What action should be taken if information is incomplete or inconsistent and cannot be resolved?

• A. Postpone or decline the application.
• B. Approve as standard without investigation.
• C. Offer lower premium unconditionally.
• D. Terminate the policy after issue.

Answer: (A)

When information is incomplete or inconsistent and cannot be resolved, the right course is to postpone or decline the application. This ensures you don’t risk underwriting a policy without enough facts to accurately assess risk, price the premium, or determine eligibility. By delaying, you give the applicant a chance to provide the missing details or corrected information, which helps protect both the insurer and the insured from mispricing, adverse selection, or improper coverage.

Approving as standard without investigation ignores the unresolved data and could expose you to unknown risk. Offering a lower premium unconditionally attempts to compensate for missing details but isn’t justified without solid evidence of risk, which could lead to mispricing. Terminating the policy after issue isn’t appropriate when the problem arises during the underwriting stage; policy termination is typically a remedy for issues discovered after issuance, not a response to unresolved information before or during underwriting.