Local empowerment fuels customer-centric claims at Markel in Asia

Trust and talent are central to claims leadership, and markets need local experts, says Markel’s head of claims, Asia.

Key points:
Local insight strengthens claims decisions
Empowerment fuels growth
Collaboration enhances customer outcomes

There can be no one-size-fits-all approach to claims handling in a region as vast and diverse as Asia. For Bo Yu, Markel  head of claims for Asia, empowering local teams with the autonomy to make decisions that reflect regional realities is key to delivering fair, fast and customer-focused service.

“Our people-first approach is, we believe, a differentiator from our competitors,” Yu told SIRC Today. “Local empowerment fuels our success. We hire people with local knowledge who give us accurate and useful insights about the practice and the background in the local industry.

“That helps us make down-to-earth decisions rather than looking at things through a London or Singapore lens.”

Yu oversees claims specialists across Singapore, and Dubai, leading a network that continues to expand across Asia and MENA. He said Markel’s approach balanced trust, open communication and local relevance while maintaining the company’s core values of fairness, honesty and customer focus.

Since 2020, the overall Asia-Pacific headcount has gone from 30 to more than 150 people, most of them hired locally. Yu described empowerment as a two-way process. “Trust goes both ways,” he said. “Regular communication helps us understand each other better, and through that, trust builds naturally. Once that’s established, the shared goal is clear – to serve our clients well.”

Career development is central to his strategy, and Markel offers both managerial and technical career paths, ensuring people who excel in their disciplines can progress without needing to become managers.

“Not everyone wants to manage people,” he observed. “We’re dedicated to helping people grow according to their own aspirations.” Yu also pushes his team to step outside their comfort zones, citing one claims professional who joined a London secondment to develop financial lines. The experience created a “hybrid” expert who now sees claims from a holistic, cross-class perspective – an asset for clients and the business alike.

“Talent attracts talent,” Yu noted. “When people see that we’re hiring and developing our teams, more good people want to join us. That’s how we’ve been fuelling our growth.”

For Markel, having claims professionals on the ground is not just operationally convenient: it directly enhances empathy and responsiveness.

“If you’re in Asia but your claims contact is in London or the US, there’s always that time-zone gap,” Yu pointed out. “Having local people removes that barrier.” Equally, speaking to clients in their native language builds connection, as clients express themselves better, and that reduces misunderstandings.

Local knowledge also improves outcomes, and Yu gave the example of political violence claims, where defining ‘political motive’ can be complex. “Our local claims people can explain how riots or strikes look in their countries, which helps our internal teams understand the context,” he explained. “That insight helps us settle claims fairly and refine products for the future.”

This process of feedback and adjustment is central to maintaining the relevance and integrity of Markel’s products across diverse territories, and balancing global consistency with local flexibility requires constant dialogue with Markel’s London hub.

“We have monthly and quarterly catch-ups to make sure everyone has oversight,” Yu said. “It’s important that decisions are holistic, not just London-centric.” He highlighted how empathy and adaptability were as important as technical skill in building alignment across regions.

The same spirit of collaboration extends to underwriters and actuaries. “We have a culture that encourages open and objective sharing,” he noted. “Once a claim happens, the focus is on the customer, not on why the claim occurred.”

“No one knows how fantastic a product is until they have a claim.”

His team discusses intent and wordings with underwriters to ensure policies deliver on their promises, while sharing claims insights with actuaries to improve models and projections.

Claims, Yu insisted, are not a back-end function: they are the proof of an insurer’s promise. “No one knows how fantastic a product is until they have a claim,” he said, adding that at Markel, the goal was to be “the most customer-focused, nimble and value-adding claims team in the market”.

That means acting quickly, empowering local decision-making and delivering outcomes rooted in empathy and fairness. “We stand in the client’s shoes,” Yu concluded “That’s how we make sure our products deliver what clients expect, and that’s how we earn their trust.”

Bo Yu is head of claims for Markel Asia. He can be reached at: bo.yu@markel.com.

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