Head Claims - Life Insurance

About the role

Prudential is looking for a Head Claims to provide end-to-end operational and supervisory oversight of its claims team. The role ensures that policy claims are assessed and settled promptly, fairly and consistently, protects the company from fraud, leakage and regulatory, legal, financial and reputational risk, and drives a customer-centred claims philosophy backed by data, technology and capable teams.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute the claims strategy aligned with business objectives, customer proposition, risk appetite and operational priorities.
• Optimize service standards for fairness, consistency and sound judgement, and present claims data analysis and trends to executive management via the Chief Operations Officer.
• Build effective working relationships with Underwriting, Actuarial, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Risk, Internal Audit, Sales, Customer Service, Technology and Product teams.
• Oversee the full claims lifecycle across individual and group life portfolios, including notification, registration, validation, investigation, assessment, approval, repudiation and settlement.
• Ensure claims are handled within approved turnaround times, policy terms, delegated authorities and legal and regulatory requirements.
• Oversee complex, contentious, litigated and ex gratia claims, escalate material matters and document the rationale for decisions.
• Maintain clear, timely and empathetic communication with claimants, beneficiaries, policyholders, intermediaries and corporate clients, especially in sensitive situations such as bereavement.
• Run complaint resolution and escalation processes, conduct root cause analysis and turn insights into service improvements.
• Drive continuous improvement through process redesign, automation, workflow discipline and effective case management.
• Ensure compliance with NAICOM regulations, anti-money laundering requirements, data protection obligations and internal policies, and maintain claims policies, SOPs, decision records, quality assurance reviews and audit trails.
• Uphold preventive and detective controls against claims leakage, fraud, errors, duplicate payments and unauthorised settlements, and coordinate claims investigations with Compliance, Legal, Internal Audit, law enforcement and external specialists.
• Produce timely regulatory, statutory and management reports on outstanding claims, ageing, repudiations, complaints, recoveries and material exposures, and sustain remedial actions after audit, compliance and regulatory findings.
• Build a high-performing claims team with clear objectives, appropriate capacity, strong technical capability and disciplined performance management.

Required profile

• First degree or equivalent (e.g. B.Sc.) in Insurance, Actuarial Science or a related course.
• Recognized professional qualification in Insurance (e.g. CIIN or CII) and at least Associate membership (ACIIN or ACII).
• Minimum 10 years of progressive operational experience in life insurance administration, policy processing or actuarial/claims management.
• At least 5 years (after professional qualification) in the technical department of an insurance institution.
• Demonstrable experience overseeing complex, high-value claims, claims governance, fraud risk, litigation, reserving interfaces and reinsurance recoveries.
• Strong practical knowledge of the Nigerian life insurance market and its legal and regulatory environment.

Required skills

• Deep knowledge of life claims assessment, policy interpretation, medical and financial evidence, investigation and settlement.
• Sound regulatory and risk judgement, commercial and financial acumen, and data-led decision-making.
• People management, communication and influence, integrity, and operational excellence.