Romero Expert Insights Series: Claims

As part of our 2023 insights initiative at Romero Insurance Brokers, we will be highlighting team leaders across the Romero Group. Over 12 months, The Romero Group will showcase 12 important figures, each from different departments and different disciplines.

Third in our Expert Insights Series at Romero Insurance Brokers, we talk to Technical Claims Director, Stuart Dobbins. Stuart has been with The Romero Group for four years having recently been promoted from Technical Claims Manager to Director. He manages our most complex and high-value cases, and describes how his preferred method of management is to set an example and lead from the front.

What are your roles and responsibilities?

My title is Technical Claims Director. My roles and responsibilities are myriad. The best way to describe it is being a brain in a jar. If there is a difficult complex technical thing happening, then it tends to come to me.

My job role also entails client visits, handling large and complex claims, doing claims reviews for clients – but the technical bit is basically ‘Is there a difficult problem? Who do we call?’ It’s me.

Sharon Elms, our Claims Manager, runs the clients team, and Jody Thirkell, the Claims Director, manages the responsibilities of the team. I support Jody and help Sharon as a referral point for the team. I also handle the more complex cases they are dealing with, I often lead on high value cases, shifting the responsibility to me.

Can you please walk us through your work process?

My roles are quite far reaching, and so I need to acutely manage my work processes. Firstly I do claims reviews, I have a list of high value clients that I’m keeping an eye on, so I work with claims handlers to ensure claims are moving along as they should.

Sharon will allocate cases to the handlers, but I have no allocation of cases, not as such. Instead I’m involved in a lot of cases, keeping close tabs on the complex ones. I also help new business, if there is an overview of the company for a prospect brief, for example – I comment on behalf of our excellent claims team.

I’ve got a lot of plates spinning at once.

What’s the next big trend in the field?

The insurance industry, and Claims in particular, is a competitive job market. And unfortunately, as with many sectors currently in the news, the big trend is job hopping and career changes. And what we’ve noticed, talking to members and people at other places, the grass isn’t necessarily greener. Loyalty is well rewarded at The Romero Group. Most brokers won’t look after their employees like Romero do.

At Romero, management really try to take care of people. And they are not sat in their ivory tower – staff can talk to anyone as their door is always open.