For me the claims journey began in Hertfordshire in 1984, handling property and liability claims within the claims department of Allstate Insurance Company. Following the closure of the branch in 1985, I moved to Sedgwick Associated Risks as a construction claims broker, handling claims for many multinational clients including Eurotunnel. A great opportunity to see and analyse the work of many practitioners in the market and meet the London claims handlers.
Seeking a more hands-on role, I left Sedgwick in 1991 to become a trainee loss adjuster with Bateman Associates in Marlow. Under the firm guidance of my Managing Director, Alan Lyme, the four years here were invaluable in embedding many principles and attitudes that have shaped the following 25+ years and for which I will be forever grateful. I had no idea just how little I knew when I joined Bateman Associates and that I knew nothing at all about claims investigation...There followed a 5 year tenure at Arig Insurance Company in London as Engineering Claims Manager before the first of two stints with MatthewsDaniel; this one as a loss adjuster based out of London handling energy loss adjusting assignments across Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. More incredible experience on so many levels and a chance to get into the heart of loss investigation for the international reinsurance markets. I was also able to introduce risk surveying to the company and carry out numerous ISO audits for underwriters.
2004 brought a further (brief) move, back into broking with JLT handling UK construction claims before I joined Mayflower Underwriting Agency as Claims Manager for an equally brief stay before redundancy brought that to an end. This was the catalyst for the formation in 2005 of my own business, Realise Solutions, through which I secured numerous UK and international risk surveying and loss management instructions. Business was good but the credit crisis of 2008-9 hit us hard, as it did many small businesses, resulting in closure at the end of 2009.
I was very fortunate to be able to rejoin MatthewsDaniel as Loss Adjusting Manager in the United Arab Emirates and spent seven years working with Paul Hendry on a workload of onshore and offshore Energy losses in addition to risk surveys in some very challenging locations! In January 2017, I joined Trust Re in Bahrain as Head of Claims having been entrusted with the role by Kamal Tabaja and spent four and a half years managing the claims operation and handling some very high profile losses across many classes.
I am grateful for all of the opportunities and support I have received which have all contributed to giving me the very valuable asset of a holistic view of the claim process, the many agendas and styles at play and the elements that go towards achieving a professional, responsive and engaged claims management service. Principled, fair and reasonable.
After 37 years in the industry, I have decided that now is the time for me to share my knowledge and experience by helping others navigate the often complex and challenging waters of claim resolution and risk identification.