Cargo Claims Team – Working together to bring added value to members
At The Swedish Club, we have formed five teams to pinpoint the specialist knowledge and experience of claims handlers across our offices. The Specialist Claims Teams have leading roles on competence development, enhancing decision-making, and pooling knowledge and expertise to improve services for our members.
Jason Wee is a relative new-comer to The Swedish Club, having joined the Singapore branch in 2023 as Head of Claims. In addition to that role, he leads the Cargo Claims Team comprising seven cargo claims specialists located in Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore and Greece.
“The members of the team are diverse in background comprising lawyers, ex-seamen and shipowners who draw upon each other’s experience and expertise. The team leverages on inter-office collaboration, knowledge sharing and aims to overcome the proverbial syndrome of ‘working in silos’, geographical distance between the regional offices notwithstanding”, Jason says.
He advocates for regular meetings of the team so that there is a platform for discussion of topics such as consolidation of resources, how to increase competence and remaining abreast of industry developments.
Jason believes that by building specialist teams, The Swedish Club can add value to membership. The increased cooperation across the team and offices gives the ability to finesse finer points and focus on specialisation, in-depth competence and increased efficiency. This will all contribute to the quality of benefits offered to members, whether in the form of advice, problem solving, bespoke training, loss prevention materials or online resources.
Having the team based in different regional offices means that individual experience includes not only the corporate culture but also the local context and these subtle variations can be shared to bring greater expertise into the team as a whole. Regular and ad hoc consultations between the team ensures that they are fair-handed in their treatment of all members.
In terms of how this all benefits members, Jason feels that the team approach helps the claims handlers to explain more clearly the legal and technical implications of a claim, allowing the member to gain greater comprehension of the strategy being used and the options available to them so that they are able to make better-informed decisions. There is a proactive commitment by the team to share knowledge so that they can increase members’ perception of what is going on in their claim and the likely consequences of decisions they might make.
When asked what drew him to working at The Swedish Club, Jason responded, “The Swedish Club has a reputation for professionalism and is genuinely an ‘all-in-one’ for maritime insurance products as one of the few IG clubs offering the entire range of hull, P&I and FD&D products. It values people – both staff and members – and that drives its desire to provide a ‘personal touch’ in all its dealings.
“Since joining the Club, it has been very rewarding on a personal level to have been part of a small, new office which has been very active locally and definitely punching above its weight. Seeing our Singapore branch and the Cargo Claims Team grow and progress have been some of the highlights of my time here so far.”
