On the eve of my wedding, 8 years ago today, my bridesmaid produced an illuminating (and short) list. It laid out the three things that, as a student, I was looking for in my future husband.
It turns out that I wanted someone who delighted in me (point 3) and someone who had deep and sustained interests and hobbies and a vibrant life (point 2). So far, so good!
Point 1 proved a bit trickier. My top requirement for my future life partner, it seems, was a man who was passionate about his job. This, I realised, the day before my wedding, was a pretty dangerous desire. Instead of marrying a dedicated fireman, a committed doctor or a devoted lawyer, I was relieved to be pledged to a dutiful insurance broker, who tootled off to work at 8.30, worked hard and diligently all day, before returning home at 5.20, his work done and dusted and out of his mind till the next morning. He hadn’t been working in Insurance for long and I was pretty sure that Insurance isn’t the type of career people get excited about. And so, I laughed off Richard’s apparent inconsistency with my wish list as a lucky escape.
Seven years later, I am pretty delighted to recognise that my good man not only ended up passionate about Insurance, but he also started to nurture a love and excitement for the industry in me, too. I’m pretty surprised! I never would have expected it!
Here he explains what it is that he loves about the Insurance industry.
Insurance is about helping people. It’s about offering them security and helping them get back to the same position as they were before a loss. I like that a lot.
Also, Insurance is black and white- either something is covered or it’s not covered; you’ve complied with the policy requirements or you haven’t. Sometimes Insurance has a bad reputation, as we all hear stories of people dutifully paying their premiums year after year, but when they need to claim, they are disappointed, because the policy doesn’t cover what they thought. My job is to make sure people understand what their risks are, what they want to cover and what their policy offers, so there are no surprises when something goes awry.
All parties- the client, me and the insurance provider- need to deal in upmost good faith. Everyone needs to be completely truthful, honest, clear and transparent with one another. We gave our daughter the name ‘Verity’ as this is very important to both me and my wife. In my work on the board with NIBE (North East Initiative on Buisness Ethics) and the CII (Chartered Institute of Insurers) I do a lot to try to promote this in the industry and region as a whole.
People joke about working in Insurance as it doesn’t sound very exciting, but I really find that it is! I have developed a niche or specialism working with charities and small businesses and these are the type of people who are really interesting to work with. They are people who are passionate about what they do, love their organisation and are keen to think of new and innovative ways of doing things. In a typical day I might chat to someone about bee-keeping, advise a designer with an exciting new product concept, hear about the exciting progress made at a local charity and guide a scaffolder through a claim. It is varied work, with great people!
The other element I really enjoy is the risk management element of my job. This might include talking a new organisation through the different types of legal entities the business uses, quality control processes, regulatory compliance issues, Health and Safety, safeguarding…Ok, I can see your eyes clouding over! It may not sound very interesting to you, but fortunately for me (and you!) it’s something I find really engaging. I love my job! Without trying to sound too much like a LinkedIn profile, Insurance is something I’m really passionate about.
Yess! 3/3! Result!
