Sam, our Third Party Claims Manager, joined Hastings Direct in 2016 as a Credit Hire Specialist. Here, Sam tells us about his development journey within Claims.
As the department lead for Credit Hire, I have operational responsibility for up to 50 staff, supporting team leaders, helping to shape our strategies in the market and working with my fellow department leads in technical claims to try and minimise our £ spend.
I joined Hastings Direct in 2016 as a Credit Hire Specialist to support the department whilst Hastings took its first major steps into Credit Hire. I then moved back into leadership and in October 2018, I was successful in my application for my current role. Hastings encourages you to be brave and accountable, they support you through whatever career journey you want to take. I’ve also been lucky enough to welcome my first child into the world and Hastings has been hugely supportive of me as a father.
Technical Claims is an exciting area to work in, our role is to assess claim cost to deliver the best possible outcomes for the company and our customers. There’s great opportunity to learn about various parts of a claim including liability, indemnity, property damage, credit hire and bodily injury. On top of that it’s a fast paced and an area that is changing heavily as we move towards the personal injury reforms and the markets likely shift towards exploiting the Credit Hire market.
Hastings has a great wellbeing programme and is a huge advocate of mental health and they understand and embrace that we’re all individuals.
If you would like to find out more about the opportunities in our Technical Claims team, click here
The shifts in customer service teams are quite colleague friendly. There is free tea and coffee in the call centre, and a subsidised Costa Coffee and canteen. There are lots of incentives to earn more, and a decent social life.
It has a really positive environment with everyone who works there being very helpful. The managers really do go out of their way to assist you. There are a lot of benefits and rewards at Hastings Direct which if you are doing well are quite easy to achieve.
There is a well-rounded approach to the wellbeing of all colleagues, including an inclusive approach to wellbeing activities. Hastings Direct aims to roundly develop colleagues and set them up for future careers within the company.
There is a wonderful work environment, with a strong sense of team work which purveys throughout the business. And there is a sense of friendly competition which works to heighten this.
As an employer, Hastings Direct offers a lot of company benefits to all employees which are fantastic and I feel this is quite unique. The company culture is inclusive and encourages everyone to participate in local causes.
All employees are well looked after, respected and recognised for the hard work we do for the company. It is a great experience to be working with such amazing team. It much easier for me to balance my work and personal life.
It’s a great place to work with amazing benefits, support and colleagues. Lots of hands on support. Amazing rewards for achieving targets and also plenty of time to get together as a team outside of work and bond with your colleagues.
The company culture, management structure and general atmosphere is really good. The share scheme and Hastings Direct rewards are also fantastic for staff.