James Nicholson: From graduate to Zurich’s chief of claims
James Nicholson, UK Chief Claims Officer, tells the Insurance Times about his journey from graduate to his current role, as well as a look ahead to 2024.
To view the original article as written by Insurance Times, please click here.
’My goal was to work for a large corporate company that would provide me with opportunities,’ says chief claims officer
The circumstances of James Nicholson’s entry into the insurance industry will be unfamiliar to many readers. Unlike the vast majority of those in the insurance trade who stumbled into the sector, he deliberately chose insurance with the intention of “understanding customer needs” in the claims space.
Unlike those who stumbled into the insurance industry with no intention, Nicholson was intrigued by the “opportunities” a “big insurance company” could give the young Nicholson with a law degree.
At the beginning of this year, he assumed the role of chief claims officer for Zurich UK and shares his journey from being a graduate to leading the claims department with Insurance Times.
Speaking to Insurance Times, he says: “After going travelling, I decided that I didn’t want to pursue my Legal Practice Course (LPC) and become a solicitor.
“My goal was to work for a large corporate company that would provide me with opportunities. So, I applied to two graduate programs – Aldi and Zurich.”
With a hint of humour, he reflects on his decision between the graduate programs offered by Aldi and Zurich, confidently proclaiming Zurich as the superior choice due to its alluring career opportunities.
“I ultimately joined Zurich because working for an insurance company, specifically in claims, allowed me to apply my law degree,” he says.
“I have always enjoyed and continue to enjoy extracting technical nuances from claims and applying legal principles.
“There are a significant number of legal principles involved and when I think about the team I work with, their ability to interpret insurance policies and apply legal principles in line with court decisions is unmatched.”
Learning customer needs
As part of his journey, Nicholson assumed the role of head of expert and commercial claims during a transformation within Zurich’s claims department.
It was at this time that he met chief claims officer David Nichols, who became a mentor to him, and where he gained an understanding of the importance of meeting customer needs in the claims process.
He reflects on his time with Nichlos as he says: “I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience from working alongside David.
“His working style was exceptional and we shared a mindset focused on continuous improvement, reshaping, and modernising our approach to claims.
“I was primarily dealing with expert claims at the time, which had limitations in terms of modernisation possibilities. However, we found ways to make improvements, particularly in areas such as quantifying losses and facilitating payments.
“We maintained strong communication and collaboration with our customers, embedding large loss scenario workshops into our approach. This allowed us to gain a comprehensive understanding of the factors driving our customers’ needs.”
Throughout his career, Nicholson has valued mentorship and collaboration to achieve continuous improvement in the claims sector.
He says that “something I have taken into every role” is the notion to “understand [claims] at a customer level before putting in process changes in place.”
At the forefront of is mind lies the question - “how do we continuously improve and modernise the claims process?”
Claims in 2024
As the new year approaches, Nicholson sets aside his career and shares his anticipations regarding the future of the claims space.
With understanding the customers needs in the claims process, he stresses the importance of investigating fraudulent claims in a “speedy way” so that the “customer is not left hanging.”
Earlier this year in June, police warned that there has been a rise in bogus insurance claims amid cost of living pressures.
Unfortunately, Nicholson believes that the cost of living crisis will “drive more activity” in the fraudulent claims space in the new year.
“We have seen an increase of fraudulent claims over the last two years.”
The business detected a 31% increase in fraudulent property claims during the year and a 7% rise in fake casualty claims.
However, Zurich UK prevented some 3,460 fraudulent claims last year, worth roughly £20,000 per claim – this averaged £195,890 a day.
Zurich is using digital tools to battle the uprise of fraudulent claims and investing in in new software to uncover fraudsters who attempt to hide their identity by providing false name or address details.
Nicholson explained that the insurer is utilising advanced technology from Net Reveal Property and Casualty (P&C) Claims Fraud Solution.
Net Reveal is part of British multinational arms, security and aerospace (BAE) Systems, to analyse vast amounts of data when assessing how to proceed with various matters.
The company works with insurance providers to analyse networks, identify and prevent fraud and protect customers and companies.
They have tools that encompass different data sources, including media and social media in the public domain. This process involves a coordinated effort and is not conducted in isolation. The company has a dedicated team of 60 individuals who specialise in fraud detection, he explains.
It has also launched real-time fraud checks in 2022 in a bid to help speed up the claims handling process.
“Zurich has the capacity to identify fraudulent claims and it is top level,” according to Nicholson.
