What is an Insurance Claims Handler?
Customers who have experienced losses as a result of incidents such as theft, accident, or sickness can obtain insurance coverage. The customer pays a certain amount of money (referred to as a premium) and receives a written policy in exchange. This specifies the terms under which the insurance company will give a settlement in the form of repairs, replacement, or restoration of objects. Insurance Claims Handlers are in charge of overseeing that these insurance policy claims are handled effectively and that genuine claims are paid to policyholders.
Insurance Claim Handlers are sometimes obliged to call outside specialists to work on a specific case. They communicate with hospitals, mechanic shops, engineers, and other professionals as needed to assess and work on a claim.
Responsibilities
Some of the responsibilities that you may have as an Insurance Claims Handler could include:
- Assisting customers with immediate requirements
- Receiving calls from claimants about emergencies
- Collecting client information
- Ascertaining insurance coverage
- Liaising with Insurance Brokers, making calls on their behalf
- Contacting the appropriate people to handle a claim
- Determining claim settlement payouts
- Deciding whether to accept or reject assertions
- Checking the accuracy of settlement payments
- Assisting customers in submitting claims
- Retrieving policy information from a database
- Confirming that the customer has no outstanding payments
- Coordinating quick help for the client
- Accepting or rejecting a claim
- Creating the necessary paperwork to filing a claim
- Entering claim documents into the system
- Contacting Insurance Adjusters and Examiners, as well as engaging with other specialists
- Arranging Appraiser and Examiner appointments
- Calculating an expected settlement cost and estimating the expenses of products, property, or treatments
- Liaising with Physicians, Mechanics, or Contractors
- Contacting customers when information from their files is lacking; and liaising with other insurance professionals (e.g. Adjusters, Brokers or Underwriters) as needed.
- Asking finance departments for settlement payments
- Making payments to the claimants
- Authorising payments for required medical treatments or other services; and verifying settlement payments to avoid overpayment or underpayment
- Liaising with hospitals, clinics, construction companies, and mechanic shops
- Authorising clearance when a claimant seeks their assistance; and acting as a liaison between clients and specialists
Salary
Your salary as an Insurance Claims Handler will be mainly influenced by your experience and geographic location. The UK national average income for an Insurance Claims Handler is £22,254, ranging from £17,000 to £30,000.
The average cash compensation amounts to £1,572, ranging from £398 to £6,204. The average salary for a London-based Insurance Claims Handler is £25,316, ranging from £16,000 to £40,000. The average cash compensation amounts to £2,238, ranging from £620 to £8,077.
Working hours and work location
The average work week for an Insurance Claims Handler is 35 to 40 hours. Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.As an Insurance Claims Handler you might work at a call centre or on a 24-hour telephone hotline. Working shifts may be required, including nights, weekends, and public holidays. Part-time employment may be offered. As a part of your job, you may need to occasionally visit clients, insurance firms, brokers, or solicitors.
What to expect
Insurance Claim Handlers often take responsibility for a case and ensure that all parties involved manage it appropriately. When they need an Insurance Underwriter, Adjuster, or Broker skills, they frequently have to call them. After a settlement payment is made, Insurance Claim Handlers ensure that everything was done correctly and that there was no under or overpayment. When policyholders need their insurer’s help in an emergency, they submit a claim with their firm.
The Insurance Claim Handler is responsible for accepting and completing the claim. They work as part of an insurance company’s Customer Service staff. Their role is to record clients’ personal information, recollect their insurance policy, and assist with the claim procedure. Because insurance claims can arise anytime, Insurance Claim Handlers must be accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To do this, they operate in alternating shifts to guarantee that someone is always accessible to aid their clients in the event of an emergency. As a result, they are frequently expected to work evenings, weekends, and national holidays.
Qualifications
Numerous insurance businesses offer entry-level positions as an Insurance Claim Handlers. In fact, this is the most popular role for persons joining the insurance industry. Most employers require applicants to have a high school diploma as well as a bachelor’s or associate’s degree in Business, Economics, Mathematics, Information Technologies or Statistics. Applicants with at least two years of previous job experience in retail, administration, or customer service may be considered advantageous.
