Risk Researcher Overview and Navigation

The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of Risk Researcher and the navigation of Risk Researcher.

Risk Researcher is a comprehensive insurance quotation system that gives you everything you need to give your clients the best risk advice.

You’ll have tools to help you identify and analyse appropriate options and generate a statement of advice (SOA), plus the most current product features and benefits to give your clients the best comparisons.

• To view the IRESS Insights Video, please view the following link here. (Created by Anthony Derriscott on Dec 3, 2018) 

Risk Researcher Benefits

• Easier modelling: Whether it’s for business clients or individuals, Risk Researcher gives you the tools you need to accurately assess your clients’ needs and model the impact of different options. You can also save multiple scenarios for each client.
• Faster comparisons: A detailed list of policy features and a transparent rating system lets you quickly compare products from your preferred and approved lists, and generate quotes from the insurer.
• Better recommendations: You can perform detailed premium comparisons and allow for different premium structures, benefits types and discounts, so your clients can make more informed decisions

Risk Researcher Key Features

• Detailed information and ratings for over 1,200 products
• Flexibility to integrate your product lists
• Simple and complex needs analysis
• Scenario and premium modelling
• Premium validation
• Product comparisons (current and expired products)
• SOA integration
• Push quote data to insurer quote software
• Access on any device

Risk Researcher Navigation

Premium Modelling

The premium modelling page allows the user to:

• To get estimates of premiums for the above recommendations, click on Premium Modelling > Premium Estimates located in the left menu bar.
• A list of all available products and indicative premiums for the different policies will be displayed

Further information on Premium Modelling here

Qualitative Analysis Tools

The quantitative analysis pages provides the following options:

• Compare Features
• Compare Differences
• Compare Ratings
• Rating Benchmarks
• Policy Extracts
• One on One Comparison
• Compare Policies 

Further information on Quantitative Analysis Tools here

Risk Tools 

The risk tools page provides the following options:

• WealthSolver Insurance
• Rate My Insurer
• Life Risk Calculator
• Cover Availability
• Waiting / Benefit Matrix
• Agreed vs Indemnity
• Option Availability
• Medical Underwriting Limits 

Further information on Risk Tools here

Knowledge Base 

The knowledge base page provides the following options:

• Risk Researcher Central
• Risk Continuum
• PDS Download
• Financial Strength Ratings
• References

Further information on Knowledge Base here

Settings

The settings page provides the following options:

• Weighting Profiles
• Validation Settings
• Custom adviser Approved Product List
• Adviser Defaults

Further information on Settings here

Generate an SOA

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Further information on Generate an SOA here

Risk Researcher Research Methodology

Rating Approach

Risk Researcher awards higher ratings to provisions that provide a greater level of assurity to policyholders or provide a higher probability that a claim will be admitted.

Rating Structure

Most of the evaluated provisions employ an A-B-C rating structure where by an ‘A’ is deemed to the most generous definition in the current market and a ‘C’ rating is deemed to be the most restrictive. Any provision that does not meet the ‘A’ rating or ‘C’ rating definition will receive a ‘B’ rating.

Some of the evaluated provisions employ a Yes/No rating structure. These provisions are referred to as non-rateable provisions. Provisions classed as non-rateable will be provisions that we feel are either:

• Too difficult to assign objective ratings within an A-B-C rating structure
• Of a nature in which assessing the quality of such a feature is of limited value

Provision Categories

Risk Researcher splits its evaluated provisions into two categories, Core and Supplementary.

• Core: Core provisions are those features and definitions that are a fundamental part as to why a consumer would consider the need to purchase a particular type of cover. Core provisions are identified by upper case letter ratings.
• Supplementary: Supplementary provisions are ‘value adding’ features and definitions that are secondary considerations when determining the need to purchase a particular type of risk product. Supplementary provisions are identified by lower case ratings. 

Product Scores

Risk Researcher generates overall product scores, on a core provision and supplementary provision basis.

Product scores are determined by:

• The rating awarded to each evaluated provision
• The weighting setting applied by the adviser to each evaluated provision.

Research Notes

Research notes are provided for all provisions that are evaluated. These notes are compiled by our research staff and provide a concise summary of what we feel are the most important features of the product that have been considered in arriving at the provision rating.

Where appropriate these notes are grouped into the following general headings: Strengths, Limitations, and Comments. The comments contained within are based on relative comparisons of the market.

Business Risk Module

Premium Comparison

It is important to recognise that Risk Researcher's premium comparisons are not intended to be used as product quotations. They are, however, accurate comparisons of the premiums your client could expect to pay for one product in comparison with another.

To ensure that all products are compared on an equal basis then, our premium calculations are based on a set of standard assumptions that all products can meet. These standard conditions are outlined in each premium report generated together with a set of individual product notes identifying the specific product features that have been used in calculating the premium for the product.

If these same product features are reproduced in the Life Office quotation software, the premiums calculated by the Life Office software and Risk Researcher will match.