Underwriting is mainly responsible for risks before issuing policy to a customer. They look at exposures before deciding on coverage they can offer to a customer. In case the perceived  risk is high, the insurance company may decide not to issue a policy. In some cases, if the underwriter feels that the risk is high, he/she may charge more premium for a coverage. Let's look at some examples:

• Life insurance premium for a smoker will be more than one for a non-smoker. Similarly, premium for stuntman will be much more than a regular office goer.
• Motor insurance for a car model which is prone to accidents will be more than for a similarly priced model which has lower accident probability.
• Property insurance for a house located in earthquake prone area will be more than for a similar house in area which is not in seismic zone.

There could be cases where the underwriter issues a policy where risk is significant, but he/she may put in some exclusion causes there. Underwriting is critical for insurance companies business as they have to manage trade-off in either being aggressive or being conservative.

Underwriters are highly specialized in risk assessment. Analytics plays an important role for an underwriter, as historical data helps to arrive at risk assessment.