TAL has announced the appointment of Georgina Croft as its new chief claims officer, commencing 1 March.
Ms Croft joins TAL from Westpac, where she held a number of senior leadership roles over a 13-year stint, including as chief operating officer of the bank’s insurance division. She also served in a newly created role as business lead for insurance M&A transactions and separation programs for Westpac between 2020 and 2022.
Most recently, Ms Croft held the role of chief customer services officer at BT Financial Group.
Prior to her time at Westpac, Ms Croft spent a decade as a lawyer at Herbert Smith Freehills specialising in private company corporate transactions and corporate governance advisory.
In her new capacity with TAL, she will be responsible for delivering a “sector-leading” claims experience and outcomes for some 5 million customers, according to the insurer.
Namely, in TAL’s last financial year, the firm reported a total of $3.5 billion paid-out claims to more than 45,000 customers.
Speaking on the appointment, TAL Group’s chief executive officer and managing director, Brett Clark, said he was delighted to welcome Ms Croft to the firm.
“TAL remains focused on delivering industry-leading claims experience and claims outcomes for our customers and partners, supported by a committed investment program in technology and digital capabilities. Georgina’s extensive leadership experience and customer focus joined with TAL’s continued investment in digital-first claims services and our people, will continue to make the end-to-end claims experience better, faster, and simpler for our customers,” Mr Clark said.
Ms Croft added: “I am thrilled to be joining TAL and supporting the valuable role that it plays in providing protection to more than 5 million Australians.
“I look forward to working with the claims team to deliver even more for our customers and partners, to ensure that TAL leads in the industry in claims experience and claims outcomes, and that all TAL customers feel confident we will be there to help if the unexpected happens,” she concluded.
This week TAL was also appointed as AMP’s new default and retail insurance provider for its super fund members, who will be transitioned over to TAL in the second quarter of 2024.
According to AMP, the move was central to members’ “best financial interests”, with the decision following an extensive selection process.
“We’re now delighted to announce this new partnership with TAL, which we believe for our members is the leading insurance offer available,” AMP general manager, master trust, David Clark said at the time.