Diary of an Insurer: EFI Global’s Leanne Brumby

Monday

At 7am, my first job of the day, rain or shine, is to walk the dog – I usually clock up 1,500 steps and the dog at least four times that figure.

Then, it’s black coffee and breakfast before I head into my home office. I’m home-based, and today is an office day, but I also travel around the country, conducting on-site visits and gathering relevant information about pollution incident claims.

When I checked my emails, I came across some very supportive feedback from someone who attended a recent presentation I gave to brokers and insurers on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and their potential impact on the insurance industry. It’s good that the market is alive to this growing environmental risk.

This morning, I also followed up on a claim for oil loss from a boiler, which led to harmful elevated vapours within the customers’ property. 

They are an elderly couple, and one is living with dementia, so it was almost impossible to move them into alternative accommodation. We’ve minimised the disruption by sealing off the impacted area so they can safely use the rest of the property. I check in with them regularly to make sure they’re comfortable.

I touched base with my EFI Global team and checked the level of work that’s been reported over the weekend. The contaminants we deal with vary from hydrocarbons, including kerosene and diesel, to PFAS and attendance following fires. Three lithium-ion battery fire claims have been received, and I scheduled the required forensics team site visits.

The rest of my office day is spent writing site investigation reports and reviewing the scope of works and cost estimates for remediation activities following various incidents.

After work, I went to the gym and lifted some weights. It’s always hard to get motivated to go, but I find it extremely therapeutic once I’m there.

Tuesday

Dog walked, I’m back in the office for the first couple of hours. A big part of my job is keeping everyone up to date with progress and ensuring all stakeholders are happy. 

Today, my calls mainly involve managing customers’ expectations so they know what’s happening next and the timescales.

Large-scale environmental remediation works can sometimes take months, even years, from outset to completion, so clear and constant communications are imperative.

I leave home around midday for a site visit around 50 miles away – an agricultural claim where a barn was destroyed in a fire.

Due to a range of vehicles and tanks stored in the building, I needed to test for asbestos and hydrocarbons, so I set off armed with all the correct PPE. 

The Environment Agency is also involved due to oil seeping into a nearby stream, and various levels of investigation will be required, including soil and water sampling.

After a long afternoon and busy roads on the drive back, I look forward to an evening of catching up with my parents over a curry.

Wednesday

I am a point of contact for the EFI Global team and environmental adjuster queries. So, my first hour today was spent responding to various emails that arrived while I was on site yesterday afternoon.

I then contacted our specialist panel of contractors to appoint them on a scope of works we’ve specified for an internal domestic oil loss claim. 

Initially, it was thought remediation would necessitate taking out the entire staircase, and the family would have to move out of their home for many months. 

However, guided by structural engineers, we’ve removed and replaced the masonry and treated the blockwork that remained in place. It will take three or four rounds of treatment until the contaminant levels are reduced to a safe residual level, but this process creates minimal disturbance to the customer’s family.  

Lunch was a very swift sandwich before I set off to visit another pollution incident claim that came in over the weekend. This was an initial site investigation, which meant I needed my trusty hand auger to collect various soil samples from the ground within the impacted area and send them for laboratory analysis.

At the end of the day, my husband and I eventually put our feet up and watch Netflix.

Thursday

Having walked the dog, I set aside this morning to write two technical and validation reports from recent site visits. I work on domestic and commercial claims, ranging from £10,000 to £10m claims, and every loss is different in location, complexity and severity, so each event is unique in remediation requirements and, in particular, what needs to happen so that it complies with the appropriate local geographical legislation. 

Each report takes four to six hours to put together, covering all technical findings and laboratory data collected in consultation with other environmental experts within our team.

I touched base again with my vulnerable customers, who seem to be coping well and are very grateful to stay in their home while all the works are carried out. I also called the contractors to thank them for everything they’re doing to make things easier for our customers.

I have a site visit in Peterborough this afternoon and another call in the same area the next day, so I’ve booked a local hotel this evening. 

My first call is a domestic property pollution incident involving a loss from a heating oil storage tank claim. Fully equipped with PPE, I collected samples from potentially impacted water sources and air samples from within the customer’s property.

It was a long visit, and I was glad it was only a short drive to my accommodation. The hotel restaurant was great, and I was particularly hungry, but eating alone wasn’t much fun, so I retired to my room, tidied up my notes on this afternoon’s visit, and continued reading a book on my Kindle.

Friday

It’s an early start today, but I’m used to those. After some black coffee and a quick hotel breakfast, I was back on the road.

My second visit involved another heating oil loss event, this time from the feedline connection. We often see a surge in this type of loss during floods and heavy windstorms, but on this occasion, it’s just a coincidence that I’ve looked at two similar losses in under 24 hours.

I was back in my home office at around lunchtime. I caught up with environmental adjusting and private instruction clients, providing updates on the various phases of ongoing remedial and reinstatement works that I’m currently managing.

I also snatched an hour to work on another PFAS presentation I’m making at a virtual conference in July for The Construction Industry Research and Information Association. 

We’re still trying to understand the risks and necessary remediation, but PFAS could be a massive issue in the future – potentially on the same scale as asbestos 40 years ago. 

EFI Global is an accredited member of the UK Spill and Ireland Association, and I’m the company representative on insurance and PFAS working groups, so I’m regularly invited to comment on these growing issues.   

I’ve been looking forward to Friday as my husband and I had tickets to see one of our favourite rock bands play. We both love live music, and when you throw in a nice meal and a glass of wine, what could be better? 

This was just the start of a fantastic weekend, as we went to the Lake District on Saturday to walk with our dog – although this time, I made sure it wasn’t an early start.