We caught up with our Motor Claims Manager in Bristol, Lisa Hewlett, to find out more about her and her Claims Handling teams…

A bit about me
My working career has always been in insurance. My very first job was as a Property Claims Handler. I then progressed to manage a Property team in the same company before being made redundant. I then moved on to work in Life Assurance as a Manager before moving to NFU Mutual back in 2008 as a Team Leader in various departments before becoming a Department Manager.

I was aware of NFU Mutual as a company and I also knew of previous colleagues who were working there and were enjoying it, so I applied for a Team Leader position as soon as I saw one advertised.

I love the ethos and values of the company and I also genuinely love the people that I work with. In my role I get a huge amount of variety and I can get involved in almost anything I am interested in. I feel valued, supported, and listened to and also that I can be part of the solution when we have challenges to overcome.

What we do
I have been managing the Motor Claims Department at our Bristol Service Centre for nearly 5 years now. My teams deal with insurance claims that arise following a motor incident, from post-notification right through to settlement. We will also have responsibility for claims from third parties if there has been no injury.

Our Claims Handlers spend part of their time answering calls from our policyholders, NFU Mutual Agents and suppliers, and the rest of their time managing their own portfolio of claims – ensuring vehicle repairs are progressed and completed, liability for the accident is negotiated and agreed, and all relevant costs are paid and, where appropriate, that these costs are recovered from liable third parties.

The working environment
It’s an informal and friendly atmosphere across the Service Centre, but we all know what we are here to do, and we work hard together to achieve this, with a particular focus on customer service. We focus a lot of time and energy into supporting one another and staff engagement, and this has been particularly prevalent over the past couple of years.

It’s very important that we all work together and that there isn’t a ‘them and us’ culture between staff with different levels of responsibility - in my department, the Claims Handlers know that they can speak to me at any time and ask me anything – and they frequently do!

My proudest moment
I’ve been involved in a lot of change programmes in my time in NFU Mutual and feel that I’ve had a big influence on their successful roll out – I have realised over time that I enjoy working under pressure! I also feel proud to have achieved my current role – I was a team leader for many years and doubted my ability to take a step up but with a lot of support and some gentle nudging I made the leap and I’m so glad that I did!

My advice if you’re looking to apply for a role with us
Why not? You’ll join a friendly team, receive full training and then be supported whilst you learn on the job, and there are plenty of opportunities to progress and move around the organisation, when the time is right for you

Find out more about Claims and the opportunities and support we can offer you