High Street brands, travel and supermarkets
• £20 contribution to a monthly gym membership – subject to T&Cs
• Health and wellbeing plan - cashback for dentist, opticians, physio and more
• Access to voluntary benefits, including health assessments, private medical insurance and dental insurance
• Employee Volunteering - volunteer in the community for one day each year
• Mentoring opportunities to help you grow your career
• Unlimited access to Refer a Friend £500 bonus scheme
• Life Assurance cover of 4 x salary
• Employee discounts of 15% on a range of NFU Mutual insurance policies.
• Salary sacrifice employee car scheme - subject to eligibility

Working at NFU Mutual

We’re one of the UK’s leading general insurance and financial services organisations, and for over 110 years we’ve put our customers at the heart of everything we do. Our people are just as important to us, so we’re proud to be recognised as "a great place to work".

Our Gallup Exceptional Workplace 2026 award was not only awarded with Distinction, but it also marked us as the first UK based company to earn a Gallup Exceptional Workplace award for eleven consecutive years. We’ve also been consistently recognised by Glassdoor. We appeared in the Glassdoor Best Places to Work UK list in 2023, 2024 and 2026 — and in 2026, we were the highest ranked insurance business in the UK, highlighting our strong employee experience and the positive feedback our people share on the platform.

Additionally, we were named in the LinkedIn Top Companies 2026 list of "Best midsize employers to grow your career in the UK", and we’ve been certified as a UK Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.
We offer a supportive and empowering culture where people are inspired to perform, given opportunities to grow, and recognised and rewarded for their contribution. Our people are proud to work for a company that respects them and their communities, and they trust us to be financially sustainable—so we’re successful now and in the future.