Role Purpose
The RTA Claims Handler (Senior) manages a portfolio of non-fault road traffic accident claims, including higher-value, higher-risk, or more contentious files, alongside a standard caseload, from initial notification through to settlement, recovery, or transfer to litigation. The role combines the full technical and customer-facing responsibilities of an RTA Claims Handler with a wider quality, coaching and escalation remit.
The postholder is expected to operate with greater independence and sound commercial judgement, act as a first point of escalation for less experienced colleagues, support the Business Manager in maintaining file quality and service standards across the team, and take a visible role in identifying risk and driving continuous improvement. The role must be performed in accordance with company procedures, contractual obligations, data protection requirements and applicable industry standards.
Key Accountabilities
- Own and progress a caseload weighted toward higher-value hire, disputed liability, complex indemnity or otherwise higher-risk RTA claims, in addition to a standard portfolio.
- Act as first point of escalation for allocated RTA Claims Handlers on liability, hire, evidential or customer-service queries, referring to the Business Manager only where matters fall outside the team's authority.
- Spot-check and quality-review colleagues' files, payment packs and correspondence, and feed back constructively to support consistency and audit readiness.
- Assess and record accident circumstances, liability evidence, vehicle requirements and financial circumstances accurately, including on the more evidentially or legally complex files.
- Manage credit hire need, duration, rate, mitigation and recoverability from the outset, including cases with disputed impecuniosity or contested need.
- Progress insurer engagement, engineering, repairs, total loss and payment recovery without avoidable delay, and lead negotiation on disputed or higher-value settlements.
- Maintain complete, contemporaneous and auditable electronic claim records to a standard suitable for file audit and coaching purposes.
- Identify risk, fraud indicators, indemnity concerns, complaints and potential losses at the earliest opportunity, across both own files and those reviewed for colleagues.
- Work collaboratively with fleet, finance, repair, recovery, legal and management teams, and represent the claims function in cross-team discussions where required.
New Claim Intake and Initial Assessment
- Contact the customer promptly following referral or first notification of loss and explain RAA's role, the claims process, credit hire obligations and next steps in clear language.
- Complete all mandatory identity, contact, accident, vehicle, employment, licensing, insurance and referral source information, and check this for completeness on files reviewed for colleagues.
- Obtain a detailed accident statement and identify witnesses, passengers, police involvement, CCTV, dashcam footage, photographs and other evidence, applying additional scrutiny on disputed liability files.
- Complete an initial liability assessment and record the rationale, including split liability, causation, credibility or evidential concerns, and advise colleagues on borderline liability calls.
- Confirm and record the customer's genuine need for a replacement vehicle and why reasonable alternatives are unsuitable, particularly where need is likely to be challenged.
- Identify vulnerability, language, accessibility or communication needs and make appropriate adjustments.
- Complete conflict, duplication and previous claim checks in accordance with RAA procedures.
Document Collection and File Quality
- Obtain and verify driving licence, taxi or private hire licence, insurance certificate, V5C or proof of vehicle interest, MOT, accident evidence and proof of address where required.
- Obtain financial evidence needed to assess impecuniosity and recoverability, normally covering at least three months before the accident and the hire period, together with tax returns, accounts, invoices or earnings evidence where relevant.
- Review documents for completeness, consistency, expiry dates and discrepancies, raising queries immediately, and support colleagues in resolving harder evidential gaps.
- Apply, and help enforce, RAA's document naming, indexing and storage standards across the team.
- Record all material calls, messages, decisions, offers, payments and actions on the case management system on the day they occur.
- Maintain a clear chronology, liability position, hire rationale, reserve information, next action and target date, modelling best practice for less experienced colleagues.
5. Credit Hire and Replacement Vehicle Management
- Assess vehicle need and arrange a suitable like-for-like or reasonable replacement, taking account of licence type, occupation, passenger capacity, accessibility, business use and mitigation.
- Confirm eligibility before hire, including driving entitlement, licence status, insurance position, age, points, disqualifications and underwriting requirements.
- Ensure hire agreements, statements, delivery documents and vehicle condition records are completed and signed before or at delivery, escalating any exception immediately.
