Diary of an Insurer: Corin Underwriting's Louis Gibson

Monday

I was asked to describe a typical working week in my life and thought it best to read some articles previously written by fellow members of the industry. However my Monday morning routine seemed to differ substantially.

A Monday in my life starts with a strong coffee, a Berocca and an attempt to shake off the weekend’s late nights before hurrying to the car just in time! 

Once in the office, it’s time to look at my week ahead. Urgent emails, risks from late on Friday, and then being reminded by my colleagues of a Liverpool loss I had spent a miserable 90 minutes watching at the weekend.

After getting back into the rhythm of the job, it’s back for an afternoon of reaching out to some of our broker partners to touch base. 

As a development underwriter at Corin, I’m in a position of freedom to attempt to grow accounts and build relationships however seems best and a Monday catch-up on the phone is always a staple of this process.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning always feels a smoother process. The default Apple alarm isn’t quite so harsh, and the traffic has thinned thanks to hybrid workers logging on from home. 

It’s a similar morning routine, a friendly welcome, a cup of coffee and then copping a bit of stick for unbrushed hair, a creased top, or any other example of a slightly rushed morning.

I have a chance to meet with Corin’s founder and MD to discuss what’s in the new business pipeline and share ideas for how we may further develop and grow our book.

A typical Tuesday night in my life of late has involved anxiously watching a nervy European Liverpool performance. 

So far saved for the most part by a late winner. By that point I am often far too stressed to drift off into a restful night. Perhaps a game of Fifa will help.

Wednesday

I think ‘hump day’ is the perfect metaphor for what many at my stage of career experience. 

Just as Wednesday is neither the start of the week, nor can you taste the first beer of a Friday night, I have grown past the nerves of authorising a quote on my own authority for the first time but have not yet made my mark on the industry.

I find a successful Wednesday morning, with a few nice wins, is the perfect driving force for an underwriting team to push into the latter stages of the week.

A few Teams meetings follow. Sometimes with brokers who have an established book with us, and sometimes with those in the early stages of their relationship with Corin. 

We discuss the potential to develop their account and how the team and I can help make that happen.

Wednesday is also an opportunity for me to sit down with our excellent brand team to run through how they continue to showcase the team’s hard work.

Thursday

Arguably my favourite day of the week. There’s still plenty of time for quick wins or to close the larger, more complex ongoing risks, but with the welcome reminder that we’re hurtling towards another weekend.

Again my morning is made up of trying to win business inputted through our system or sent to me as a presentation by email. This mixed in with calls to brokers. 

The opportunity to talk more shop which, let’s face it, does become addictive in our industry, as boring as it may seem to those outside of it.

Now, into the world of Corin lunchtime darts. A permanent fixture at any point of the week between roughly 12.30pm and 1.30pm. I could pretend this is just a bit of fun, but that would be a lie.

We compete to the very end of first-to-three leg matches over the course of an intense 30 minutes. 

How nice it would be to say we shake hands at the end and leave the competition at the oche, but it’s far more fun to let the winner take their bow while the losers seek the only real redemption – hurrying to secure some business to shut the winner up!

Friday

“Where did that week go!” whispers around the office. 

Around eight hours stand between the team being employees at an MGA and us being golfers, footballers, socialites, artists or whatever else the weekend may have in store.

Before then, a productive end to the week is in order. Hopefully some nice wins to seal it off, and some strong quotes going out to follow up on in the week ahead.

Importantly, Friday is the day Corin’s NextGen committee look to meet. We’re a group of members of the team newer to the industry, giving us the time to reflect on the working week, the challenges and obstacles we faced, and how we overcame them.

My working week doesn’t always follow this order, but the majority of the above will take place. Always providing a mixture of laughter, joy, frustration and stress. 

I would go on to describe a weekend, but that may be best left for a conversation through a different medium.