Glenn Stevens: Loss adjusters a ‘fourth emergency service’ for customers in time of need

Glenn Stevens has revealed that building relationships are key to success in his role as the senior major and complex claims adjuster at Hiscox after being crowned Insurance Times’ Claims Champion of the Year.

Stevens picked up the prestigious award, which recognises an “outstanding individual making a major contribution to general insurance (GI) claims”, at the Claims Excellence Awards earlier this year (25 May 2023).

He was crowned champion from a list of five other nominated finalists, including Hannah Anderson from Trinity Claims, Laure Andre from ETA Insurance, Billy Hinken from Pen Underwriting, Jodie Kay from Auger and Phil Maxwell from Unicorn Underwriting.

Stevens tells Insurance Times that he had “no expectations of winning” and it “came as surprise” when he heard his name called.

“It’s an honour to be recognised at industry level and I thank my colleagues for the nomination,” he adds.

Speaking about the role of a loss adjuster, Stevens explains that they can act like a “fourth emergency service” for customers in their time of need.

He continues that a key part of being a loss adjuster is building relationships with customers as well as colleagues and that “helping others” is the “most rewarding part of the job”.

“Being able to get a customer back to normal from a situation where their home or business is out of action and then receiving positive feedback at the end is really rewarding,” he explains.

“It’s not only the relationships you build with customers, it’s the relationships with colleagues and other parties involved in the process – it’s rewarding helping others whilst also mentoring and helping with their development.”

‘Extra mile’

Stevens joined Hiscox in 2018 after spending six years working as a household and commercial claims consultant at Aviva.

He jokes that “like many others”, he also “fell” into the insurance industry despite wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps of being a building surveyor.

Stevens made good on this by securing trainee surveyor roles at two different companies at the start of his career – as part of this, he also dealt with household insurance claims.

“I started learning the ropes by carrying out different roles, beginning with handling claims, which progressed to works on insurance claims,” he says.

“Everything else followed on from there as my career progressed.”

Stevens adds that he has “done every job [anyone] can think of, from property insurance and claims handling, to surveying and loss adjusting”.

He says that alongside picking up the award of Claims Champion, some of the key achievements in his career include getting the opportunity to work for Hiscox before going on to win claims underwriter of the year internally.

“I’m always looking to develop, learn and improve,” he adds.

“I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and will continue to try and go the extra mile for our customers when they need me”.