Insurance lives in the Covid era – 12 months on from the first National Lockdown: Part Five

The loss adjuster for whom a haircut became an obsession

Angus Tucker, managing director, Lorega Solutions

What was your reaction following the initial National Lockdown in March 2020?

At the start, very few understood the full implications of what we were about to face, and for how long it would impact on our businesses, staff and clients.

Initially, it was a question of what kind of logistical challenge would this create? There was an assumption that it might just be the need to work from home for a few weeks before returning to our offices.

Like many businesses, the first few weeks were focused on the logistics of working from home and staffing issues. For the team at Lorega Solutions, the group’s loss adjusting business, working from home was less of an issue as many of our staff are home-based with IT and phone systems geared up for working remotely.

Once the operational matrix was in place, we worked to ensure we were in a strong position to deal with a mass influx of claims.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced since March 2020?

The biggest personal challenge was one I know was shared by many people; when are barbers and hairdressers going to reopen? By the time some restrictions were being lifted, I was looking for a barber – the last time I looked like that was in university when I had hair down over my shoulders.

Joking apart, the biggest challenge was how were we going to efficiently manage the sheer volume of claims we began to receive, ensuring we continued to service our clients to the highest standards?

We have a close-knit management, and this proved to be an important factor in identifying the need to adapt our structure quickly to respond to the level of claims we were anticipating. We divided management responsibilities between the operational and logistical needs of servicing claims and technical analysis of claims and policy liability, focused on understanding what was, and wasn’t, going to be covered. 

We were able to leverage data on existing policy wordings, and I reviewed over 110 separate policy wordings for the claims we received. We established a database of policy BI extensions that enabled us to quickly review subsequent claims under those wordings. With access to our wordings data, we were able to identify what we thought would or would not be accepted by insurers.

When it became apparent that the Financial Conduct Authority was going to bring its test case and, with it, the potential for a second wave of claims, we established a dedicated team to seek to identify the various possible case outcomes, the type of claims, where they might come from and the resources  we would require to meet these .

When the test case arrived, we were able to analyse different permutations of where we anticipated that cover would, or would not, be effective so see where those claims would be coming from. Being proactive and thinking ahead all the time was important to delivering our service.

How Covid-19 impacted the type of claims that you have been dealing with since March 2020?  

Over 90% of the claims we’ve seen since last March have been Covid business interruption-related ones. The ‘business as usual’, non-Covid claims virtually evaporated in the first few months. That’s not surprising though considering the imposition of the UK lockdown which saw factories, shops and offices closed. The reduced levels of non-Covid claims continued to be the case throughout the summer.

How has Covid-19 impacted the way you handle claims in terms of inspections and meeting claimants?

It has impacted in two ways. First, how we’d handle site inspections and second, meetings with claimants to assist in the preparation of their claims. During full lockdown, our initial focus was very much on health and safety matters and the welfare of our staff. We followed government guidance and advice so there were no site visits. When the restrictions were lifted, loss adjusters would only have meetings or site visits if they were vital.

As the majority of claims were solely business interruption, with no physical damage to see, site visits and meetings were not necessary. We could accomplish the same outcomes using Zoom or conference calls. With subsequent restrictions and lockdowns, we have become skilled at managing claims efficiently and effectively without the need for site visits.

What challenges did you face dealing with the recent weather-related surges given most/all of the country was in lockdown?

Generally speaking, winter burst pipe and snow loading claims that you might have seen more of a decade ago are certainly less frequent now. 

We prepared for a potential surge in these claims, but it has not materialised. We have seen very low levels of storm and weather-related damage claims. This is, in part, because of where the storms have occurred – fields and farmland, plus a removal of flood cover in major flood risk areas.  

What lockdown clichés/sayings/’things’ would you most like to see consigned to the graveyard?

It must be ‘unprecedented’.  The word certainly describes the situation as it was at the start of the pandemic. But now, nearly a year on, it is being used by everyone in virtually every other sentence. It is also used as the excuse for poor service and a lack of action – an overused, ‘get out clause’ that needs to be replaced.

