Legal Counsel – Underwriting & Claims

QBE Europe; City Of London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance company in London is seeking a Legal Counsel for their Underwriting & Claims team. The role involves providing legal advice across UK insurance operations and draft contracts while ensuring compliance with regulatory matters. The ideal candidate will be a qualified solicitor or barrister with 4+ years of experience in insurance law. This full-time position offers flexible working and competitive benefits.

Benefits

30 days holiday per year

Flexible working opportunities

10% employer pension contributions

Private medical insurance

Family friendly policies

Short term remote work abroad

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with a minimum of 4 years’ post-qualification experience.
• Thorough understanding of English insurance law and London insurance market.
• Experience of multi-jurisdictional work is preferable.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice on insurance and reinsurance matters.
• Support in delivering legal strategy and managing legal risk.
• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts.

Skills

Qualified solicitor or barrister

Understanding of English insurance law

Client management skills

Drafting skills

Negotiating skills

Ability to prioritise and work under pressure

Education

Post-qualification experience (4+ years)

Job description

Primary Details Time Type: Full time Worker Type: Employee

Legal Counsel – Underwriting & Claims team

Location: London

Type: Full time, Permanent

The opportunity

We have a great opportunity for a Legal Counsel to join a highly regarded in house Legal team as a trusted legal advisor across our UK insurance and reinsurance operations , supporting them in the execution of their strategy by providing pragmatic solutions on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters.

Your new role

• Provide clear, practical legal advice on a broad range of insurance and reinsurance related underwriting and distribution matters , , regulatory developments, and business projects.
• Support the Senior Legal Counsel and Head of Legal, Underwriting & Claims in delivering legal strategy and frameworks for managing legal risk.
• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts with a focus on legal robustness and commercial viability.
• Ad hoc advice on contentious matters, claims coverage, contract interpretation, and legal aspects of claims handling.
• Assist in training on legal and regulatory topics.
• Monitor and analyse legal developments and emerging risks, ensuring the business remains informed and compliant.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders across the business and promote the Legal team as a valued and accessible resource.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of legal processes, controls, and risk awareness.
• Represent the Legal team in cross-functional initiatives and support group-level projects.
• Participate in the legal duty solicitor rota.
• Foster strong internal relationships within the legal team.

About you

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with a minimum of 4 years’ post-qualification experience.
• A thorough understanding of English insurance law and the London insurance market and a good technical insurance knowledge across commercial insurance business.
• Sound understanding of UK general insurance regulation relevant to insurance distribution and product governance is preferable.
• Experience of multi-jurisdictional work is preferable.
• Excellent drafting and client management skills.
• Ability to prioritise and work under pressure.
• Good presentation and negotiating skills.
• Experience of direct client contact.
• Confidence to act independently and make technical decisions within competence, with ability to judge when to seek advice.
• Forward thinking and proactive in approach to work.

Why QBE? At My Best

At QBE, we want our people to feel rewarded and inspired to perform at their best, that’s why we have created “At My Best ”. It’s our connection, our way of showing we have your back.

We’re an international insurer that’s building momentum towards realising our vision of becoming the most consistent and innovative risk partner.

QBE aims to build a workplace that is fair and inclusive because we want to attract and retain the best people to do the job, we have adopted flexible working across the company and welcome this conversation.

At My Best - QBE Benefits

We provide you with the benefits, support and flexibility to help you concentrate on living your best life personally and professionally.

• 30 days holiday a year with the option to buy up to 2 additional days.
• Flexible working - balancing work and life is important so our flexible working opportunities are open to all, this can include part-time, job share and compressed hours.
• Pension – you are automatically enrolled into the QBE pension plan, which entitles you to receive employer contributions of 10% of your basic salary.
• Private medical insurance – we fund fully comprehensive private medical cover for you and all the family.
• Family friendly policies – we offer 26 weeks leave at full pay regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or how you become a parent.
• Short term remote work abroad - you can request up to 20 days per year to work remotely from certain locations abroad.
• Cycle-to-Work – benefit from regular exercise whilst making your commute greener and cheaper, select and bike and/or accessories up to the value of £5,000.

Inclusion of Diversity

We are striving to create a workplace culture where all our people feel included, and we are committed to building a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we operate in.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

QBE is an equal opportunity employer and is required to comply with equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction it operates.