Legal Indemnity CRM System

The CRM system at Countrywide Legal Indemnities served as the central hub for managing customers, policies, enquiries, audits, underwriting details, documents, and claims across the organization. This comprehensive platform touched every operational workflow—from initial customer enquiry through policy issuance, premium calculation, document management, and claim resolution.

However, the legacy interface was fragmented and visually inconsistent, with information scattered across disconnected screens using outdated design patterns. Staff struggled with cluttered layouts, unclear navigation hierarchies, and unpredictable information placement. The challenge was to create a modern, intuitive, modular interface that could support multiple user roles while maintaining the complex functionality the business depended on.

The redesigned system includes policy overview dashboards, comprehensive customer profiles, enquiry management logs, activity timelines, underwriting summaries, premium breakdowns with clear calculations, document libraries, and detailed activity logs—all unified under a consistent, scalable design system.

The legal indemnity insurance industry operates in a highly regulated environment where clear, reliable, and auditable data is not optional—it's essential for compliance, risk management, and operational integrity. Every decision an underwriter makes must be traceable, every customer interaction documented, and every premium calculation defensible.

The old CRM system had evolved organically over years, resulting in inconsistent page layouts, poor navigation structures, and no clear visual hierarchy to guide users through complex tasks. Critical information was often buried several clicks deep or scattered across multiple screens. Staff frequently struggled to find key policy details, customer history, or underwriting notes quickly, leading to increased time spent on routine tasks and higher error rates.

New employees faced steep learning curves, with training taking weeks instead of days. Underwriting workflows were particularly impacted—slow screen loads, cluttered interfaces, and unclear status indicators made decision-making unnecessarily difficult. The system desperately needed modernization to support the business's growth ambitions and improve operational efficiency.

The CRM served multiple internal user groups, each with distinct needs and workflows:

• Underwriters: Assessed risk, calculated premiums, approved or declined policies, and managed complex policy conditions
• Customer Service Staff: Handled enquiries, processed policy changes, managed customer relationships, and resolved issues
• Claims Team: Processed claims, tracked claim status, managed documentation, and coordinated with legal teams
• Admin & Support Staff: Maintained customer records, processed documentation, handled routine updates
• Managers & Auditors: Reviewed team performance, conducted audits, ensured compliance with internal policies
• Brokers: Interacted with the system indirectly through customer service teams, requiring clear communication of policy details

Each role required fast access to structured information with minimal friction. The redesign needed to accommodate these diverse needs while maintaining a consistent user experience across all touchpoints.

• Reduce operational friction across all user workflows
• Standardize page layouts and establish clear information hierarchy
• Improve underwriting speed and decision-making efficiency
• Provide robust, easily accessible audit trails for compliance
• Reduce training time for new staff members
• Create scalable, reusable interface components for future development
• Support growth in policy volumes and customer accounts without performance degradation
• Increase data accuracy and reduce errors caused by interface confusion
• Modernize the visual design to reflect the company's professional brand
• Improve cross-team collaboration through better information sharing

• Conducted comprehensive audits of legacy CRM screens across all modules
• Designed new layout hierarchy, grid systems, and navigation patterns
• Created reusable UI components including cards, tables, icons, filters, tabs, and status indicators
• Designed policy overview pages with consolidated risk and premium information
• Redesigned customer profile screens with clear sections for contact details, policy history, and interactions
• Developed the enquiry log interface with filtering, sorting, and timeline views
• Designed the underwriting activity timeline showing policy lifecycle events
• Improved clarity of premium data displays, policy dates, renewals, and endorsements
• Created document management interfaces with clear categorization and access controls
• Collaborated with developers to ensure design fidelity during implementation
• Supported user acceptance testing and gathered feedback for iterative improvements

• Data density: Displaying large volumes of detailed information without overwhelming users
• System complexity: Managing hundreds of interconnected screens and data relationships
• Simplification vs. detail: Need to simplify interfaces while retaining necessary detail for professional users
• Legacy inconsistencies: Reconciling years of ad-hoc development and inconsistent patterns
• Competing priorities: Balancing different team workflows with sometimes conflicting requirements
• Real-time accuracy: Ensuring data displays were always current and accurate for critical decisions
• Performance constraints: Working within existing technical infrastructure limitations
• Change management: Helping users adapt to new patterns while maintaining productivity

• Clearer segmentation of information using visual grouping and white space
• Consistent card-based grid system creating predictable layouts
• Colour-coded hierarchy for statuses (live, pending, expired, cancelled)
• Highly readable tables and logs with proper typography and spacing
• Reduced navigation depth—key information accessible in fewer clicks
• Improved scan-ability through better visual hierarchy and information architecture
• Logical grouping of related data reducing cognitive load
• Simplified access to audit events and activity history
• Contextual actions appearing where users need them
• Clear visual feedback for system states and user actions

A comprehensive design system was developed to ensure consistency across the entire CRM platform:

• Card-based interface: Modular cards creating flexible, scannable layouts
• Icon system: Consistent iconography for actions, statuses, and categories
• Uniform spacing: 8-pixel grid system ensuring visual rhythm
• Navigation updates: Clearer primary and secondary navigation patterns
• Table styling: Readable data tables with proper alignment and density
• Colour palette: Systematic use of color for statuses, categories, and visual hierarchy
• Typography scale: Consistent heading and body text sizes
• Interactive states: Clear hover, active, and disabled states for all controls

• Faster access to critical underwriting actions and decision-making tools
• Unified enquiry log showing complete customer interaction history
• Clearer policy status indicators and renewal date visibility
• Better presentation of premium data with transparent calculations
• Streamlined document access with preview capabilities
• Activity logging displayed visually on timelines for easy comprehension
• Improved search functionality finding customers, policies, and enquiries faster
• Better cross-team visibility reducing duplicate work and communication gaps
• Simplified bulk operations for routine administrative tasks
• Enhanced reporting capabilities with better data visualization

The CRM redesign delivered substantial improvements across all operational metrics:

• Significantly reduced access time: Staff could find key customer and policy data 60% faster
• Improved underwriting speed: Decision-making time decreased through better information presentation
• Lower training overhead: New staff became productive in days instead of weeks
• Clearer audit trails: Compliance teams could trace actions and decisions more easily
• Consistent user experience: All teams benefited from standardized interfaces
• Enhanced system adoption: Staff actively preferred using the new system
• Modern, professional appearance: Replaced outdated legacy screens with contemporary design
• Reduced errors: Better information clarity led to fewer mistakes
• Scalability for growth: Modular design system enabled rapid development of new features
• Positive staff feedback: Overwhelmingly positive response from all user groups