Ethical Underwriting and Social Responsibility in Insurance Course
Online 300-hour course in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance. 6 modules covering Directive 2004/113/EC (equal treatment between men and women in goods and services), Law 15/2022 on comprehensive equal treatment and non-discrimination, and Python (Fairlearn). Assigned tutor and open enrolment.
Ethical Underwriting and Social Responsibility in Insurance Course — studying from South Africa
South Africa has one of the more developed insurance and financial services sectors on the continent, with major insurers and reinsurers headquartered in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Actuarial and risk analysis skills are in demand for pricing, reserving and risk management. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority and the Prudential Authority regulate the sector, and insurers rely on data-driven models to meet capital and solvency requirements. Engineers with statistics and data skills are increasingly recruited into these roles.
Fees for South Africa: R 13 900 (South African rand), with instalments and employer sponsorship available.
Relevant bodies in South Africa
Typical roles
Questions from South Africa
Will a SEIUM qualification be recognised by the professional bodies in South Africa for this area?
SEIUM qualifications are private qualifications, not official state degrees, and they are not accredited by any South African body. Actuarial work in South Africa is overseen by the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA), whose professional credentials follow their own examination and regulatory routes. Recognition of a SEIUM qualification is decided by employers or the relevant body, so verify this directly with them before enrolling.
How might this qualification be used by employers in South Africa in insurance and risk roles?
Insurers, banks and risk consultancies look for strong data, modelling and risk skills. A private qualification may support your profile, particularly alongside relevant experience, but it will not replace formal professional credentials where these are required. Whether a particular employer values it is up to them, so it is worth asking hiring managers in your target field how they would view it.
Can I study this programme alongside full-time work from South Africa, and is there a time zone or language issue?
Yes, the programme is delivered fully online and in English, so no student visa is needed to study from home. Master's programmes require 1,900 hours, postgraduate diplomas 800 hours and specialist courses 300 hours. Each student is assigned a technical tutor, fees can be paid in instalments, and employer sponsorship is possible. Ask SEIUM about the time-zone and weekly workload expectations before committing.
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
Analyse the social effects of underwriting decisions.
Apply the legal framework on equal treatment and non-discrimination.
Evaluate the ethics of using data and predictive models in risk selection.
Incorporate sustainability and climate criteria into underwriting policy.
Identify market conduct risks and the risk of unfair treatment of customers.
Design a governance and reporting framework for responsible underwriting.
Draft an ethical underwriting policy for an organisation.
Who it's for
- Risk underwriter wishing to specialise in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance.
- Ethics and compliance manager wishing to specialise in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance.
- Sustainability analyst in insurance wishing to specialise in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance.
- Market conduct manager wishing to specialise in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance.
- Auditor of underwriting models wishing to specialise in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance.
- Customer advocate wishing to specialise in ethical underwriting and social responsibility in insurance.
- Engineering or science graduates looking to enter insurance companies.
What you'll work with
- Directive 2004/113/EC (equal treatment between men and women in goods and services)
- Law 15/2022 on comprehensive equal treatment and non-discrimination
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (Artificial Intelligence Act)
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR, Art. 22)
- Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1257 (sustainability in insurance)
- ISO 26000 (social responsibility)
- Principles for Sustainability in Insurance (PSI, UNEP FI)
6 modules · 300 h
1.1What an underwriter actually decides1.2Mutualisation, actuarial fairness and solidarity1.3Segmentation: advantages and social cost1.4Exclusion from insurance and consequences for people1.5Affordability and the protection gap1.6Areas and groups that are difficult to insure1.7Insurance as a condition for access to other rights1.8The role of insurance in societal resilience1.9Social expectations of the sector1.10Workshop: identifying the social effects of an underwriting policy
2.1Protected attributes and the prohibition of discrimination2.2Direct and indirect discrimination in underwriting2.3Proxy variables and their detection2.4Risk-based differences justified: limits of the argument2.5Insurance and consumer protection regulation2.6Data protection and sensitive variables2.7Automated decisions and the right to explanation2.8European artificial intelligence regulation applied to insurance2.9Relevant case law and how to read it2.10Practice: reviewing an underwriting questionnaire
3.1Which data it would be legitimate to use even if predictive3.2Genuine consent versus formal consent3.3Transparency and explainability towards the customer3.4Opaque models and the organisation's responsibility3.5Fairness testing: metrics and their limits3.6Trade-off between accuracy and fairness3.7Meaningful human intervention3.8Ethical documentation of a model3.9Ethics committee and how it works3.10Practice: ethical assessment of a pricing model
4.1Environmental, social and governance criteria in underwriting4.2Underwriting carbon-intensive activities4.3Sectoral exclusion policy and its consequences4.4Withdrawal of capacity in climate-risk areas4.5The role of insurance in adaptation4.6Insurance that encourages sustainable behaviour4.7Investment and underwriting: coherence between the two4.8Risk of unfounded environmental claims4.9Sector sustainability reporting4.10Practice: sustainable underwriting policy for a line of business
5.1Product governance and oversight5.2Target market and selling to those who do not need the product5.3Transparency of prices and renewals5.4Pricing practices and their ethical limits5.5Complaints: fair handling and deadlines5.6Vulnerable customers and appropriate support5.7Training and incentives for the sales network5.8Conduct supervision and regulatory expectations5.9Indicators of fair customer treatment5.10Practice: reviewing a product from a market conduct perspective
6.1Responsible underwriting policy: structure and content6.2Responsibilities of the board and key functions6.3Training for underwriters and actuaries6.4Internal audit of underwriting6.5Public communication and managing expectations6.6Dialogue with regulators and civil society6.7Measuring the social impact of underwriting6.8Common mistakes in social responsibility policies6.9Industry cases and lessons learned6.10Final project: ethical underwriting policy for an organisation
How you'll learn
100% online training on the SEIUM campus, with downloadable material, recorded classes and an assigned technical tutor. There are no fixed timetables: students progress at their own pace within the enrolment period, 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, Power BI, in free, academic or evaluation versions. Tests are studied using real procedures for bias analysis in underwriting criteria, ethical review of a risk selection model, and market conduct and customer treatment cases. Assessment is continuous, module by module, plus the final integrating project.
Build it end to end
Your final project follows the real engineering workflow, step by step, reviewed by your tutor.
Analyse the social effects of underwriting decisions.
Apply the legal framework on equal treatment and non-discrimination.
Evaluate the ethics of using data and predictive models in risk selection.
Incorporate sustainability and climate criteria into underwriting policy.
Identify market conduct risks and the risk of unfair treatment of customers.
Where this takes you
Requirements
- No prior degree is required.
- Internet connection and a computer capable of running the programme's software.
- Sufficient 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 totals 300 hours, spread over 3 to 5 months. That is an average of 10 to 15 hours per week, compatible with a full-time job.
You work with Python (Fairlearn), R, advanced Excel and Power BI. Free, academic or evaluation versions are used, and the tutor indicates the open-source alternative where one exists.
A SEIUM diploma awarded upon passing the continuous assessment and the integrating 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 recognised towards the advanced programme. Check the recognition policy when you enrol.
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