Insurance claims appointments: MCE Insurance, Hudgell Solicitors, Chubb, Woodgate & Clark

MCE Insurance appoints Rachel Bennett, Hudgell Solicitors recruits Theresa Greenwood, Chubb hires Richard Shanks, and Woodgate & Clark brings in Julie Groves—read about all the latest appointments in the insurance claims sector

Rachel Bennett

MCE Insurance has appointed Rachel Bennett to department manager of defendant claims for the motorbike specialist.

Overseeing a claims caseload worth more than £100 million annually and leading a team of 50, Bennett will be operating remotely from her base in the Northwest, working closely alongside the recently appointed head of claims, Abigail Griffiths, in Northamptonshire.

Together, they will focus on the delivery of strategic claims projects, working with committees to recommend process improvements and efficiencies, and upholding the company’s line of litigation defence to protect the integrity of the claims handling infrastructure. 

Bennett, who has more than 15 years of frontline legal experience, has been with MCE Insurance since 2019 as defendant legal team manager. In her new role, she will be responsible for claims operations projects, providing professional oversight of the claims handling process and lifecycle, professional guidance on files, claims settlement processes, and overseeing claims authorisation.   

Commenting on her appointment, MCE Insurance chief executive officer Julian Edwards said: “Rachel has many years’ experience successfully managing defendant claims. Her determination to exceed targets and commitment to embedding a consistent approach across the organisation are essential qualities for the role.”

Bennett’s appointment is the latest management role to be filled by a woman at MCE Insurance, reinforcing the company’s commitment to gender pay parity and ambition to have full 50/50 gender representation in senior roles.

Theresa Greenwood

Hudgell Solicitors has recruited experienced registered midwife and former NHS incident investigator Theresa Greenwood to further enhance its in-house medical expertise when handling serious clinical negligence claims.

Greenwood, a registered hospital and community midwife since 2009, brings not only experience of working within the health sector as a midwife but also in investigating maternal and neonatal incidents for the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch.

She has also worked as a governance and risk manager for Lancashire Teaching Hospital and Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, where she managed radiology, theatres, critical care, pathology and pharmacy department incident investigations.

Most recently, she worked for the NHS in a temporary role to clear a backlog of mortality reports for children and adults with learning difficulties, and last year, at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, returned to maternity delivering babies.

In her role at Hudgell Solicitors, Greenwood will provide chronologies and clinical advisory services for the firm, a role similar to that she previously held with Slater and Gordon.

Managing director Amanda Stevens, who manages the pagination team across the firm, said Greenwood will be an invaluable addition: “We are delighted to have added the experience of Theresa to our national pagination and clinical advisory services team as she brings another layer of expertise and understanding to what we do in terms of assessing and pursuing clinical negligence claims.”

Property and casualty insurance company Chubb has appointed Richard Shanks to the role of claims director for the UK and Ireland.

In his new role, Shanks will be responsible for the delivery of Chubb’s claims service across the UK and Ireland. He succeeds John Latter, who was recently promoted to claims director for the company’s Europe and Eurasia and Africa regions.

Shanks will continue to be based in London and will report to Latter.

Shanks has more than 30 years of insurance industry experience and was most recently claims operations transformation manager for the UK and Ireland. Prior to joining Chubb last year, he held a number of senior claims leadership roles for other insurers and within the claims supply chain.

Latter said: “I am delighted to have promoted Richard to this key role. He has a strong track record of leading teams to deliver excellent claims service. His leadership and energy will help drive change as we evolve our award-winning claims proposition, ensuring that we continue to meet the constantly changing needs of our customers.”

Julie Groves

Woodgate & Clark has hired experienced loss adjuster Julie Groves to oversee its focus on business interruption cases.

Groves, who is also a qualified accountant, reports to executive director Graeme Fitzpatrick and director of major loss, Nick Michell.

Her appointment at Woodgate & Clark comes as the sector deals with a surge in business interruption claims following the Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

Woodgate & Clark has chosen to work through each business interruption claim on a case-by-case basis, which, according to Fitzpatrick, gives the company more flexibility to process claims quickly and avoids re-work.  

Fitzpatrick said: “Julie heads up our specialist team of experienced loss adjusters, who have the skill set—including all important accountancy skills—to deal with complex business interruption issues.”

“Business interruption resolution is currently a top priority for Woodgate & Clark’s clients, and Julie’s arrival underscores our commitment to resolving cases professionally and giving appropriate attention to managing the stress faced by many of our clients’ customers.”

He added: “As a senior decision maker, Julie is able to step in where necessary to ensure cases don’t get bogged down; we are fully focused on maintaining the significant progress we’ve been making on resolving outstanding claims.”

“The insurance industry has faced a lot of scrutiny over business interruption, and we have an ongoing responsibility on behalf of our insurer clients to ensure customers are treated quickly and fairly.”

Groves, who joins Woodgate & Clark from Crawford, said: “Graeme painted a compelling picture of the opportunity at Woodgate & Clark, in particular the company’s championing of skilled loss adjusters, and the trust put into our hands to make the right decisions on behalf of clients and their customers.”

“I am excited by the opportunity to lead the business interruption loss adjusting team to the successful conclusion of our business interruption caseload and look forward to playing a broader role in meeting the company’s longer-term growth ambitions.”

Mark Dugdale