Senior Claims Handler - Professional Negligence

Job Introduction

Our Professional & Commercial Risks Team deals with a variety of professional negligence and directors' and officers' liability claims. They act on numerous high value and sensitive claims for clients throughout the UK including solicitors, surveyors, accountants, brokers, engineers, architects and their insurers. The team are particularly experienced in the deployment of alternative dispute resolution techniques, including mediation and arbitration.

The Bristol team includes commercial litigation (with a particular emphasis on financial services) and is in the top tier rankings for professional negligence in both the Legal 500 and Chambers directories, with a number of recognised leading individuals within the team. The team also includes a market leading claims handling team, handling several thousand professional and financial lines claims on an outsourced basis on behalf of London Market Insurers.

Role Responsibility

 The overall purpose of this role is to provide a timely, professional and high-quality service to clients in the management of professional indemnity, D&O and Cyber liability cases.  Senior Claims Handlers will typically work on cases with a value of up to £250k and/or more complex cases with, for example, coverage issues (e.g. construction/architects/consulting engineers claims).

• Manage a varied caseload.  This will include developing a knowledge of legal issues in respect of a variety of professions as well as building an understanding of each profession’s own rules, procedures and regulatory framework.
• Manage, with support from the Administrator, the set up of new files by reviewing incoming instructions, completing case set-up form, identify relevant issues and passing to Claims Supervisor to allocate with recommendations
• Conduct review of new cases, completing case checklist to identify coverage issues.  Assess liability and quantum and establish strategy for the case
• Draft correspondence to brokers/insured's requesting additional information as required
• Resolve claims through negotiation of settlement, rebuttal of claim and/or declining of cover.  Review panel reports and obtain instructions when appropriate
• Maintain ongoing contact with the client throughout the process to report on progress and take further instructions
• Play a key role in developing and maintaining client relationships.
• Ensure that the client’s brand and methodology are promoted effectively in all dealings with third parties
• Instruct experts and external counsel where appropriate
• Ensure that case management system and hard copy files are updated with diary dates as required by the case
• Assume responsibility for quality control and client protocol compliance on own caseload, including accuracy and timeliness of record keeping, file management and management reporting and information
• Handle confidential information in line with the firms data security protocols

The Ideal Candidate

• Of graduate calibre with an excellent academic record
• Previous experience of either working as a claims paralegal or similar within the field of professional and financial lines insurance, or in private practice as a paralegal / litigation executive particularly as a conveyancing or probate executive is desirable
• An interest in the area of insurance claims management is a pre-requisite
• IT literate with working knowledge of Word and Excel.  Knowledge/previous experience of case management systems would be an advantage but training will be provided.  Good keyboard skills are also essential
• Client focused with an ability to build strong relationships with client and third party contacts at all levels
• Able to work to deadlines, prioritise own workload effectively under pressure and manage conflicting priorities
• Proactive and energetic with a tenacious approach to identifying issues and solving problems
• Quality and customer service oriented with a concern for accuracy and an eye for detail
• Team oriented.  A collegiate approach to sharing knowledge and working with colleagues across locations is essential
• Able to progress tasks using own initiative, seeking guidance and input from others where appropriate
• Committed and enthusiastic with a mature attitude to work and a desire to commit long term to a career in this field.

About the Company

We are a leading international legal business with over 2,400 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Northern Ireland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brazil, Peru, Central America, Argentina, the USA, Australia and Germany.

We are known for our market-leading presence in sectors such as Insurance, Health and Real Estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, ranging from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for the majority of the top 30 insurance and financial services companies operating in the UK. We are the asset management lawyers for the UK’s largest shopping centres and act for 9 of the UK’s top 10 housebuilders.

We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 155 Chambers UK 2019 practice area and individual lawyer rankings, including 30 rankings at 'Band 1' level. In Legal 500 UK, 2018, the firm received top tier ranking for 32 of its practice areas and 59 practice areas in the top two tiers. In March 2018, we were named as one of Legal Week's Best Legal Advisors for the third year running, achieving category-leading satisfaction scores for our commercial approach, service delivery, quality of legal advice, communication & responsiveness and overall relationships.

Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com.

DAC Beachcroft is an equal opportunities employer; we welcome applications from every sector of the community and are happy to talk flexible working. We also welcome direct applications. If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV. Your application will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible.  We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable.  Our recruitment team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com

DAC Beachcroft