General Liability - Technical Specialist

What Is the Opportunity?

The position is responsible for investigating, evaluating, reserving, negotiating and resolving assigned General Liability related Bodily Injury and Property Damage claims. Provides quality claim handling throughout the claim life cycle (customer contacts, coverage, investigation, evaluation, reserving, litigation management, negotiation and resolution) including maintaining full compliance with internal and external quality standards and state specific regulations.

What Will You Do?

• Directly handles assigned severe claims.
• Provides quality customer service and ensures file quality and timely coverage analysis and communication with insured based on application of policy information to facts or allegations of each case.
• Consults with Manager on use of Claim Coverage Counsel as needed.
• Directly investigates each claim through prompt and strategically-appropriate contact with appropriate parties such as policyholders, accounts, claimants, law enforcement agencies, witnesses, agents, medical providers and technical experts to determine the extent of liability, damages, and contribution potential.
• Interviews witnesses and stakeholders; takes necessary statements, as strategically appropriate.
• Completes outside investigation as needed per case specifics.
• Actively engages in the identification, selection and direction of appropriate internal and/or external resources for specific activities required to effectively evaluate claims, such as Subrogation, Risk Control, nurse consultants, and fire or fraud investigators, and other experts.
• Maintains claim files and documents claim file activities in accordance with established procedures.
• Utilizes evaluation documentation tools in accordance with department guidelines.
• Proactively reviews Claim File Analysis (CFA) for adherence to quality standards and trend analysis.
• Utilizes diary management system to ensure that all claims are handled timely.
• Evaluates liability and damages exposure at required time intervals.
• Establishes and maintains proper indemnity and expense reserves.
• Recommends appropriate cases for discussion at roundtable.
• Attends and/or presents at roundtables/authority discussions for collaboration of technical expertise resulting in improved payout on indemnity and expense.
• Develops and employs creative resolution strategies.
• Promptly and properly disposes of all claims within delegated authority.
• Negotiates disposition of claims with insureds and claimants or their legal representatives.
• Recognizes and implements alternate means of resolution.
• Manages litigated claims.
• Develops litigation plan with staff or panel counsel, including discovery and legal expenses, to assure effective resolution and to satisfy customers.
• Applies litigation management through the selection of counsel, evaluation and direction of claim and litigation strategy.
• Tracks and controls legal expenses to assure cost-effective resolution.
• Attends depositions, mediations, arbitrations, pre-trials, trials and all other legal proceedings, as needed.
• Updates appropriate parties as needed, providing new facts.

What Will Our Ideal Candidate Have?

• Bachelor's Degree.
• 3 years bodily injury liability claim handling and/or litigation experience.
• Skilled in coverage, contract interpretation, liability and damages analysis and has a thorough understanding of the litigation process, relevant case and statutory law and expert litigation management skills.
• Extensive claim and/or legal experience and technical expertise to evaluate severe and complex claims.
• Able to make independent decisions on most assigned cases without involvement of supervisor.
• Thorough understanding of business line products, policy language, exclusions, ISO forms, and effective claims handling practices.
• Openness to the ideas and expertise of others actively solicits input and shares ideas.
• Strong negotiation and customer service skills.
• Intermediate. Strong written and verbal communication skills are required so as to understand, synthesize, interpret and convey, in a simplified manner, complex data and information to audiences with varying levels of expertise.
• Intermediate. Strong technology aptitude; ability to use business technology tools to effectively research, track, and communicate information.
• Intermediate. Attention to detail ensuring accuracy.

Must Have

• Two years bodily injury liability claim handling experience or comparable litigation claim experience.