Tristan Jenkins, Sarah Budden, Neil Little and Scott Evans of ERS talk of how they joined the Swansea-based firm and have progressed in their roles.
STAFF at motor insurer ERS are part of a growing team and will move to the company’s new premises in Swansea in a few months time.
Tristan Jenkins is team leader in underwriting operations, Sarah Budden is customer services manager, Neil Little is claims service delivery manager and Scott Evans is credit controller.
Tristan, of Neath, currently lives a 10 minute drive away from the office. He has been with the company since 2003 and now manages a team of 15 handlers. The team works to ensure ERS provides a top service to the company’s brokers. It aims to process any mid-term adjustments in an efficient and effective manner and resolve any issues brokers may have.
Tristan previously completed a mechanical engineering apprenticeship and later took redundancy from that same company.
He initially applied to ERS while looking to get back into the engineering industry, but found the role too good to leave and after three years was happy to stay.
He says: “I had finished my mechanical engineering apprenticeship and within a year of this the company I was working for was in turmoil. Therefore I decided to take redundancy and after taking six months out I decided to get a job to fill my time while looking to get back into engineering.
“I saw an advert for ERS and thought this would be an ideal place to work while I considered my options. However, very quickly I realised I was happy working in an office environment and enjoyed the clean, smart surroundings and working 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
“At this stage I still did not expect to stay, but after three years here it dawned on me that I clearly was staying and as such decided to carve out a career here.”
Sarah, also from Neath, started working for ERS in 1998, in the claims division.
Since then, she has been team leader and senior technical adviser. She is currently the customer relations manager.
Sarah, originally from Merthyr, moved to Cardiff to read economics at university before joining ERS. She says: “My team oversees escalated customer complaints and does a fantastic job at restoring customer and broker confidence in our products and service.”
Sarah is a chartered insurer, having completed the associate level of Chartered Insurance Institute in 2001. She is also the 2015-16 president of the Insurance Institute of Swansea and West Wales. Sarah organises Chartered Insurance Institute exam sessions in Swansea in April and October.
She adds: “It’s great to see people undertaking their qualifications to drive forward professionalism within the industry.
“Over the past few years there has been a requirement for a compulsory level of qualifications, it will be interesting to see if the requirement will be forwarded onto general insurance.” Sarah enjoys keeping fit by going to the gym and running. She is also hoping to get back into cycling this year after a fall last year.
Neil, of Cymmer in the Afan Valley, lives around 20 miles from Swansea. He joined ERS in 1991 after completing a BTEC in business and finance.
“I came straight from college after completing a BTEC in business and finance,” Neil says. “I started as a claims handler working my way through the ranks with all sorts of different job titles to where I am today.”
Neil manages the first notification of loss team — responsible for all new motor claims that are reported into ERS. This consists of two team leaders and 21 claim technicians.
Also, the retail accidental damage claims teams, which cover motorcycle, classic, motor homes, bespoke vehicles and private cars and vans. This consists of three team leaders and 28 claim technicians. The accidental damage total Tristan Jenkins, Sarah Budden, Neil Little and Scott Evans of ERS talk of how they joined the Swansea-based firm and have progressed in their roles.
Hard work leads to bright loss team too, where claims are agreed and settled. Plus, the administration team, which processes all the referrals from offshore and windscreen claims.
Finally, he is recovery manager, who oversees the subrogated recovery for all ERS claims.
Scott, of Townhill, has worked for ERS for more than seven months. He is a senior member of the premium credit loan scheme and says he loves every minute of it.
After university he was looking for jobs in finance. He was going to leave applying for jobs this year and apply the following year but changes his mind and applied for a job with ERS. Scott instantly received a response from the company, inviting him for an interview.
“I was over the moon to have an interview from my first application,” he says. “When I had finished the interview in two days I had a call offering me the job and I haven’t looked back!
“Since working here I have been given a lot more responsibility than I would have thought.
“I send out and set up all mandates that come into the company from clients and of course respond to any queries that arise.
“I also reconcile accounts from our whole broker base and raise queries to our underwriting teams. I also put together weekly and daily reports of payments and queries.”
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South Wales Evening Post - Hard work leads to bright future for insurance staff
