darius stewart

I started this role as an average FNOL Claims Handler which involved taking the first notification of loss from mostly commercial policyholder representatives but also individual retail policyholders. I handled claims with the customer at the heart of my focus while ensuring that the commercial needs of the business were met. I was responsible to making accurate liability decisions while taking into consideration the principles of insurance and various case laws, making indemnity decisions using my strong automotive knowledge. I also proactively found solutions to a variety of fraud and liability related problems all while adhering to time related targets within our service level agreements. Quite soon after starting this role, my knowledge and the skills displayed in this role led me to be considered as a Senior Claims Handler with additional responsibilities. Amongst conducting training sessions for inductees and inexperienced colleagues, I also led a project which successfully reduced leakage by monitoring steerage and mentoring colleagues to achieve cost efficiency.

I managed my own portfolio of 730 SME's by attempting to grow and maintain the accounts. I needed to understand the nature and needs of every single company within y portfolio so I conducted in-depth business reviews with each of them with the aim to help them achieve a financial benefit from their marketing. This resulted in me selling a vast range of websites and marketing solutions and aiding new businesses in setting up marketing structures for maximum profit. I successfully persuaded businesses to transition into the modern era of marketing. I have a lot of success stories from my time as a Digital Account Manager and no doubt that a sizeable amount of business owners would fondly recount the times I have helped their companies move forward.

My role at Express was to act as a motor insurance broker and selling policies from some of the biggest commercial motor insurers in the industry while up-selling additional products to run alongside the policies. This required me to develop a vast knowledge of each of our 32 individual insurer's policies in order to be able to confidently match eligible clients to the right policies for them while advising them of the relevant need-to-know information which varied from policy to policy. My motor knowledge gave me a distinct advantage within this role.

I started this role as a sales executive selling mobile contracts to small business customers on a part time basis but after quickly displaying my value I was promoted to team leader which allowed me to manage my own team. My day to day duties then evolved into assigning new and existing clients to my staff, providing ongoing support to team members on a 1 to 1 basis, conducting team meetings and training days, recording daily figures and ensured targets were met. I motivated my team well and as a result we consistently performed the best.

I started at Barclays as a Telephone Banker working in a busy call centre dealing with general banking queries and assisting customers with account duties. I also had to up-sell various products e.g. overdraft facilities and personal loans. I quickly excelled in this role and was promoted to a new team as a Telephone Business Banker which entailed dealing with the servicing of business accounts only. I also excelled in this role and moved into a new role in 2006 as Loan Security Operative. In this role I was tasked with ensuring that the various assets used to secure loans were legitimate and a suitable risk for the bank to issue loans against. I also performed very well in this role until the recession hit and lead to my redundancy amongst others.

I initially started this role by working in a busy call centre conducting telephone surveys for the Department of Education & Skills. This required actively calling individuals from a marketing list and aiming for personal and team targets. Once I consistently achieved and exceeded my targets I was promoted to a field based version of the role where I was given a car and a team of 3 to lead in the field around the county while going to assigned homes to conduct surveys on behalf of the West Midlands Police. Both versions of the role required resilience, thick skin and 100% accuracy.

I worked for RBS becoming the part of the first group of mortgage associates to become part of the newly launched subsidiary company called First Active. I started the role while simultaneously working to improve my knowledge by taking mortgage applications, and inputting them on the in-house system. I then quickly developed to the level of being able to deal with customer queries and complaints and providing limited advice by keeping and maintaining customer logs to 100% accuracy.

I worked in a fast paced environment during the Christmas period where patience and organisation played a huge part in achieving my tasks. I served customers at checkouts while providing a positive shopping experience for them. This included answering queries effectively, physically assisting customers in finding requested items and keeping the shop floor organised and tidy. This was a temporary role but it was an ideal ice breaker into a career which focused on the ethics of providing a strong level of customer service in an organised and technical manner.

I currently manage the operational side of the business meaning that I'm responsible for leading, managing and delivering five star service to our clients. When I took over the operational role, I created and implemented processes to ensure the organisation operates in the most efficient and effective manner allowing the Managing Director to grow the business which has been done with superbly within a short period of time. I make sure that the operating performance for our service meet and exceed client expectations. We currently manage around 200+ repairs and inspections per month and I ensure that my team provide a speedy deployment and update service. I handle all accounting operations within the business using Sage. I also am responsible for the recruitment in the business.

As Head of New Car Replacement, I played an influential role in building the New Car Replacement arm of the building from nothing to something. Displaying a immense work ethic and providing a masterclass In customer service and relationship building, I developed our customer base and grew the business by providing an efficient permanent procurement service for the policyholders of our clients while simultaneously building and maintaining a strong supplier network to support me. I fully handle the recruitment of staff within my department and manage their development and progression while ensuring that they emulate the level of service my department is known for.