ARC PEOPLE: ANDREW OAKES, LEGAL ADVICE TEAM MANAGER

Hi Andrew, firstly could you tell us about your role and responsibilities as a Team Manager?

I lead a team of five legal advisors, dedicated to providing expert legal advice and guidance to our customers via our 24/7 365 Legal Assistance Helpline (LAH).

We have a great team here in Cardiff, my job is to provide legal advice while also motivating and encouraging my team.  I’m responsible for providing training and ensuring that the team are not only giving our customers the best possible advice, but that they’re learning, growing and enjoy coming to work each day.

On a typical day, we’ll provide general legal advice on a range of legal issues including, but not limited to, employment, property, consumer, and family matters, offering knowledgeable and a friendly service.  We’re often the first people our customers talk to, so it’s important that our team is confident in setting expectations, explaining the product and how it works – as many consumers aren’t fully up to speed on Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI) policies or how they work.

Can you tell us about your background?

I obtained my law degree in 2005, and initially went into conveyancing where I subsequently studied to become a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX).  The role wasn’t quite for me, I was looking for something with some more variety day-to-day.

I left conveyancing and took a role as a Legal Advisor for a different legal expenses insurer in 2009. During my seven years in this role, I also spent some time in the Claims department and Employment Litigation department of their off-shoot law firm.

I had worked with Mike (Jenkins, Head of Legal Advice at Arc Legal Group) in my previous role, and he suggested I join what was then Composite Legal Expenses – five years later I gained promotion to Legal Advice Team Manager. I’m enjoying my new role leading a busy team and dealing with over 30,000 I pieces of legal advice each year – I’ve certainly found the variety I was looking for.

In the intervening years, I did a two-year spell as a college lecturer specialising in employment litigation for CILEx Level 6 and Level 3 students, however, Covid and the move to distance learning soon put pay to that!

What is the best piece of advice you could give someone entering this part of the insurance market?

My best advice is to take time to think through any question before answering. We deal with such a wide range of legal queries, and there is never just one answer.  Customers need focus and clarity, so we need to ensure we’re giving them the right answer, considering all the nuances of their individual circumstances.

I explain to my team there’s genuinely no such thing as a stupid question, if the legal advisors are unclear on anything, ask away – make sure you find out as much as possible about a situation before offering legal advice.

Have you seen any changes in the demand for LEI products since you first started out in the market?

I think there are still a lot of misconceptions about what LEI products are, and how they operate, many people know that they are generally add-on product, but don’t fully understand how they work in practice.  However, I think the awareness of and need for these products is only increasing as the world around us because more unsettled.

Over the pandemic we experienced an increase in calls to our LAH regarding unfair dismissal and redundancy, as the coming recession bites, I can see more people potentially needing our support.

Did you have any preconceptions of insurance, if so, have they changed?

I didn’t know much about the wider insurance landscape beyond the standard home and motor offerings, I was certainly aware of LEI as an affordable add-on product but didn’t understand the full benefits of the policy.

Having supported policyholders through such a wide range of challenges for over ten years, I fully appreciate how important LEI is – legal disputes can arise in so many areas of day-to-day life and can be expensive and stressful to pursue – having an expert to guide you through the process and help you to explore alternatives to litigation is invaluable.

Lastly… what do you like to do in your spare time?

I love rock music and going to live gigs and festivals (now they’re back!), and as well as listening, I also play a bit of guitar myself!

I also enjoy spending time with friends, I’m a very sociable person, which helps enormously in my daily life, it’s so important to understand how to engage with people on their level.

For further details on our products and services, please contact your Partnerships Manager or email enquiries@arclegal.co.uk.