Claims Manager

Clifton Search; West of England; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Clifton Search is seeking a Claims Manager to lead a claims team focused on legal expenses and rent guarantee products. You will guide strategy, review complex cases and drive training to ensure fair, well-evidenced decisions.

You should have strong landlord and tenant law knowledge, experience with insurance claims and a track record of coaching teams through complex file reviews and quality assurance processes.

Qualifications

• Paralegal or solicitor with landlord/tenant or civil litigation experience.
• Experience in legal expenses, rent guarantee or wider insurance claims handling.
• Experience delivering training, coaching or mentoring to colleagues.
• Experience working within delegated authority frameworks.
• Knowledge of FCA regulations including Consumer Duty and claims handling best practice.
• CII qualifications or working towards desirable.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical and legal claims management for complex landlord and tenant cases.
• Assess claims against policy terms, coverage, prospects of success and compliance.
• Review tenancy docs and evidence to determine validity and recovery potential.
• Provide guidance on strategy including possession and debt recovery.
• Deliver structured feedback, coaching and training to build capability.
• Ensure quality assurance and sign-off on decisions within authority.

Skills

Legal leadership

Landlord & Tenant law

Claims handling

Coaching & training

Communication

Analytical thinking

Stakeholder management

Education

Law degree, CILEx or equivalent

Job description

Rapidly expanding next generation start up organisation looking for a Claims Manager.

This role will form a key part of their growth, and as they develop their own legal proposition.

Role Purpose:

To provide legal and technical leadership to the claims team across legal expenses and rent guarantee products, combining paralegal expertise in landlord and tenant law with a strong understanding of insurance claims processes.

The role manages complex and legally sensitive claims, acts as the team’s reference point on legal and procedural questions, and builds team competency through structured feedback, coaching and training – so that claims decisions are legally sound, fair, consistent and well evidenced.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical & Legal Claims Management

• Manage a portfolio of complex, high-value or legally contentious legal expenses and rent guarantee claims from notification through to conclusion.
• Assess claims against policy terms, including cover, prospects of success, proportionality and compliance with policy conditions such as referencing, notice and deposit requirements.
• Review tenancy agreements, notices, arrears schedules and supporting evidence to determine claim validity and recovery potential.
• Provide legal and technical guidance on claim strategy, including possession, rent arrears recovery and tenant disputes.
• Identify fraud indicators, coverage concerns and leakage risks, escalating in line with referral procedures.

Landlord & Tenant Legal Process

• Maintain up-to-date working knowledge of landlord and tenant law in England and Wales
• Help the claims team understand how each stage of the legal process interacts with policy cover, rent guarantee payment periods and recovery activity.
• Monitor legislative, regulatory and case law developments

Feedback, Coaching & Training

• Deliver structured feedback to claims handlers following file reviews, referrals and quality assurance outcomes, with clear actions for improvement.
• Provide one-to-one and group coaching to build technical decision-making, legal knowledge and confidence on complex files.
• Contribute to the claims competency framework, identifying knowledge gaps and tracking individual progress against agreed standards.
• Produce and maintain guidance notes, process documents and legal knowledge resources for the team.
• Support the onboarding of new claims colleagues, including technical induction on legal and insurance processes.

Quality Assurance & Sign-Off

• Review and approve claims decisions, payments and legal funding within delegated authority.
• Complete quality assurance file reviews, ensuring decisions are legally sound, well reasoned and properly documented.
• Provide technical input into complaints, including policy interpretation and root-cause analysis of recurring themes.
• Feed trends from quality assurance and complaints activity into training and process improvement.

Compliance & Governance

• Support insurer and internal audits and implement corrective actions where required.
• Maintain accurate records of legal guidance, referrals and technical decisions.
• Promote fair customer outcomes and a strong compliance culture across the team.
• Legal Knowledge – Strong working knowledge of landlord and tenant law, civil litigation procedure, and possession and debt recovery processes.
• Technical Claims Knowledge – Sound understanding of legal expenses and rent guarantee cover, policy interpretation, prospects assessment and indemnity.
• Coaching & Training – Confident delivering feedback, coaching and training that builds capability and changes behaviour.
• Decision Making – Able to weigh legal, technical and commercial factors to reach balanced, well-evidenced decisions.
• Communication – Able to explain legal concepts in plain English to colleagues, customers and stakeholders.
• Attention to Detail – High level of accuracy in reviewing legal documents, notices and claim files.
• Analytical Thinking – Able to identify trends, risks and training needs from quality, complaints and claims data.
• Stakeholder Management – Effective at working with panel solicitors, insurers and internal teams.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Paralegal or Solicitor with legal experience within landlord and tenant, housing or civil litigation.
• Experience of legal expenses, rent guarantee or wider insurance claims handling.
• Experience delivering training, coaching or mentoring to colleagues.
• Experience working within delegated authority frameworks.
• Knowledge of FCA regulations, including Consumer Duty, and claims handling best practice.
• Law degree, CILEx qualification or recognised paralegal qualification desirable.
• CII qualifications or working towards desirable.