Skills
must have skills:
Some of the skills that you will have to possess or acquire in order to become an Insurance Claims Handler include:
- Excellent customer service and sales skills, including
- Awareness of client activity and responding with urgency
- Ability to prioritise assisting clients over other tasks
- Ability to provide high levels of customer service
- Polite and patient approach when dealing with difficult clients
- Ability to identify and assess customers’ needs and concerns
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to communicate in a clear manner in order to create a strong and communicative relationship with customers and coworkers
- Ability to communicate regularly with experts from a wide range of fields to collect reports based on examinations
- Having a friendly and appealing personality to engage in positive interactions with clients and coworkers
- Ability to listen carefully and understand clients’ inquiries in order to be abreast of developments
- Analytical abilities
- A detail-oriented approach to analysis
- The ability to examine lengthy and complicated reports
- The capacity to assess the scope of coverage provided by a policy
- Exceptional time management and organising abilities
- The ability to handle many tasks at once; -the ability to operate in a dynamic, fast-paced atmosphere
- The ability to work both individually and as part of a team.
- Excellent computer skills
- The ability to evaluate risks and losses using specialist software and to construct contracts using word processors
- Excellent decision-making and problem-solving abilities
- The ability to recognise and handle difficulties in a timely manner
- Being resourceful, enthusiastic, focused, organised, and demonstrating a strong desire to take initiative.
Work experience
In order to gain the necessary experience, you may want to look into apprenticeship options. Insurance apprenticeships are available at various levels and are another good method to get into the insurance industry.
If you have no prior insurance experience, you may want to consider taking the Chartered Institute of Insurance (CII) Award for the Foundation Insurance Exam (FIT). This introductory-level certification teaches you how the insurance industry works. Graduates and non-graduates with general insurance claims expertise face stiff competition for opportunities.
Apply as early as possible in your last year. Smaller businesses may occasionally provide work experience, but you may need to approach them personally to learn about available possibilities. Employment experience in customer service or administration roles in the financial services sector and sales experience may be beneficial.
Career prospects
As an Insurance Claims Handler, you will most likely specialise in one type of insurance, such as house, life, auto, or travel. With experience, you may be promoted to team leader or supervisor, and eventually into claims management.
In order to advance in your career, you may decide to look into graduate trainee programs. Graduate trainee programmes for claims are offered with bigger insurance companies or loss adjustment organisations. Opportunities are also available through standard graduate-management training courses that incorporate claims work. Companies frequently want a 2:1 degree in any discipline.Following initial training, you can also move straight into claims work.
There are opportunities for both graduates and people without a degree. Another way to get the job is to start in more junior or clerical jobs, such as administrative assistant or technician, and work your way up through the organisation through training and promotion.
Graduates on a trainee plan often receive two years of on-the-job training. At this period, you will normally complete a number of placements. In-house training is typically supplemented by official training courses. Your line manager and a mentor will assist you. This first training may be followed by two or three years of additional claim negotiation and risk management instruction. Staying current on industry regulations and trends, and participation in a relevant professional organisation is essential for continued professional development (CPD). The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA) both provide credentials ranging from entry to advanced level.
To become an associate member of CILA and earn chartered loss adjuster status, you need to first complete the CILA Advanced Diploma certification before completing the Accreditation for Chartered Status examination procedure (ACS). You must also have at least five years of experience working as an independent loss adjuster (three years in some situations). If you obtain this expertise while working for a chartered loss-adjusting business, you will be able to join CILA as an Associate member (ACILA). Nonetheless, you will be qualified for Certified Membership (MCILA) if you achieve this experience while working for a business that is not a chartered loss-adjusting firm.
Related Courses
The University of the West of Scotland teaches this program at their London Campus, so you’ll study at the heart of the UK’s industry. This one-year, full-time curriculum is for students without prior expertise with computers or information technology. The course will help you learn much-needed IT expertise to help you prepare for a job as an Insurance Claims Handler.
If you are looking to study fully online, this course is a great choice. It still has all the hallmarks of the leading MSc delivered by the University of the West of Scotland on campus. You do not need to have an IT baccalaureate degree to attend this course.
The University of the West of Scotland in London provides a one-year foundation degree that will prepare you for undergraduate courses and lay the groundwork for an Insurance Claims related career. This course will introduce you to current research sources as well as practical case studies. Students will learn about important business courses while also improving their English language and study skills. With the knowledge obtained through the Business Foundation Programme, you will be well equipped to go to the undergraduate level with confidence.
Students can choose from various start dates for this full-time program given by the University of the West of Scotland London over two years and eight months. Industry experts, guest lecturers, and seasoned professionals are available to teach students at UWS London. The nicest thing about this course is that it is held on the London Campus, in the centre of the United Kingdom.
