Customer Service Officer - Collections

at  LegalAndGeneral

Company Description
Legal & General supports the savings, protection and retirement needs of around 14 million people, through our portfolio of retail and workplace businesses.
Our Retail division helps people enjoy a more colourful retirement, both directly and through their employers, including Lifetime Mortgages, Retirement Interest Only Mortgages and financial advice on our range of lending products.
We are the UK’s number one individual life insurer, and also provide Group Protection products for employers – all helping people to plan for the unexpected. We support home buying through our Mortgage Club – the UK’s largest – and our award-winning Surveying Services team. And our fintech team finds and supports socially useful start-ups and scale-ups working in the workplace, home, insurance and wealth areas.
Joining us means helping create brighter financial futures for all our customers.
Job Description
We’re recruiting for a Customer Service Officer to join our Collections team in Solihull, with a starting salary of £23,500. This is a hybrid role where you’ll work 3 days from home and 2 days at our Solihull office, Monday-Friday 9-5.
The Collections team is responsible for working with customers experiencing financial difficulties as well as customers or their representatives that have experienced a Repayment Event (Death or Long-Term Care of the last surviving customer)
Due to the sensitive nature of this role we are looking for someone who has the ability to build rapport quickly, ensure understanding, identify vulnerable indicators and treat customers with empathy, professionalism and understanding.

What you’ll be doing:

• You will provide a level of service that ensures our customers’ expectations are met. The service will include sensitive and complex situations, which will need to be handled with empathy and sympathy as well as acting as a point of escalations for queries
• You will accurately and effectively administer mortgage business to ensure we operate without our agreed service levels requirements
• Maintain relationships with internal and external customers, which include customers, Attorneys, Executors and other third-party representatives
• To collate and analyse all relevant information and to make informed decisions, which may include reference to the Line Manager, to protect all interest parties from fraudulent acts by conducting all transactions within approved financial limited and guidelines
• Use appropriate customer feedback and data to improve working practices and highlight opportunities for improvement to the customer experience and deliver appropriate solutions
• You will take ownership of your own development, ensuring the development of skills and knowledge, whilst undertaking training opportunities. You will keep up to date with legislative and industry requirements and mentor more junior members of the team
• Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) – Ensure the customers/customer representatives are provided with relevant information at appropriate times throughout end of lifecycle processes relating to the customers obligations, available treatments and availability of independent advice

Qualifications

Who we’re looking for:

• Minimum 5 GCSEs at grace C or above (must include Mathematics and English)
• Computer literate in Microsoft Office
• Able to work well within a team environment
• Good attention to detail
• Experience of working with direct customer interaction: either face to face or by phone
• High level of written communication
• Empathy, professionalism, understanding
• Previous experience working in financial services preferred

Whatever your role, we reward performance and behaviour with a package that looks after all the things that are important to you. Here are some of the benefits we offer:

• The opportunity to participate in our annual, performance-related bonus plan and valuable share schemes
• Generous pension contribution
• Life assurance
• Private medical insurance (permanent employees only)
• At least 25 days holiday, plus public holidays, 26 days after 2 years’ service. There’s also the option to buy and sell holiday
• Competitive family leave
• Participate in our electric car scheme, which offers employees the option to hire a brand-new electric car through tax efficient salary sacrifice
• There are the many discounts we offer – both for our own products and at a range of high street stores and online
• In 2023, some of our workspaces were redesigned. Our offices are great spaces to connect and collaborate and have your wellbeing at the heart

Additional Information
Legal & General is a leading financial services group and major global investor, named Britain’s Most Admired Company in 2023, for the second year running. Rated top in our sector and top for inspirational leadership, we have a strong heritage and an exciting future.
We aim to build a better society for the long term by investing our customers’ money in things that make life better for everyone.
If you join us, you’ll be part of a welcoming culture, with opportunities to collaborate with people of diverse backgrounds, views and experiences. Guided by leaders with integrity who care about your future and wellbeing. Empowered through initiatives which support people to develop their careers and excel.
We strive to be open, mindful and inclusive, so are always willing to discussing flexible working arrangements and reasonable accommodations for candidates with specific needs.
If you’re open to find out more, we’d love to hear from you

What you’ll be doing:

• You will provide a level of service that ensures our customers’ expectations are met. The service will include sensitive and complex situations, which will need to be handled with empathy and sympathy as well as acting as a point of escalations for queries
• You will accurately and effectively administer mortgage business to ensure we operate without our agreed service levels requirements
• Maintain relationships with internal and external customers, which include customers, Attorneys, Executors and other third-party representatives
• To collate and analyse all relevant information and to make informed decisions, which may include reference to the Line Manager, to protect all interest parties from fraudulent acts by conducting all transactions within approved financial limited and guidelines
• Use appropriate customer feedback and data to improve working practices and highlight opportunities for improvement to the customer experience and deliver appropriate solutions
• You will take ownership of your own development, ensuring the development of skills and knowledge, whilst undertaking training opportunities. You will keep up to date with legislative and industry requirements and mentor more junior members of the team
• Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) – Ensure the customers/customer representatives are provided with relevant information at appropriate times throughout end of lifecycle processes relating to the customers obligations, available treatments and availability of independent advic

Whatever your role, we reward performance and behaviour with a package that looks after all the things that are important to you. Here are some of the benefits we offer:

• The opportunity to participate in our annual, performance-related bonus plan and valuable share schemes
• Generous pension contribution
• Life assurance
• Private medical insurance (permanent employees only)
• At least 25 days holiday, plus public holidays, 26 days after 2 years’ service. There’s also the option to buy and sell holiday
• Competitive family leave
• Participate in our electric car scheme, which offers employees the option to hire a brand-new electric car through tax efficient salary sacrifice
• There are the many discounts we offer – both for our own products and at a range of high street stores and online
• In 2023, some of our workspaces were redesigned. Our offices are great spaces to connect and collaborate and have your wellbeing at the hear