Diary of an Insurer: Arch’s Adam Waterstreet

Monday

I start the week working from home, which means an early start getting the kids ready for the day. Our four-year-old daughter started school in September and my partner is on maternity leave looking after our six-month-old son.

At the computer, I check the calendar for the week ahead and review the recent Q3 Gracechurch UK Claims Monitor results before discussing them with our claims managers, focusing on what they reveal about how we’re doing and how we can improve. 

It’s good to have my first ‘unofficial’ mention in the report, as it reinforces the brokers’ understanding of the value added by roles like mine.

I’m responsible for overseeing account management activities for brokers across the UK regions, strengthening client relationships, and developing opportunities to further enhance Arch’s claims proposition, so these survey results are very relevant to my work.

Tuesday

I’m on the road today, meeting with broker partners in Leeds. For Arch, face-to-face meetings are a critical part of how we work with our brokers because that direct contact provides the most effective way to ensure our partners get the best from our claims service.

The brokers decide the frequency of these meetings, which means they can see as much or as little of me as they need. This is similar to the way our UK regional division trading teams operate, with the focus on locally driven, personal interactions.

Our meetings with brokers regularly highlight how much they appreciate the speed with which we settle claims. 

Our new Swift claims team, who liaise directly with insureds to speed up the claims cycle, are very much part of our ability to deliver on that.

Other topics that come out of today’s broker meetings are the value of effective communication, digital assets and management information. All such feedback helps make our business more effective and our claims proposition more compelling.

After a long but productive day, I’m back home just in time to see my kids before their bath and bedtime.

Wednesday

I’m in the Birmingham office today, so begin by checking in with team members and colleagues before catching up on emails, having been away from my desk yesterday. 

While I enjoy homeworking, it’s energising to have these regular visits to the office because they put me in direct contact with my colleagues. We have a sizeable team in the Birmingham office, so it’s quite a buzzy environment.

Today is our monthly internal meeting with our broker relationship development managers and key account directors, which gives me a detailed update on our trading strategies and how these are shaping our interactions with broker partners. 

Part of my role here is to discuss how the claims division can help with those relationships. 

I’ll also relay any important information from the meeting back to the claims managers, so this puts me at the forefront of collaboration between the divisions.

Thursday

I’m working from home this morning and top of the agenda is the weekly catch-up with my manager, Steve Turvey, head of first party claims. 

My role covers all of Arch’s regional offices, and these meetings with Steve are important opportunities to discuss matters such as our current workload and what is in the pipeline. 

We cover a wide range of topics, including wider broker engagement and strategies, outputs from broker meetings such as continuous improvement suggestions, as well as updates on internal initiatives such as marketing activities and MI.

After the meeting, I travel down to London to attend an industry event facilitated by our loss adjuster panel. These types of events are great as they enable me to listen to a variety of topics affecting the claims landscape, delivered by industry experts, and give me an insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. 

It also provides the opportunity to catch up with my London colleagues and meet with broker partners in a more social setting, which I always enjoy.

Friday

Up early to travel back to Birmingham in the morning. Once at home and after a much-needed coffee, I spend the afternoon reviewing the week’s meetings and events so I can report back to the business at the manager meeting next week. 

Meetings like these help us to keep improving our claims offering – for example, by looking at data or MI requirements, ranging from individual policy level claims listings to broker account level dashboards, or creating marketing documentation such as the claims key contact document and our Swift claims team information flyer.

Once everything’s completed, it’s time to sign off and begin my weekend with my family. When it comes to downtime, I’m an avid sports fan. 

I support Birmingham City Football Club (for my sins) and Leicester Tigers RFC, both of which are playing tomorrow, so that’s my Saturday afternoon sorted. 

I also enjoy the great outdoors, and I love getting up on the hills and mountains as much as possible, although the weather is looking a bit hit and miss so a relaxing weekend inside might be on the cards instead.