Getting to Know: Angela Henderson

BerkleyNet’s Angela Henderson was named Claims Management Professional of the Year at CLM’s annual conference last month. See what make this claims manager a CLM superstar.

On winning her award:

One of my staff members nominated me. When CLM contacted me about my status as a finalist, I didn’t anticipate that I would be chosen. I was honored to be nominated and hoped to be “one to watch” for a future win. In fact, I am grateful there wasn’t a camera focused on my face during the announcement to catch my surprised reaction!

Coincidentally, I attended a CLM session the following day where the panelists discussed how women typically believe that they must be 100 percent qualified to petition for a role. Instead, the panel said we should choose to put ourselves out there and see what happens. It struck me as an affirming piece of advice, and this award confirms that good things happen when you or someone else advocates on your behalf.

On foundin Virginia's Potomac Chapter:

Robert Rider, a fellow board member, heard about the work I was doing locally to start a claims association. He had been working with CLM for a few months and knew they were in need of other insurance professionals to round out the team, so we combined forces. We have been successful due to our open communication and flexibility. Flexibility and common principles are the keys to success in this type of endeavor. Keeping our collective goals top of mind allows us to continually push the chapter forward.

On what makes a great claims professional:

Becoming a “great” anything requires passion and humility. If your ultimate goal is to be recognized for what you are doing, that is recognizable—and not in a good way.

When our organization hires new claims professionals, we seek candidates with a strong foundation in whatever was their prior field of interest. We then train them to apply those skill sets to investigations and claims management.

We also have adopted a strong “trust but verify” mindset. A healthy belief in the human spirit is needed to do this job well, but we are professionally bound to administer claims based upon state law and internal policy.

On her favorite work-related app:

My favorite work-related tool is NitroPro. It’s a PDF editor that allows you to convert files into Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. The “quicksign” option is similar to DocuSign’s technology, and is a huge timesaver when managing documents received from external customers.

One thing most people don’t know about her:

I played an instrument from third grade through high school. I credit that early exposure to music with fostering a sense of creativity—something that is extremely helpful in this business. While there is never just one way to resolve a claim, the best way is to close the file at the earliest point that circumstances will allow. A consistently fresh look at potential outcomes requires out-of-the-box thinking, but often returns excellent results.