Key information

  1. Reference: ST0240
  2. Date updated: 11/01/2024
  3. Level: 3
  4. Route: Legal, finance and accounting
  5. Regulated occupation: No

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T-Levels logoT Levels focus on vocational skills and can help students into skilled employment, higher study or apprenticeships. Each T Level includes an in-depth industry placement that lasts at least 45 days. Students get valuable experience in the workplace; employers get early sight of the new talent in their industry.

Occupation summary

This apprenticeship takes a core and options approach. All apprentices must complete the core. All apprentices must also select one of the specialist options out of a) Claims Handler/Loss Adjuster, b) Assistant Underwriter, c) Junior broker.

This occupation is found in the financial services sector in commercial organisations. Insurance is the transfer of risk to allow offsetting of financial loss and consequently insurance services are very in demand and wide ranging. Employers particularly include very large (even global) corporations but can also include far smaller enterprises and third party vendors. Insurance practitioners also work for brokers who act as intermediaries on behalf of clients.

Many insurers will typically specialise in retail insurance products and services such as car, life and health insurance. Clients may be individuals seeking cover for themselves, or the client may be an organisation seeking the insurance of their business assets.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide insurance coverage and recourse in the event of a loss, servicing the expectations of client's policies as they arise. Insurance practitioners provide an important role in the administration of applications and claims. They must understand the needs of clients in order to help provide peace of mind to businesses and individuals by protecting their interests in the event of loss. Most insurance practitioners work is office based.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with internal and/or external stakeholders that includes but is not limited to clients, underwriters, senior management, claims, brokers and third party vendors. Individuals in this occupation normally work as part of a team and are typically supervised by an insurance professional. Employees liaise with other specialists and professions, including policy and legal teams. They will interact with these stakeholders identifying and investigating possible or apparent anomalies in documentation or other sources of evidence. Employees may also interact with third party agencies in order to support their work, such as law enforcement agencies.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for providing a fair and impartial service for the client. Insurance can make an important difference to clients facing key life events following a loss, so the insurance practitioner must act in ways that show empathy and understanding to the client while ensuring they consistently work within the regulatory requirements of the industry and to the quality and target related expectations of their own organisation.

Insurance practitioners typically work in one of three distinct sub-occupations. Junior Insurance Brokers represent their client's needs to an insurance provider and look to support sales maximisation. Insurance Underwriting Assistants assess the risk of insuring something and will provide guidance to others in the team. Insurance Claims Handlers/Junior Loss Adjusters are the first point of contact on the customer journey managing the life cycle of a claim to conclusion.

 

Typical job titles include:

Loss adjuster Account handler Underwriting assistant Junior broker

Core occupation duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 1 Commercial - Support the organisation's strategic vision, commercial aims and objectives by contributing to the generation/handling of insurance products and services. This can mean, for instance, helping to attract new clients or retain existing clients through renewal. Meet numerous critical deadlines and prioritise activity appropriately to meet targets.

K1 K2 K4

S1 S2 S5 S9 S18

B1 B2 B4 B5

Duty 2 Analysis & decisions - Gather, analyse and interpret all data that is relevant to the delivery of insurance products and services. Identify and act upon issues arising, taking appropriate action such as making a recommendation, a decision or a referral.

K2 K3 K5 K6 K7 K8

S2 S3 S4 S6 S7 S18

B1 B2 B6

Duty 3 Quality Assurance - Ensure the organisation's Insurance quality assurance process is completed satisfactorily to process a transaction, make a decision or recommendation.

K2 K3 K5 K6

S2 S4 S6 S7 S9 S18

B1 B3 B5

Duty 4 Communicate - Liaise with relevant internal teams, specialists and external stakeholders to ensure successful conclusions to insurance issues, which could, for instance, be a decision on insurance coverage or a payment to a client.

K2 K4 K8

S2 S5 S8 S11 S18

B1 B2 B3 B5

Duty 5 IT Systems - Create IT records and maintain up to date information relating to an insurance record via the organisations IT system(s).

K1 K2 K5 K6 K7

S1 S2 S6 S7

Duty 6 Data Protection - Work with personal, confidential and sensitive information, (such as personal, commercial and financial data), following a strict legal duty to maintain the confidentiality of the information and fully adhering to organisational policies and guidelines

K2 K3 K5 K6 K7 K8

S2 S4 S6 S7

B1 B5 B6

Duty 7 Regulatory - Adhere to the regulatory requirements that impact on insurance activity within own role, contributing to a compliant workplace. Work also in line with the organisation's processes, and relevant codes of conduct.

K1 K6

S1 S7 S9

B3 B5 B6

Option duties

Claims Handler/Loss Adjuster duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 8 Fraud - Act as the first line of defence. Contribute to fraud reduction and detection by identifying insurance claims that could be fraudulent, escalating as appropriate within own organisation or as appropriate to relevant bodies including the police, action fraud and other affected financial services organisations.

K3 K4 K9

S2 S4 S5 S6 S10 S11 S18

B1 B2 B5

Duty 9 Processing - Manage an insurance claim from start to finish, gathering all of the critical evidence needed to reach a conclusion. Escalate decisions as needed within own organisation. Payout approved claims to the client (or their representative) accurately and promptly.

