Aviva’s AI underwriting tool cuts critical illness review times by extending life insurance gains to more complex claims

Processing times for critical illness insurance applications are falling as Aviva extends its AI-powered underwriting tool beyond life insurance, where it has already cut medical report review times by about half. The system, first deployed in November 2025, distills complex medical documentation into structured summaries, enabling underwriters to make faster, more consistent decisions. Now applied to critical illness coverage—the first such use by any insurer—the technology tackles a broader set of medical conditions and risk variables than life insurance, a more complex underwriting challenge. Testing confirms the tool maintains accuracy comparable to human review while accelerating application processing. It also supports post-application audits, ensuring decision consistency across cases. Robert Morrison, Aviva’s Chief Underwriting Officer, said the focus has been on stages of underwriting that deliver the most significant efficiency and service gains for customers, advisers, and underwriters. Following this rollout, Aviva plans to introduce AI summarisation for income protection underwriting, further embedding generative AI across its protection product suite. The move underscores a wider industry shift toward AI-driven underwriting to manage complexity, improve precision, and shorten approval timelines for protection products.