Diary of an Insurer: Charles Taylor Adjusting’s Matthew Calveley

Monday

I begin this week with an early start from Heathrow where I meet some Charles Taylor Adjusting colleagues who I’m travelling with to Turkey for a meeting with a manufacturer at their factory. 

A typical Monday morning involves the school run with the kids. Although I’ve avoided the school run today, I’m not sure I much prefer the 5am start.

I have the opportunity to review some messages on the flight, an initial draft of the report for another claim, and some notes ahead of the meeting tomorrow. Upon landing, our driver is ready to meet us drives us 2 hours to reach our final destination.

At the hotel, we settle in our rooms then meet up to go through our plan for the next day. In the evening after wrapping up our work, I continue reading a book I’m slowly working through, The Shortest History of Economics by Andrew Leigh, then get an early night to be ready for the next day.     

Tuesday

Breakfast this morning consists of a few strong coffees and rather limp looking cheese and pastries. I’m not feeling adventurous enough for some of the more exotic looking options. 

It’s a warm morning in Turkey, but still quite pleasant. After a short taxi drive, we arrive at the client’s offices, which are located within a large industrial site.  

The meeting provides us with an opportunity to run through the technical aspects of the claim with the manufacturer. This includes things like method, process and quality. 

I have a background in metallurgy and forensic engineering, so I’m particularly keen to better understand the process of manufacture, and also how it may have impacted the failed components.  

It’s difficult to know what will be achieved from a site visit, which is often dependent on the quality of the information available and the cooperation of the people you are meeting. However, even in this modern era of remote inspection, site visits are still a really valuable part of the investigation process.

After a long day of discussions, we return to the hotel for a debrief. Following an evening meal, conversation drifts to anecdotes of previous cases. I’ve always worked as part of multi-disciplinary teams, so I greatly appreciate hearing the different experiences and stories of the people I work with. 

Wednesday

This morning, I leave my colleagues in Turkey so they can continue the meeting on site here, and I travel onwards to Germany. 

When I arrive at the departure airport, there’s a large queue and a self-scanning system for luggage. I eventually reach the front of the queue and within a few minutes, I have a luggage tag and successfully drop off my luggage. No problem at all. Phew.

After clearing passport control, I head over to the duty free to collect some gifts for the kids for my return home later in the week. I figure it’s best to bank some items early in the event the next airport isn’t as good.

Arriving in Germany, I collect my rental car and start the two-hour journey on to the next hotel. I haven’t driven on the right-hand side of the road before today, so decide that an automatic is best to simplify things. During the drive, I listen to Khruangbin as the sun sets to my left. 

I arrive at the hotel at around 7pm, grateful that the restaurant is still open. I was pretty hungry at this point.  Just before going to bed, I call home. The kids had gymnastics this evening and are keen to tell me about their day. I read a bit more of my book and then go to bed.  

Thursday

I time the breakfast buffet all wrong this morning and there’s now a long queue for the only coffee machine. It’s only a small thing, but the ability to easily access good quality coffee in the morning is something I miss while travelling.

I drive to the inspection site which is a specialist recycling centre. In a previous career, I was a surveyor on marine failure cases, so I’m used to carrying out technical inspections all over the world. I make sure I come well-prepared with paint pens, markers, measuring equipment and even a borescope camera. They all come in handy.

With the inspection complete, I head back to the airport to drop off the car. I find a cafe and write up some brief notes on my phone over some food, while it’s all fresh in my mind. I get an early night before my flight home tomorrow.

Friday

The flight home to the UK departs at 6.30am, so it’s another early start at the airport. I’m very ready to be home now. I grab a coffee and check through messages, then head to the gate. The journey home is smooth and I’m back home in Merseyside by around midday.

In the afternoon, I catch up on some correspondence and admin, then work some projects that need attention before the end of the week. I get a head start on some documents ahead of next week. We’ll start the report next week on a new inspection that will be quite complicated and will take some time to complete. 

Later, my wife and two girls return home. I used to travel a lot more for work, and I don’t think they’re used to me being away for so long. My wife is grateful I’m back. I know the week will have been difficult juggling all the kids’ activities.  

Friday evening usually involves a pizza and film. We get the pizza, but I consider whether I would make it through a film (and decide I probably won’t!). 

We’ve been working our way through the American version of The Office, so we decided that, at 20 minutes an episode, is the sensible option. Predictably, I fall asleep before the end of the episode.