K2 K3 K4 K6 K10

S2 S5 S6 S7 S12 S18

B1 B2 B5

Assistant Underwriter duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 10 Risk - Assess and decide the specific level of risk associated with a client’s request to insure. Contribute to decisions to accept and decline insurance and decisions on premium levels.

K2 K3 K6 K11 K12

S2 S4 S7 S12 S13 S16 S18

B1 B5

Duty 11 Limits - Operate within the approved financial limits, escalating underwriting issues beyond own financial authority.

K2 K3 K6 K11 K12

S2 S4 S7 S13 S18

B1 B5

Junior Broker duties

Duty KSBs

Duty 12 Represent - Act on behalf of your client, making appropriate negotiation/representation to the insurer to provide an effective return on insurance decisions.

K1 K2 K4 K6 K13 K14

S1 S2 S5 S6 S7 S14 S15 S17 S18

B1 B3 B5

Duty 13 Products & Services - Proactively identify and recommend insurance products and services (from across the marketplace) to new and existing clients. Contribute to the broker's sales and commission targets.

K1 K2 K4 K5 K6 K13 K14

S1 S2 S5 S6 S7 S14 S15 S17 S18

B1 B3 B5

KSBs

Knowledge

K1: How own role supports the insurance organisations strategic vision, commercial aims and objectives. Back to Duty

K2: The range of potential insurance data and other information sources and how to use this to make informed judgements. Back to Duty

K3: Take appropriate action on insurance issues within the limits of own authority and the relevant escalation procedures. Back to Duty

K4: Engage with all relevant stakeholders - internal and/or external, to ensure successful insurance conclusions within the limits of their own authority. Back to Duty

K5: The principles of data integrity, including its importance and application. Back to Duty

K6: Techniques for working compliantly, including the insurance policies and procedures to be followed. Back to Duty

K7: Techniques for verifying and recording customer information securely using an IT system. Back to Duty

K8: verify and record customer identity, in accordance with data protection (GDPR), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) and Know your Customer and organisational procedures. Back to Duty

K9: Fraud indicators specific to the claims handled including the potential consequences of not managing risk. Back to Duty

K10: The claims handling process. Back to Duty

K11: Risk indicators specific to the underwriting processes. Back to Duty

K12: The underwriting limits operating within the area of responsibility. Back to Duty

K13: Insurance products and services available in the relevant market sector and appropriate for the client. Back to Duty

K14: The organisational structures and control systems that are designed to ensure efficiency and accountability. Back to Duty

Skills

S1: Achieve desired business outcomes within own area of insurance responsibility, in line with the organisation's commercial aims and objectives. Back to Duty

S2: Identify information from a range of sources to determine an appropriate course of action including a recommendation, a decision or a referral. Back to Duty

S3: Analyse data to make evidence based decisions. Back to Duty

S4: Apply organisational quality assurance policies and procedures in their role and within the limits of own authority. Back to Duty

S5: Apply appropriate method of communication for audience and circumstances. Back to Duty

S6: Records, verifies, maintains and where appropriate, shares information. Back to Duty

S7: Compliant with relevant governance, policies and procedures. Back to Duty

S8: Identify work with stakeholders and creates and maintains a network of stakeholders needed to undertake casework effectively and to conclusion. Back to Duty

S9: Balances competing priorities in order to meet deadlines. Back to Duty

S10: Identify potential claims fraud and determine the correct action to prevent loss. Back to Duty

S11: Builds and maintains positive relationships. Back to Duty

S12: Manage insurance claims and/or payments within the limits of responsibility in line with policies and procedures. Back to Duty

S13: Identify and manage insurance risks within the limits of responsibility in line with policies and procedures. Back to Duty

S14: Gather and interpret relevant information to provide a return on insurance decisions. Back to Duty

S15: Match client’s needs with available insurance products and services. Back to Duty

S16: Recommend insurance and premiums decisions within the limits of responsibility and in line with organisational policies and procedures. Back to Duty

S17: Optimises the potential return on insurance decisions within the scope of own role by identifying and positioning the client’s case with the insurer. Back to Duty

S18: Work as part of a team to help achieve results. Back to Duty

Behaviours

B1: Adopts a positive approach to seeing challenging insurance related situations through to completion. Back to Duty

B2: Actively listens and asks constructive questions in order to build relationships effective to insurance outcomes. Back to Duty

B3: Looks to keep up to date with relevant Insurance matters by taking ownership for their own learning plan. Back to Duty

B4: Seeks out areas of their insurance delivery that might be improved and is proactive in offering own ideas for change. Back to Duty

B5: Displays honesty and integrity in their actions. Shows desire to do the right thing, displaying tact and diplomacy in their dealings with others. Back to Duty

B6: Empathetic and un-bias approach to supporting customers. Show the necessary resilience and stand by difficult decisions. Back to Duty

T Level in finance

Qualification type: T Level

Qualification level: 3

Awarding organisation: Pearson

Approval date: 16/09/2021

Available from: 01/09/2022

Occupational specialism: Insurance practitioner

Product page

Aligned occupational standards

ST0240 Insurance practitioner

Options: Claims Handler/Loss Adjuster , Assistant Underwriter , Junior Broker

ST0240 Insurance practitioner


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