Samaritans Assist Insurance Claim Handlers

A leading insurer has called in the Samaritans to help train its staff to be more compassionate when dealing with people making claims.

Legal & General said the charity is providing specialist training and advice to its staff on how to handle potentially difficult or sensitive telephone calls with customers making a claim on a life insurance or critical illness policy.

It said the training aimed to equip claims handlers and those in operational support with the skills they needed to offer a compassionate and efficient service.

Stuart Johnson, Legal & General’s senior operations manager for claims and underwriting, said: “People who are claiming on their own policy or on behalf of a relative who has recently passed away, will be going through a very tough time and their emotions will be running high.

“Our staff need training to know how to deal with people in this situation in a way that allows us to offer a friendly and professional service.

“These customers have enough to cope with already and they just want us to deal with the claim in a timely and efficient manner.”

The insurer made a £1,000 donation to the Samaritans to help fund its work.