What will the apprentice be doing?
- Customer Service. Many customers phone in with questions about coverage offered and the ability to answer them requires a very good understanding of the policy terms and conditions (we offer Professional Indemnity, Public Liability, Medical Malpractice, Office Contents, Portable Business Equipment, Personal Accident, Employer Liability and Cyber).
- Identifying, Engaging and Monitoring Introducers. We work with many organisations (training schools, membership organisations, accreditation bodies etc) who recommend us to their customers. Research is required to identify organisations whose customer profiles make them suitable for our insurance. Contact must then be made with the organisation to see if they will agree to partnering with us.
- Approving Referred Quotes. There are certain trigger points within our application that prevent the automatic quote process and create what we refer to as a Referred Quote. This can be for one of a number of reasons. In each of these cases, we need to evaluate the information provided by the customer, contact them for further information when necessary and make a decision on whether we will underwrite the policy. For many of these we can make that decision ourselves. In some cases we will forward our recommendation to the Insurers for their agreement.
- Processing New Business Practice applications. Westminster insures almost 600 different types of business practice in many fields and are constantly adding to this list (eg FPOS/Pre-Hospital Provider, Nappage Technique, Botox, Accupressure). Often, we become aware of the need to add something based on requests from customers. At this point we need to carry out research into the business practice, to learn exactly what it is, what is involved in the process, what risks there are, what is a ‘brand/copyrighted’ name and what is a generic term, and what qualifications/experience is generally attached to it.
- We then construct a ‘definition’ which is a summarised description of the business practice, together with the level of qualification we feel should be required and the Premium Rates that should be applied (based on our evaluation of the risk involved). This is submitted to the Insurance Underwriters for their final approval.
- Policy Wording. The policy wording is co-written by us and the Insurers, and needs to be periodically reviewed.
- Processing Claims. Claims are handled by an outside company, but we are the initial point of contact and have to ensure we obtain the relevant information before passing onto the Claims company. We need to maintain records of claims made and compensation paid out.
- Quality Control. Sample checking of issued policy documentation to ensure that the details and premium charged are correct.
- Complaints Handling. Sending official response, reporting to Insurer/Lloyds, investigating complaint and creating full response with recommended outcome – eg refund.