- Explain the customer's duty to mitigate, cooperate, report changes and return the vehicle promptly when hire is no longer reasonably required.
- Monitor every live hire at least weekly and record the continuing need for hire and progress of repairs or settlement, with particular attention to long-running or disputed hires.
- Escalate long hires, liability disputes, delayed inspections, repair inactivity, total loss delays, non-cooperation and cases approaching internal thresholds, and advise colleagues on managing similar situations.
- Coordinate delivery, exchange and off-hire with fleet, ensuring accurate location, mileage, fuel, condition and handover records.
6. Liability, Insurer and Third Party Engagement
- Present the claim promptly to the correct third party insurer or representative with accurate facts and evidence.
- Pursue liability decisions proactively and challenge unsupported denials or delays with evidence-based correspondence, taking the lead on more contentious or legally nuanced disputes.
- Keep communications professional, factual and suitable for later disclosure.
- Maintain scheduled insurer chasers, normally at least weekly, and escalate non-response, repudiation, intervention offers, engineering disputes or settlement issues.
- Review offers carefully and negotiate settlements within delegated authority; do not accept, reject or communicate agreement outside that authority.
- Notify management and legal representatives promptly when litigation, limitation, fraud, complex liability or material recovery risk arises, and help prepare files for handover to legal.
7. Engineering, Repairs and Total Loss
- Instruct an approved independent engineer promptly with complete and accurate information.
- Chase inspections and reports within agreed service levels and escalate any delay that may extend hire or prejudice recovery.
- Review reports for customer and vehicle details, accident consistency, repair method, valuation, salvage, roadworthiness and obvious error, including on disputed valuations.
- Coordinate repair authorisation, progress, parts delays, quality concerns and completion dates.
- For licensed vehicles, coordinate any required licensing authority inspection, failure notice, suspension, reinspection or pass documentation.
- For total loss claims, explain the process, obtain valuation evidence, review offers, monitor payment and ensure hire ends at the appropriate point.
- Escalate and lead the response on disputed valuations, uneconomical repairs, betterment, pre-existing damage and salvage issues.
8. Financial Control, Payment Packs and Recovery
- Maintain accurate records of hire charges, repair costs, recovery, storage, engineering fees, payments, offers, shortfalls and outstanding balances.
- Prepare complete and accurate payment packs and invoices using current RAA templates and checklists, including on higher-value or more complex files.
- Confirm agreements, eligibility checks, engineer evidence, invoices, statements, licences and mitigation evidence are present before submission, and second-check colleagues' packs where asked.
- Check VAT, hire dates, rates, vehicle groups, payment allocations and settlement figures.
- Log incoming payments promptly and notify finance of discrepancies, deductions or unidentified receipts.
- Identify potential leakage, unrecoverable charges, excessive hire, documentation gaps and settlement shortfalls early, across own files and those reviewed for the team.
- Do not waive charges, agree reductions or authorise payments outside delegated authority.
9. Customer Service and Communication
- Provide regular, meaningful updates even where there has been no material insurer progress.
- Use plain English, avoid misleading assurances and distinguish clearly between confirmed, expected and unconfirmed information.
- Respond within RAA service standards and manage expectations regarding delivery, repairs, liability, valuation and payment.
- Treat customers fairly, respectfully and sensitively, particularly where they are injured, vulnerable or financially dependent on their vehicle.
- Recognise dissatisfaction and complaints early, take a lead role in resolving lower-level complaints directly, and escalate in accordance with the complaints procedure.
- Verify identity before disclosing claim information and protect confidential data.
10. Compliance, Risk and Data Protection
- Follow all RAA policies, procedures, authority limits, quality controls and approved templates, and support colleagues in doing the same.
- Handle personal data in accordance with UK data protection law, confidentiality obligations, retention rules and access controls.
- Maintain records suitable for audit, disclosure, complaint review or litigation.
- Report suspected fraud, identity concerns, staged accidents, inconsistent evidence, data breaches and conflicts immediately.
- Complete required training and maintain up-to-date knowledge of credit hire, mitigation, impecuniosity, liability and vehicle licensing, and help keep the wider team's knowledge current.
