From university to underwriting – graduate Nele Danschacher

Nele, your career path is impressive. How did you end up going in this direction?

After a period of orientation, I quickly made up my mind: I initially studied law for a few semesters at a large university in northern Germany. During this time, I realised that I wanted a more practical focus. Then I became aware of the law school at Leuphana University in Lüneburg and transferred there. There, I was able to combine law as my major with business administration as my minor – a choice of university and combination of subjects that has proven to be a happy one for me both personally and professionally.

In what way?

The combination of subjects I chose allowed me to combine legal issues and topics from business administration. I found that exciting and practical. In practice, the disciplines are also intertwined. Decisions in one field have an impact on the other. And Leuphana is characterised by excellent student support. I have particularly fond memories of the appreciative interaction between teachers and students.

And how does that fit in with the insurance sector and your career choice?

In underwriting, i.e. the process in which the insurer analyses and decides whether and under what conditions the customer can be granted insurance cover, a comprehensive understanding of the customer's risk landscape is essential. HDI, the German Industry Liability Insurance Association, focuses on German companies and their activities worldwide. The area I work in deals with liability risks. My legal and business management knowledge comes in handy here, especially as I'm not afraid of numbers – something lawyers are often jokingly accused of.

What role do foreign language skills, especially English, play in this?

English plays a major role in my professional context and will become even more important once I've completed my training. During my studies, I completed several internships in which English was also important. But especially during my year abroad in Barcelona, where classes were taught in English, I had the opportunity to improve my foreign language skills.

How did you come to decide on HDI?

It came about in connection with a bachelor's seminar. Several professors at the Law School offer such seminars in their respective fields of research and interest. The aim is to prepare advanced students for their final thesis in terms of form and content. I attended a civil law seminar with Prof. Dr. Hohlbein, who had outlined several topics for a possible BA thesis. I liked the fact that the lecturer was open to student requests for adjustments. To my own surprise, although I had never had any contact with insurance companies before, I became enthusiastic about a topic related to liability and insurance law. And when Mr Hohlbein noticed my genuine interest, he was able to recruit Mr Marco Visser, LL.M., Head of Wording and Reinsurance at HDI Global SE, as my second supervisor for my thesis.

That sounds like a good fit. Now we'd like to know what the specific topic of your thesis was.

I dealt with the concept of damage in liability and liability insurance law and examined the extent to which the terms are identical or different in content. And since my supervisors rated the thesis as very good, it was a double success: a permanent position and publication. The BA thesis was adapted for publication in the journal Product Liability International – Law & Insurance (note: PHi No. 5, October 2025, pp. 196–203).

Thank you very much, Nele, for the open and inspiring conversation!

The questions were asked by Mathias Paulokat, MBA. He is a graduate in business law (FH) and an alumnus of Lüneburg. He is a press spokesman in the banking industry and a guest speaker at Leuphana University Lüneburg.