Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting Course
Online 300-hour course in professional ethics in insurance underwriting. 6 modules covering Directive 2004/113/EC (equal treatment between men and women in access to and supply of goods and services), Law 15/2022 (equal treatment and non-discrimination) and Python (fairlearn). Assigned tutor and open enrolment.
Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting Course — studying from New Zealand
New Zealand's insurance and financial services sector is concentrated in Auckland and Wellington, with a strong focus on general insurance, life insurance and risk management. Natural hazard risk, particularly from earthquakes, is a major consideration, and the Earthquake Commission provides residential natural disaster cover. Actuarial and risk data professionals work for insurers, reinsurers, regulators and consultancies, with oversight from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Financial Markets Authority.
Fees for New Zealand: NZ$1,080 (New Zealand dollar), with instalments and employer sponsorship available.
Relevant bodies in New Zealand
Typical roles
Questions from New Zealand
Which New Zealand bodies recognise actuarial and risk qualifications?
The Actuarial Society of New Zealand and the New Zealand Institute of Actuaries work alongside international bodies such as the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. Membership and professional credentials in these fields are set by those bodies, not by private providers. SEIUM's qualifications are private and not accredited by any national body, so their standing depends on how your employer or the relevant body assesses them.
Do insurers and financial firms in New Zealand hire people with data and risk skills?
New Zealand's insurance, banking and government sectors do employ people in risk, pricing and data analysis, and the Reserve Bank and insurers both draw on these skills. Hiring usually depends on demonstrated technical ability and professional credentials. A SEIUM qualification can support your application, but whether it is valued is up to each employer.
How is the programme delivered and paid for?
The programme is 100% online and taught in English, so no student visa is needed to study from New Zealand. You are assigned a technical tutor and complete a final project. Fees are payable in instalments, and employer sponsorship is possible. Time commitment varies by programme, from 300 hours for specialist courses to 1,900 hours for master's programmes.
Take the controls.
Run a real engineering trade-off from this field. Move the sliders, watch the model react in real time and beat the challenge.
What you will be able to do
Recognise the ethical dilemmas inherent in risk underwriting.
Distinguish between legitimate actuarial differentiation and prohibited discrimination.
Apply transparency and data protection requirements in underwriting.
Analyse situations of exclusion and proposals for insurance accessibility.
Evaluate the use of algorithms in underwriting against the AI Regulation.
Establish governance practices and the underwriter's professional conduct.
Prepare an integrative project with an underwriting ethical framework.
Who it's for
- Risk underwriter wishing to specialise in Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting.
- Underwriting ethics manager wishing to specialise in Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting.
- Pricing actuary wishing to specialise in Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting.
- Regulatory compliance analyst wishing to specialise in Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting.
- Financial inclusion manager wishing to specialise in Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting.
- Product governance consultant wishing to specialise in Professional Ethics in Insurance Underwriting.
- Graduates in engineering or sciences seeking to join insurance undertakings.
What you'll work with
- Directive 2004/113/EC (equal treatment between men and women in access to and supply of goods and services)
- Law 15/2022 (equal treatment and non-discrimination)
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR, Art. 22 automated decisions)
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Regulation)
- Law 4/2018 (non-discrimination on grounds of HIV and other health conditions in contracts)
- Directive (EU) 2016/97 (IDD)
- Law 50/1980 on Insurance Contracts
6 modules · 300 h
1.1What the underwriter decides and with what effect1.2Pooling and risk selection1.3Tension between actuarial fairness and solidarity1.4Market exclusion and its consequences1.5Social expectations of the insurer1.6Ethical frameworks applicable to the decision1.7Sector codes of professional conduct1.8Vocabulary and acronyms of the field1.9Public cases and the debate they generate1.10Exercise: analyse an underwriting decision
2.1Direct and indirect discrimination2.2Variables prohibited by regulation2.3Variables correlated with protected attributes2.4Actuarial justification and its limits2.5Complex models and opacity2.6Fairness audit of a model2.7Fairness metrics and their tensions2.8Bias correction and its effects2.9Documentation of modelling decisions2.10Practice: fairness audit of a tariff
3.1Data sources and their lawfulness3.2External data and enrichment3.3Consent and reasonable expectation3.4Minimisation and proportionality3.5Explaining the price to the customer3.6Personalised pricing and its perception3.7Price optimisation and the debate around it3.8Renewals and penalising loyalty3.9Applicable conduct regulation3.10Practice: data use policy in underwriting
4.1Protection gap and excluded groups4.2Aggravated risks and solutions4.3Products for hard-to-insure groups4.4Right to be forgotten for certain risks4.5Pools and market mechanisms4.6Effect of climate change on insurability4.7Role of the public sector4.8Communicating a refusal4.9Alternatives offered to the customer4.10Practice: proposal for an excluded group
5.1Product governance and its monitoring5.2Ethics or product committee5.3Training of the underwriting team5.4Incentives and their alignment5.5Internal alert channel5.6Relationship with the supervisor5.7Public transparency of criteria5.8Reputation and long-term trust5.9Personal responsibility of the professional5.10Practice: underwriting ethics policy
6.1Choice of line of business and product6.2Map of underwriting ethical dilemmas6.3Fairness audit of the model6.4Data use policy6.5Proposal to improve accessibility6.6Design of governance and controls6.7Team training plan6.8Conduct indicators6.9Project report6.10Project defence
How you'll learn
Training 100% online on the SEIUM campus, with downloadable material, recorded classes and a assigned technical tutor. No fixed timetable: students progress at their own pace within the intake, which makes it possible to combine the course with work.
Each module combines theory, guided reading of the original standard and applied exercises. The working software is Python (fairlearn), R, advanced Excel, SAS, in free, academic or evaluation versions. Case work is based on real procedures for reviewing sensitive pricing variables, analysis of insurance exclusion cases, and transparency audits of health questionnaires. Assessment is continuous per module plus the final integrative project.
Build it end to end
Your final project follows the real engineering workflow, step by step, reviewed by your tutor.
Recognise the ethical dilemmas inherent in risk underwriting.
Distinguish between legitimate actuarial differentiation and prohibited discrimination.
Apply transparency and data protection requirements in underwriting.
Analyse situations of exclusion and proposals for insurance accessibility.
Evaluate the use of algorithms in underwriting against the AI Regulation.
Where this takes you
Requirements
- No prior degree required.
- Internet connection and a computer capable of running the programme's software.
- Sufficient level of Spanish to follow technical regulatory reading.
Ready to start?
Send your application today. Our admissions team replies within 72 hours with your study plan and funding options.
Frequently asked questions
The programme consists of 300 hours in total, spread over 3 to 5 months. That is between 10 and 15 hours per week on average, compatible with a full-time job.
Work is carried out with Python (fairlearn), R, advanced Excel and SAS. Free, academic or evaluation versions are used, and the tutor indicates the free alternative where one exists.
An own diploma from SEIUM upon passing the continuous assessment and the integrative project. It is in-house training, not an official qualification from the Ministry.
Yes. Modules passed in a course or postgraduate diploma in the same area are credited towards the higher programme. Please check the credit transfer policy when you enrol.
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