- Cooperate fully with internal audits, insurer audits, solicitor requests and management investigations, and help prepare files and evidence for these where requested.
11. Teamwork, Coaching and Continuous Improvement
- Work constructively across claims, fleet, finance, repairs, recovery, business development and management.
- Act as a point of reference and informal mentor for RTA Claims Handlers, supporting their onboarding, day-to-day queries and development.
- Provide reliable handovers for absence, leave or reassignment, and step in to cover the Business Manager's routine tasks during short absences where required.
- Share learning from complaints, repudiations, recoverability issues and successful outcomes across the team.
- Identify process failures, duplicated work and system limitations and propose practical improvements, contributing to procedure and template development.
- Support less experienced colleagues through coaching, shadowing and constructive file feedback.
- Undertake other reasonable duties consistent with the level and purpose of the role.
12. Delegated Authority and Escalation
- The postholder must operate only within the higher delegated authority limits issued to RTA Claims Handlers (Senior) by RAA, which sit above those of an RTA Claims Handler but remain subject to management sign-off above those thresholds.
- Management approval is required for liability admissions, settlement acceptance and invoice reductions above the postholder's authority limit, write-offs, goodwill payments beyond delegated levels, prolonged hire, disputed vehicle allocation and referral to litigation, unless specific authority has been granted.
- Any issue presenting significant financial, reputational, legal, compliance or customer risk must be escalated immediately, whether identified on the postholder's own files or those of colleagues.
13. Person Specification
Requirement Essential Desirable
Experience At least 18 months to 2 years' experience handling RTA, motor, credit hire or accident management claims, including ownership of a personal caseload from notification through to settlement or litigation referral. Experience handling disputed liability, higher-value hire or complex/high-risk files; exposure to supporting or informally guiding less experienced colleagues.
Technical knowledge Sound working knowledge of liability assessment, credit hire need and mitigation, evidence gathering, repairs, total loss and claims administration. Working knowledge of GTA processes, impecuniosity and recoverability arguments, taxi/private hire claims, and engagement with litigated or pre-litigated files.
Education GCSEs or equivalent, including English and Mathematics, or relevant practical experience. Insurance, legal, claims or business-related qualification (e.g. Cert CII, CILEx, or equivalent).
Systems Confident, independent use of Microsoft Outlook, Word and Excel and the company case management system, including reporting functions. Experience using claims, hire, fleet or document management platforms, and producing basic MI or file-audit reports.
Communication Confident, professional written and verbal communication with customers, insurers, solicitors and other commercial counterparties, including under pressure. Demonstrable experience negotiating settlements, challenging repudiations or disputed liability directly with insurers or solicitors.
Organisation Able to manage a full caseload with limited supervision, prioritise competing deadlines, and maintain a consistently high standard of file records. Experience working to, and consistently meeting, formal service levels, audit standards and performance measures.
Personal qualities Calm, resilient, accountable, commercially aware, attentive to detail, and comfortable taking ownership of decisions within delegated authority. Willingness and aptitude to support, coach or informally mentor colleagues, and to contribute ideas for process improvement.
14. Performance Standards and Measures
- New customers contacted and claims acknowledged within the applicable RAA service level.
- Initial liability, need and eligibility assessments completed accurately and promptly, including on complex or disputed files.
- Engineer instructions, disclosures and insurer chasers completed within target timescales.
- Every live hire reviewed at least weekly with a documented continuing need and next action.
- No avoidable periods of inactivity, expired diary actions or undocumented material decisions, across own files and those spot-checked for the team.
- Payment packs and invoices submitted complete, accurate and right first time.
- File audit scores, for own files and files reviewed for colleagues, meet the standard set by management, with corrective actions completed by deadline.
- Customer communications are clear, respectful and timely, with complaints recognised, resolved or escalated correctly.
- Hire duration, recovery, settlement shortfall and leakage remain within agreed operational targets.
- Demonstrable, positive contribution to team coaching, escalation handling and process improvement.
- Attendance, conduct, training and compliance obligations are met consistently.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: £28,000.00-£33,000.00 per year
Experience:
- motor claims: 2 years (required)
Work Location: In person
