Claims Manager, Construction Defect
Posted Sep 16, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a mediation with many carriers and parties where you reached settlement. What was your role?
What they are checking: Experience in complex multi-party negotiations that are typical of construction defect cases.
Tell me about a time you set a reserve that turned out to be wrong. What did you learn?
What they are checking: Honesty about reserving and whether they adjust their methods from experience.
You may need to attend trial. Tell me about your trial experience and what you learned from it.
What they are checking: Comfort with trial risk and how that experience shapes their settlement judgment.
What would you do
A profit center leader asks why defect losses are climbing on a class of contractors. What would you tell them?
What they are checking: Whether they can spot trends and share them usefully with underwriting leaders.
How do you keep defense costs reasonable on a case with dozens of subcontractors and years of discovery?
What they are checking: Litigation management skill on cases where expense can exceed indemnity.
About the work
How do you approach coverage on a construction defect claim where damage happened over several policy periods?
What they are checking: Understanding of trigger theories and allocation, which decide how much a carrier owes on long-tail defect claims.
Walk me through how you evaluate alleged damages in a multi-unit residential defect suit.
What they are checking: Ability to test plaintiff expert claims and separate real damage from wish lists.
How do your strategies differ for a defect claim in California versus Texas or Arizona?
What they are checking: Awareness of state statutes like right-to-repair laws that change defect claim handling nationwide.
How do you separate faulty workmanship from resulting property damage when you analyze coverage?
What they are checking: Grasp of the core coverage issue in defect claims, which drives whether the policy responds at all.
How do you use additional insured endorsements and subcontractor agreements to shift risk on these claims?
What they are checking: Skill in tendering and pursuing other carriers, which cuts Starr's share of the loss.
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As published by Starr Insurance.