Introducing Dale Huby
Assessing applications to ensure good customer outcomes
Our Underwriting team manually evaluate referred finance applications from your customers, helping to ensure we offer finance to the most suitable applicants.
It's incredibly important to us to lend responsibly, and having a robust referral process forms part of this. As a result, our retailers enjoy peace of mind that they're working with a provider that truly puts customers and their needs first.
"It's our role to provide accurate, consistent and fair decisions on referred customer applications. No two customers are the same, so we assess each applicant based on their own unique circumstances to help us ensure we're accepting the most suitable customers and ultimately lending responsibly. This manual evaluation aims to protect customers and provides a better overall experience - something both ourselves and our retailers really prioritise."
Dale Huby, Underwriter
An interview with Dale
Hi Dale. Let's start by talking a little bit about the Underwriting department at Novuna. Can you give us an overview of the team's responsibilities?
The Underwriting team form part of Novuna Consumer Finance's Risk Operations team. It's our responsibility to evaluate finance applications that come in from our retail partners.
When a customer makes a finance application either in-store or online, they will receive an automatic approval or rejection, or the application will refer to ourselves for a manual assessment.
Our role involves carefully assessing these applications to determine the applicant's creditworthiness and affordability, as well as maintaining our lending criteria policy to confirm we are lending responsibly whilst ensuring good customer outcomes.
So what does a typical day look like for you?
I dedicate a significant amount of time to assessing live applications and providing decisions to both our customers and retailers.
Additionally, as a Level 2 Underwriter, I collaborate closely with various departments to address and resolve any escalated queries that may arise. I'm also part of the team that oversees our department's workflow, which can involve delegating tasks and managing the work queues to ensure team Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are met.
As I now hold a senior role within the underwriting team, I really enjoy offering help and support to other underwriters.
How does the Underwriting team support retailers and their customers?
We aim to provide accurate, consistent and fair decisions within set timeframes to our retailers and customers. If we need more detail, we use a range of communication channels to request the information we need.
It's also part of our role to handle appeals or complaints from customers who have been declined. These queries are often sent in to us directly from retailers, so we assist both the retailer's admin teams and their customers as well as liaising closely with our internal Business Development team.
How quickly do you make a decision on referred applications?
We know how important a quick decision is, and we never want to keep a customer waiting, so we try to be as responsive as possible.
Each retailer is assigned a dedicated Relationship Manager who can make them aware of timescales and flag any particular concerns or queries if necessary.
What do you enjoy most about working in Underwriting?
I have always found the decision-making aspect of my role enjoyable. Underwriting is rarely straightforward, as each customer has unique circumstances. It is crucial to conduct thorough investigations to ensure that the loan is affordable and does not place the customer in financial distress.
It's a lot of responsibility but our robust criteria ensures we're lending responsibly and always aiming to deliver good customer outcomes.
Have you been working in the field for a long time?
Yes. I've been in the underwriting field for 15 years, with the last eight here at Novuna.
I really like working here and collaborating with my fellow colleagues within a welcoming and friendly work environment. I have to admit that I already knew about the amazing culture since my younger brother is part of the business development team at Novuna Consumer Finance, so I had a good idea of what it would be like to work here.
What challenges have your team faced over the last few years and how have you overcome them?
Like so many of us, my team has encountered challenges in adapting to hybrid working conditions over the last few years. However, this has actually led to improved communication and efficiency within the team. Our performance against SLAs now is much improved from pre-covid days.
We explain the importance of referred applications
When a customer applies via one of our retailer partners, they'll be given an instant decision. They'll either be accepted, declined or their application will be referred.
Put simply, we refer an application if we can't make an automated decision based on the information provided and need to review it manually.
Our skilled Underwriting team will assess referred applications carefully to determine affordability and creditworthiness before making a final decision. We may also need to request further information from a customer to help us make our decision.
A referred application does not make it more likely a customer will be declined for finance. It simply allows us to make a more informed, responsible decision - ultimately ensuring we lend money to the most suitable customers.
From a retailer's perspective, referrals may actually allow us to accept more applications in the long-run. That's because reviewing applications manually could lead to us accepting a customer who would otherwise have been declined automatically.
If you're looking for a straightforward way to explain this to your customers, point them in the direction of Novuna Personal Finance's blog: What does it mean if my loan application has been referred?