K.M. Dastur Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers

Sean Gorton, Head of Claims

Leadership Perspective: Claims is Ultimately About People

Sean Gorton

Claims Excellence Builder

I have spent many years working in insurance and claims and if there is one thing the experience has taught me, it is that leadership is rarely about having all the answers.

It is about judgement, accountability and people.

Those principles are particularly relevant in claims. We operate in a world of contracts, policies, coverage, numbers and technical analysis. All those things matter. However, behind practically every claim there is a business or an individual dealing with an event they would rather have never happened. That is something I believe we should never forget.

Be there when it matters

Insurance sells a promise. The claim is the moment when that promise is tested. For those of us leading claims functions, that creates a particular responsibility. A customer may have paid premiums for many years without requiring anything from their insurer. Then something happens and suddenly they need us. At that point, the quality of the claim’s response can define their entire view of the insurance relationship.

I therefore believe that good claims leadership starts with something quite simple, do what you say you are going to do. Respond. Communicate. Explain difficult decisions clearly. Do not hide behind process. And where something has gone wrong, own it and put it right. That may sound basic, but leadership often comes down to consistently doing the basics well.

Trust people, but create accountability

I have never believed that good leadership means being involved in every decision. You employ good people for a reason. Give them clear responsibilities, allow them to make decisions and support them when they make those decisions properly. If everything needs to travel upwards for approval, you do not really have delegation and, in my experience, you eventually create a slow and frustrating organisation.

“A leader's role is therefore not to make every decision. It is to create an environment in which good decisions can be made.”

But empowerment and accountability have to go together. People need to understand what they are responsible for and know that they will be supported in exercising judgement. Equally, they must recognise when something needs to be escalated. A leader's role is therefore not to make every decision. It is to create an environment in which good decisions can be made. That requires trust. And trust takes time to build but very little time to lose.

Do not be frightened of difficult conversations

Leadership is considerably easier when everything is going well. Unfortunately, that isn't when leadership matters most. There will inevitably be difficult claims, unhappy clients, disagreements in the market and decisions that people do not like. Internally there will also be occasions when performance falls short, priorities conflict or colleagues disagree about the right approach. Avoiding those conversations rarely improves the situation.

I prefer openness. Talk about the issue. Listen properly to the other person's position. Deal with facts rather than personalities and then make a decision. You will not always get everything right. I certainly haven't. The important thing is to be prepared to reconsider a decision when new information emerges rather than defending it simply because it was yours. Changing your mind after listening to better evidence is not weakness. It is good judgement.

Experience matters, but so does the next generation

One of the industry's responsibilities is passing experience on. You can learn policy wording. You can learn procedure. You can learn systems. Judgement is harder. It develops through experience, through making decisions and, occasionally, through getting things wrong. That means experienced leaders have an obligation to create opportunities for younger colleagues. Let them attend the difficult meeting. Let them handle the complicated file. Ask what they think before telling them what you think.

Most importantly, allow them to make some decisions themselves. If every decision is made for somebody, we should not be surprised when they struggle to make decisions later in their career. I have learned a great deal from people I have worked with over the years and I think one of the best things any leader can do is ensure that knowledge doesn't stop with them.

Keep it simple

The longer I work in this industry, the more I value simplicity. Insurance can become unnecessarily complicated. We use specialist language, sophisticated systems and increasingly large amounts of data. Sometimes all that complexity is necessary. Sometimes it isn't.

Leadership should cut through the noise. What happened? What does the policy say? What does the evidence tell us? What is the fair outcome? What do we need to do next? And who is responsible for doing it? The same principle applies beyond claims.

Set a clear direction. Employ good people. Give them responsibility. Listen to them. Challenge them when necessary. Support them when things go wrong. And treat people properly. I don't believe leadership needs to be more complicated than that. The technology will change. Regulation will change. Risks will change. The way we work will certainly change. But the fundamentals probably won't.

For me, leadership will always come back to judgement, accountability, trust and people.