What has been the biggest positive that you have taken from the last 12 months?

The biggest positive for me has been the response and commitment showed by the whole Lorega team. From day one, they have all pulled together. For example our sales and operations teams, who would normally not be involved in claims, took to the phones to field calls as the volumes of claims dramatically increased. It is a strong indication of the positive culture and customer-focus that is key to the organisation.

From a personal perspective, I’ve not missed the commute to London. Being stuck on Sevenoaks station at 6am on a winter morning is an experience I’m more than happy to have missed out on.

What do you miss most about working in insurance pre-pandemic compared to now?

What I do miss is the day-to-day impromptu discussion and chats with my colleagues, the sharing of ideas and problem-solving that happened naturally in the office environment. Organising a Zoom call is not the same.

There is also the networking, the catch up with contacts at events or while walking around the City. I miss events like the British Insurance Brokers’ Association conference where you have the ideal opportunity to spend time with old and new contacts that you meet as you wander the exhibition hall or are out and about at networking events or drinks in the evenings.

If you had to repeat the first 12 months of lockdown again, what would you do differently?

On the 22 March I would have spent the day sourcing additional resources and setting up the systems so everything would be in place on day one of the first lockdown.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but, beyond the day one preparation and looking back at everything we have done throughout the pandemic, I don’t think that I would have done anything differently. I believe everything we did was right; through good management and a strong team approach, we responded to the needs of claimants, our staff and suppliers.    

The loss adjuster who regrets watching Tiger King

Kurt Recci, major and complex loss adjuster, Questgates

What was your reaction following the initial National Lockdown in March 2020?

I had expected the initial national lockdown to last a number of weeks, months at the most, with a short, sharp change in the way we work being adopted and then going back to business as usual before we knew it. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case.

Having mainly worked from home for a number of years now, the prospect of home working did not faze me, however I did not anticipate that the impact of a significantly reduced amount of site meetings and having three children under ten at home would be as demanding as it has actually been.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced since March 2020?

Having the three children at home with not much to occupy them during lockdown has had its challenges. While the good weather of the first national lockdown did alleviate this to some degree, as the winter months set in and lockdown returned, balancing work and home life has certainly had its ‘interesting’ times. I’ve been fortunate that I have the support of an understanding and flexible employer which has allowed me to not only adapt and navigate the changes that this new work / home balance brings, but more importantly be able to give my wife and children the additional support we all need.

How Covid-19 impacted the type of claims that you have been dealing with since March 2020?  

Covid-19 hasn’t really impacted the usual perils and I have continued to deal with those pretty much as before the pandemic. Where it has made its presence felt is in the increase of Covid-19 related business interruption losses, which has meant that there were less field adjusters available to deal with the business as usual claims.

Whilst there was an initial quiet period for the first few weeks of lockdown number one, this soon changed as people started to return to work and were able to check on their business premises and rental properties. Questgates received a higher than usual amount of claims for theft and escape of water following the initial easing of restrictions, so I had a busier than usual summer due to the bottleneck of claims as well as water damage being more significant in a number of properties due to the travel restrictions that had been in place during the first lockdown.

Business interruption losses for usual claims, such as the flood events that occurred not long before lockdown was announced, meant that I had to have a lot more conversations with clients than I might normally given the losses were as a result of Covid-19 and not the initial peril.

The biggest impact has actually been on the mental health of the hundreds of small business owners. The financial impacts of lockdowns and restrictions combined with the uncertainty of what this has or could mean for them has meant that any stress that you expect them to suffer when dealing with a major insurance claim has been heightened. It’s been hugely important for loss adjusters to show a lot of empathy and provide a lot of support to them over the past year. It’s always been a big part of the job, but that it’s become more important than ever.

How has Covid-19 impacted the way you handle claims in terms of inspections and meeting claimants?

Questgates was already in good shape from a tech point of view as the business has made significant investment in building and enhancing in our in-house tech platform and processes, so it was more a case of tweaking a few things here and there to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the national lockdown. After it was announced, we rolled out secure video-calling software making it easy to undertake remote visits although the strength of signal could cause issues when viewing damage in multiple areas.

