Meet Gary Champion: Head of Insurance Customer Operations

When a fleet driver is involved in an at-fault road incident, sopp+sopp’s third party capture service plays a vital role in controlling costs and protecting brand reputation. 

Gary Champion, Head of Insurance Customer Operations leads the team responsible for our third-party service. In this interview, Gary tells us about his extensive claims experience, the benefits of the third-party service, and exciting projects on the horizon that promise to further enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. 

Tell us about your role, Gary…

“I lead the department responsible for the delivery of our third-party intervention/capture solution. When our customer is at fault in a road traffic incident, we make contact with any third-parties and offer to repair the vehicle and get them back on the road.  

This approach helps our customers manage the cost of at-fault claims and protects their brand reputation by minimising inconvenience for the third party”

What do you enjoy most about the role? 

“I love the people element – developing positive teams that can make a significant difference for our customers. I enjoy finding ways to create a productive environment for my team, ensuring they have everything they need to perform at their best while also developing their skills and knowledge.”

Tell us a bit about your professional background 

“I started out working in the contact centre at Aviva, then moved to Hill Dickinson, the law firm, where I stayed for 12 years. 

For most of that time I was a key contact for our corporate clients and led one of the claims teams, gaining a real range of claims experience.  

From there I moved to Vue Group – an in-vehicle technology specialist, which gave me a great understanding of telematics capabilities, both in terms of the hardware and how the data can be used. 

I joined sopp+sopp in 2019, originally as an Account Manager. When the opportunity came up to take on an operational leadership role in addition to my account management responsibilities, I felt it was a fantastic opportunity to help shape the business to meet the needs of our growing customer base.”

Tell us about the third-party service your team deliver – what do the team do? 

“After the First Notification of Loss (FNOL) is taken, my team are immediately notified if a third-party vehicle is involved and our customer is at fault. 

The team will call the third-party on behalf of the customer and offer to arrange the repair of the vehicle, and to provide a replacement vehicle at no cost. 

We identify the appropriate repair solution, whether mobile or bodyshop, allocate the work, and manage the repair process to ensure it is completed as swiftly as possible.”

What are the key benefits of the service? 

“Our team will always contact the third-party quickly – within an hour of the incident being reported. We know that the sooner we get in contact, the greater chance of us capturing the third party into our intervention process. 

This controls costs for our fleet customers by offering the advantage of preferential repair and hire rates available through sopp+sopp, ultimately avoiding significant costs associated with credit hire and repair. 

A further benefit is that customers have full visibility of each claim, as well as access to data dashboards that allow them to review incident data and identify trends that could help reduce incidents in future.”

What projects are you most looking forward to over the next six months? 

“I’m involved in several exciting projects. Linked to my passion for making our business a great place to work, I’m part of a working group focussed on team member engagement. We’re asking team members for feedback, and we have some great ideas for how we can celebrate our business values and the people that deliver them. 

On the technology front, I'm involved in projects aimed at enhancing the customer journey. This includes integrating with our vehicle hire partners to seamlessly share information, improving efficiency for both our team and our customers. 

Additionally, we have a fantastic tool called Activate Assess. It’s a web app that allows drivers to add photographs and descriptions of vehicle damage, and helps to flag vehicles that are suitable for mobile repair, and those that are potentially a total loss. I’m involved in a project to make sure we’re getting the best possible benefit from this technology across our operation.”