Can you license claims and underwriting files to AI companies?
An underwriting file shows how someone decided what a risk was worth. A claim file shows what happened when the risk turned real. Together they record judgment across thousands of cases. They also carry some of the most sensitive personal information anyone holds, so the work is mostly about what has to be removed and who has the right to share.
What these files contain
| Underwriting decisions with the reasons | The application, what the underwriter asked for, the terms offered and the note explaining why. |
| Claim notes from first report to settlement | The adjuster’s record of what was reported, checked and decided, in order. |
| Correspondence about disputed claims | Where a claim was contested and how it was resolved. |
| Reserve and payment history | The way an estimate moved over the life of a claim. |
| Guidelines and referral rules | The internal rules for when a claim goes to a senior reviewer or to investigation. |
Why they are valuable and why they are hard
Few documents show judgment under uncertainty as clearly. A decision, its reasons and its outcome sit in one file. That is why an insurer’s archive is worth asking about.
The files also hold names, medical information, financial details and sometimes the circumstances of an accident. Removing all of it reliably is slow, and anything that cannot be cleaned is left out.
Regulators, carriers and policyholders
Insurance is regulated place by place, including how policyholder information is used and shared. An insurer, an agency and a reinsurer can each hold rights or duties over the same file.
Ask counsel two things before any preparation: what the privacy notice told policyholders, and what the contracts with carriers, reinsurers and vendors say about the data.
What stays out of a claims set
| Policyholder identity and contact details | Replaced with stand-ins, so a person’s file can be followed without identifying them. |
| Medical and financial detail that identifies someone | Removed. A file that cannot be reliably cleaned is left out. |
| Third-party and reinsurer material | Left out unless the agreement clearly allows it. |
An example, invented for illustration
A regional insurer keeps underwriting notes and claim files in its policy system, ten years deep. A set takes closed claims only, replaces every person and address with stand-ins, removes medical detail that cannot be fully cleaned and links each underwriting decision to the later claim. Files covered by reinsurer terms are left out, and the owner approves the sample before anything is exported.
Questions owners ask about this
Do policyholders have to agree?
It depends on the notice they received and the rules where you operate. Ask your counsel before anything is prepared, and keep the answer on file.
Only closed files, or open ones too?
Closed ones, normally. An open claim is still changing, and it may be the subject of a dispute.
Is a small book of business too small?
Smaller sets can still be useful if the files are complete and consistent. Size is less important than how full each file is, and nothing is promised in advance.
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Keep reading
Related kinds of records
- Quotes and estimates: A price and the argument behind it, with margins and current prices kept out unless the owner says.
- Support tickets: The whole thread, wrong guesses included, with customers replaced by stand-ins.
Industries that keep these records
- Insurance agencies: A quote, a renewal and a claim follow-up in the agency’s own words, with customers and carrier files kept out.