Diary of an Insurer: Charles Taylor’s Jonathan Brown

Monday

I’m up early for a quick coffee with my wife before she goes to work and for a catch up of the world news before I start work myself.  

As risk manager for Charles Taylor Assistance, I deal with all the difficult and complicated parts of the world, so I need to keep abreast of what’s going on internationally.

We support travel insurers and their customers with (among other services) global medical assistance. If corporate travel policyholders need help setting up medical evacuation plans or identifying medical facilities in remote or hostile areas overseas, that’s where I come in.

It follows that I spend most of my Monday writing a report for a development non-governmental organisation that regularly sends staff to West Africa. To fulfil its duty of care obligations, the NGO needs to assess the suitability of the available medical care, and evacuation routes for staff should they have a medical emergency. 

It takes a combination of experience, reviewing our network database and checking for new local intelligence.

Tuesday

Yesterday I worked from home, but today is an office day and I’m on the road early to miss the traffic. 

I spend the morning working with our governance team on updating our sanctions policies. We don’t take any chances, so we carry out checks on every claimant and supplier involved in the travel insurance chain to make sure they’re not linked to any sanctioned entities.

When there’s a lot on, a sandwich at my desk enables me to get ready for what’s next. This afternoon it’s running sanctions refresher training for our frontline claims teams. We have processes in place to mitigate sanctions risk, but we really value the instincts of those dealing with real people and real cases every day. 

It’s good to keep them up to speed with the latest changes and to listen to their feedback.

All this seems a long way from the ballroom dancing class I join later in the evening with my wife. It’s a great antidote to the instability of the world – trying to overcome the instability of my quickstep and waltz!

Wednesday

Back in my home office again, I spend the morning prepping for a meeting with an education provider that sends students to its international campuses. They want to know about the availability of health care in China, especially mental health support.

Since the pandemic, there’s been a huge growth in demand from universities and schools for information about overseas mental health services, and it’s good to see the increased understanding of these issues.

Later, after soup and the lunchtime news, I help our marketing team draw up a proposal for an aid agency that’s setting up projects in volatile areas of the Middle East.

In situations like these, it helps to know in advance exactly where staff are going so we can plan not just how we’d evacuate them in a medical emergency but also how we’d check on the status of medical and transport providers, the changing political control of neighbouring regions and so on. In areas of conflict, we often draw on our contacts ‘on the ground’ to help us do this.

Thursday

A colleague in the office is celebrating 25 years’ service today, so while I’m not there in person to enjoy a slice of cake, I’m offering hearty congratulations from my desk at home.

Midway, I’m interrupted by a call from our operations team. They need help transferring a corporate travel insurance policyholder from a location near the frontlines in Yemen. 

I don’t always get involved in ‘live’ cases like these but because airspace in the area is currently closed, we need some collective thinking to come up with a solution.

Thanks to our security partner, we soon have a boat lined up to transport the patient to hospital in a safe country, and I’m relieved to hear later that the transfer went well.

Being able to add security services to our medical assistance provision is invaluable, especially as we support so many clients in remote and hostile areas of the world.

Friday

Today, I’m working with an insured client in the energy sector; putting proactive plans in place for staff in Vietnam, should they need advanced medical care. 

Here, the options would be either to stabilise them at a local medical centre before transferring them to a more advanced hospital in a larger city, or evacuating them from the country.

In a real-life scenario, our medical team will decide on the best option for the patient. But, in the meantime, identifying medical facilities and transport routes in advance ensures that duty of care obligations are met and no time is wasted should an emergency strike.

I finish off the week finalising a report for an engineering company whose staff work in developing countries all over the world. With limited infrastructure in these areas, it’s important for them to know how they’ll reach the right medical care if they need it.

We have plans this evening to meet up with friends to play some board games. Pandemic is one of our favourites, even if it does sound a bit like work! 

I’m tempted to see the latest Dune film again. Having lived in Jordan and Syria the scenery and politics really speak to me.