Behavioural interview questions for insurance roles
89 questions from core to advanced: concepts, calculations, whiteboard diagrams, SQL, scenarios and behavioural. Answer out loud first, then reveal the model answer and example. Mark each one practised when you can answer it without looking.
Practised 0 of 89
Why do you want to work in insurance?
- Insurance is rule-heavy and data-rich, so precise requirements save real money and protect customers.
- Link your past work to an insurance problem: automation to STP, analytics to fraud or pricing, product work to digital journeys.
- Show you have done the homework: mention one recent change, such as the 2025 GST exemption or Bima Sugam.
Example'In my last role I automated approval rules for loan applications. Insurance underwriting is the same problem with more regulation, and the recent IRDAI push for faster cashless claims is exactly the kind of rule-driven change I enjoy delivering.'Tell me about a defect you found in a calculation.
- Situation and task: what you were testing and why it mattered.
- Action: how you designed boundary and negative tests, and how you proved the root cause.
- Result: the fix, the money or customers protected, and the test you added so it cannot recur.
ExampleSituation: UAT of a motor IDV screen. Task: validate the ±15% IDV rule. Action: entered values just inside, at and beyond the limit, and found ₹6,90,000 accepted on a ₹5,95,000 system IDV (16% over). Result: the limit was being checked against the ex-showroom price instead of the system IDV; fixed, with boundary tests added to the regression pack.Describe working with stakeholders who had conflicting requirements.
- Make the trade-off visible: impact on customers, revenue, risk and cost.
- Bring data rather than opinions, and find the decision owner.
- Close with the outcome and what you learned.
ExampleSales wanted no inspection for policies renewed up to 15 days late; underwriting wanted an inspection for any gap. I pulled 12 months of break-in claims, showed most fraud came after day 7, and we agreed self-video inspection after 7 days. Renewal conversion rose and break-in claims did not.Tell me about delivering a change against a regulatory deadline.
- Show how you broke the regulation into requirements quickly.
- Explain how you prioritised: what must be live on the date versus what can follow.
- Mention compliance sign-off, regression and communication.
ExampleWhen individual health GST became 0% from 22 September 2025, the team had about two weeks. I listed every product, document and report affected, split must-have (rating, invoice, receipts) from follow-up (MIS), ran regression on 150 saved quotes and got compliance sign-off two days before the date.How do you learn a new domain quickly?
- Start with the money: who pays whom, and how the business makes a profit.
- Learn the core process end to end and draw it.
- Read the regulator's key circulars, then test your understanding with the actual systems and data.
ExampleFor insurance: study the quote-to-policy journey, work a premium by hand, read IRDAI's health master circular and shadow a claims team for a day.