Q & A with Paul Redington – Regional Major Loss Manager, Expert Property Team
05/26/2021
Paul Redington talks about how he got into the insurance sector and what a day in the life looks like when a customer experiences a Major Loss.
1. How did you get into the insurance sector?
About 40 years ago I spent a day in the City with my father. It was a “bring your child” to work day and he worked for an insurance company called Minster. I recall walking over London Bridge and staring at the huge buildings. A decade later I was actually working in the industry myself for Legal and General. Not long after that I was based in an office just a stone’s throw from where I sat with my Dad all those years before.
I have now worked for 4 major insurers over a 30 year period in a variety of roles, almost always in claims. From branch claims management jobs to technical roles, from catastrophic injury to professional indemnity, so I guess claims is in my blood.
2. What have been your career highlights?
I have two main highlights. The first one was getting that job in the City, I always wanted to work there. I worked at the Head Office of Commercial Union back in the mid 90’s and felt it was a great place to be. You worked really long hours, but there was a great social element to it as well. It coincided with me passing my ACII too which was really important to me.
The second is more recent. In 2018 I received a Global “Customer Hero” award from Mario Greco (Chief Executive Officer of Zurich Insurance Group). I was really honored to get that recognition which was a result of a huge fire at St Bede's Inter-Church School in Cambridge. I was able to support them every step of the way, including via numerous visits. These major losses are extremely traumatic and the school having the reassurance that we are going to help them through it made all the difference.
3. What does a typical day look like for you?
There is not a typical day when you work in Major Loss. My role is very varied and that’s why I’m still doing it after all these years. One phone call in the morning about a major incident can change everything, not only your day, but even the whole week.
The job itself is very flexible, I organise my own diary and even before Covid I was lucky enough to be able to work from home when I needed to. I also spent a lot of days on the road assisting customers on large losses or in meetings in the London or our Croydon office with clients or with some of our suppliers.
We meet with clients across the Retail. Commercial and SME sectors, often to discuss current losses, but we also run the likes of large loss scenario workshops . This is particularly important for those that may not have experienced a major incident so they know what to expect, and so they may better manage those vital first few hours or days. We also get involved in pitches and new business opportunities for Zurich. And finally, we get together with key brokers and our larger customers to understand the challenges to their businesses, and some of the current and emerging risks they face. Because of our knowledge and experience of what's happening in the market we can add value there too.
4. What is the main focus of your role?
The main focus is split up into two parts, the first one is helping customers at their time of need across the various perils like serious fires, floods, explosions. In our team, we own the case from start to finish - we don't hand anything off.
The first thing we do when there is a loss is assembling a team of specialists to help. For example, it could be finding alternative accommodation for dozens of residents that have been displaced, forced out of their home after a flood, or responding to a catastrophic school fire like at St Bedes. The job of the major loss manager is to support the customer throughout the whole process. That initial period is vital, visiting where we can and getting the claim on track and then helping the customer to recover thereafter. If its an SME for example we help rebuild their business as well as their building, that's just what we do.
The other key part of my role, is looking to share experiences from lessons learnt. I suppose it sounds a bit counter intuitive, but in many ways my job is spending a lot of time trying to prevent claims in the first place. Our team work collaboratively with underwriting and risk engineering, looking to spot trends, and new risks, sharing what we're seeing. Ultimately feeding through all of that insight to help inform and guide customers and help mitigate the risks they face.
5. What is the top lesson you’ve learnt?
The main lesson I’ve ever learnt is that it’s about people. Establishing trust is critical to what we do and in particular with customers and brokers. It’s a people business and that includes the people you work with. It’s very important to have a team around you that you can rely on. Empathy is key too, you have to care to do this job. If you don’t care, then it’s not going to work. You can be the most technical and experienced claims handler in the market, but it isn’t enough if you don’t have empathy.
6. What is the best piece of advice you have been given?
I started in this industry as a graduate trainee so I had a really steep learning curve at the start of my career, doing my rotations and my professional exams. What I've learned since then is that you never stop learning, I learn something every day, every week. The other side of the coin is that you need to be prepared for change, it's a really dynamic environment and you have to be adaptable. When I started there were lots of people who had been doing jobs for a long time at the same firm, and who were very resistant to change. A lot of those people are not around anymore. You have to be flexible to survive and to get on, but you also need the support of your managers, by your organisation to adapt to that change properly.
7. What would you do if you weren’t working in the insurance industry?
In my spare time, I’m publications manager of the UK’s largest local History Society, it's a registered charity. We produce loads of books and articles on a not-for-profit basis. I really like writing so if I wasn’t working in the insurance industry I would love to spirit myself away to an exotic island and write a book.
8. What do you love about working at Zurich?
Zurich is a great company that provides you with good opportunities. I never would have dreamt of getting involved in political lobbying for example. To be able to get in front of MP's in Westminster as I've done and to be able to tell them what's important to Zurich and importantly to our policyholders. By speaking to the government and to other stakeholders you get to a be a bit of a voice for our customers.
In the past I’ve been able to speak directly to politicians on a number of topics including flood. That not just about government continuing to fund and maintain vital flood defences, but also what they can do to support the drive to make buildings more resilient. That includes the planning process which currently sees non-resilient buildings built on flood plains, putting homes and businesses at risk. It's about highlighting these sort of issues, showing examples of where that has occurred, and crucially what the impact is on our customers.
