Chartered Insurance Institute's flagship program project on mental health of claims professionals.
Hursh Pratap Singh (Insurance Law LLM, 2021) talks about his involvement with the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) talent development programme: “CII offers a prestigious talent development program called the New Generation Programme, aimed at identifying promising professionals across various sectors of the insurance industry, including claims, underwriting, broking, and the London Market. This program selects 40 high-potential individuals, 10 for each of the 4 groups above, to collaborate on projects designed to make a significant positive impact on the insurance profession. These projects typically take around six months to complete and require extensive collaboration with professionals nationwide. Previous projects have addressed critical issues such as reputation risk in a social media culture, the insurance implications of fracking, and hybrid working in the London Market.
The New Generation Programme is a comprehensive initiative that offers participants a unique learning experience. It includes interactive sessions with key figures from the Financial Conduct Authority, talks by Members of Parliament and insurance sector lobbying organizations, and even a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Furthermore, the program provides training on essential topics like leadership and media handling.
Hursh elaborates: “During my tenure at Claims Consortium Group, senior management recognized my qualifications and experience, prompting me to apply for the program. Upon acceptance into the claims group, I was immediately drawn to the topic of mental health for claims professionals due to my prior experience in handling distressing claims.
My background includes managing casualty claims, which involved handling cases of death, grievous injury, and complex motor third-party accidents. Similarly, in my role at CCG, I dealt with property claims, including fire incidents, water escapes, oil spills, burglaries, and liability claims, often involving elderly and vulnerable insureds. Our team convened regularly, discussing strategies, structuring our approach, and brainstorming over Teams calls every Friday. I played an active role in contributing to these discussions, particularly in formulating survey questions and analysing survey results using MS Excel.
I had the privilege of representing our topic at the Parliament (House of Lords) APPG event, alongside representatives from other groups (Underwriting, Broking, London Market). Additionally, I underwent media training, receiving positive feedback from trainers who appreciated my passion for the topic, especially considering it was my first experience. On the program's final day, I presented our findings to the CII Panel, emphasizing the significant results regarding exposure to distressing claims.
The CII acknowledged our efforts and appreciated our dedication to the cause. Currently, our project is under review by the CII, and we eagerly await their feedback to proceed to the next stage. Although the program has concluded, I remain committed to contributing and participating in future initiatives related to our topic and other events planned by the CII for the industry's benefit. Simultaneously, I commenced my role as a Claims Specialist for the Travel portfolio at Allianz in July. Balancing both roles, along with preparing for my Dip. CII Insurance Business and Finance exam on the 29th of this month, has been a busy yet fulfilling endeavour”.
Hursh delves deeper into the aim of the Project: “Our project, the Claims Group's focus, centers on the mental health of claims professionals, specifically addressing second-hand trauma. Second-hand trauma refers to the emotional toll experienced by claims professionals due to their exposure to distressing claims involving tragic circumstances.
The project aims to investigate whether handling such distressing claims has adverse effects on the mental health of claims professionals. The project explores various dimensions of this issue, including the types of distressing claims, the emotional impact on professionals, and the potential consequences on their well-being. We examined whether there are adequate support structures in place to assist claims professionals in coping with this challenging aspect of their work.
The research reveals some alarming statistics. Many employees spend a significant portion of their time at work, and stress negatively affects their performance. A substantial number of managers feel ill-equipped to support their teams with mental health concerns. Moreover, a significant percentage of professionals admit to experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm. This highlights the urgency of addressing mental health issues in the workplace, particularly in industries like insurance where employees frequently encounter distressing situations. We conducted a comprehensive survey with 261 responses, revealing that a majority of claims professionals had been exposed to traumatic claims. Surprisingly, most of them did not seek mental health support despite suffering from stress or mental health problems due to their work. This data emphasizes the need for better mental health support systems within the insurance industry, especially for those dealing with distressing claims.
As a recommendation in our final presentation to the CII NG Panel, we proposed insurance employers should acknowledge the profound impact that handling distressing claims can have on their employees. We advocated for open communication within organizations, encouraging employees to share their feelings and experiences when dealing with tough claims. Additionally, we suggested that companies should proactively identify employees impacted by second-hand trauma and offer them the necessary support”.
To find out more about Hursh and to connect on LinkedIn, please see Hursh's LinkedIn profile.