This was probably the biggest change for me and at first, I felt there was a lot lost with not been able to physically get to a premises and really get feel for the claim and what I was dealing with. But, like the rest of my colleagues, it didn’t take too long to adapt to the video inspections.

However, for high value or more complex losses, sitting behind a screen isn’t an option and I have still needed to conduct some site visits, which has taken a lot more planning to ensure the safety of both the insured and myself. Social distancing and PPE requirements have definitely created more of a barrier.

What challenges did you face dealing with the recent weather related surges given most/all of the country was in lockdown?

Where video inspections weren’t practical or suitable, undertaking site visits wasn’t really an issue as I’ve got used to the PPE and social distancing requirements. The main practical issue that I’ve encountered is that insureds have become understandably more reluctant to view properties offered as alternative accommodation while staying in a hotel has become less comfortable than before, given there is nowhere else for people to go out to for a break and the fact that they’re having to now live, work and in some instances home-school their kids all from a hotel room.

What lockdown clichés/sayings/’things’ would you most like to see consigned to the graveyard?

I am desperate to see ‘the new normal’ consigned to the graveyard. I hope this is anything but the new normal. Obviously until the pandemic is under control, it’s difficult to say what life will look like and there are lots of positives that we can take from things that we have learnt from working under lockdown – but my fervent hope is that we can get back to something closer to how life used to be.

What has been the biggest positive that you have taken from the last 12 months?

While the past 12 months has been challenging, it has reaffirmed my belief that on the whole people are very adaptable and willing to make things work as best they can even during the most difficult of times. We will all come out of this with a greater appreciation for what we have and spending quality time with family and friends.

What do you miss most about working in insurance pre-pandemic compared to now?

I miss the personal aspect of a physical meeting with clients and insureds. I don’t think that I had fully appreciated how much a simple handshake and the ability to read a person’s facial expressions allows you communicate more freely and breakdown that initial barriers that we can often meet.

If you had to repeat the first 12 months of lockdown again, what would you do differently?

That’s a hard one. Perhaps not being talked in to watching Tiger King? I’ll never get those hours of my life back.

The HR boss overseeing the move from five days emergency leave to 29

Lucinda Charles-Jones, group HR director, Axa UK & Ireland

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced since March 2020 and how did you overcome it?

Even though I was used to working from home, I wasn’t used to doing it 100% of the time. When there is no physical difference between ‘home’ and ‘work’ life, it is difficult to set appropriate boundaries. I had to create those distinctions so I didn’t end up working 24/7.

During the first and most recent lockdown how has Axa helped staff manage their work-life balance when it comes to home schooling children?

We’ve worked hard to support our people’s wellbeing, no matter what situation they are in. For those home schooling, this can vary considerably, so as an employer, we’ve chosen a flexible and pragmatic approach, where colleagues discuss with their manager what works best for them.

Our employees are usually entitled to five days of emergency leave. At the beginning of the pandemic, we extended this by 15 days, and then a further nine, giving 29 days in total. On top of this, because everyone has worked so hard over the past year, we’ve also given an extra day of holiday to everyone as a ‘thank you’ day.

What I have really enjoyed seeing during this period is how our employees have supported each other. For instance, data solutions architect Dawn Simpson created a Home School Hub on our intranet. All the available resources are organised by key stage, and there is a chat function for mutual support.

What other major challenges/issues have Axa staff faced over the last 12 months, and how have you helped them?

Looking at employee wellbeing from all angles – physical, mental, financial and social – we’ve taken practical steps to help people. Of course, we’re making sure employees have the equipment they need to work comfortably, like an extra screen or a better chair. But we’re also encouraging them to take breaks away from their laptops and go for walks during daylight hours. 

We’ve been running online fitness sessions – like yoga, pilates, aerobics, tai chi and stretching – and encouraging virtual coffees.

People have access to our virtual GP service Doctor@Hand and other apps, such as Thrive for mental resilience and Nudge for financial wellbeing.

Axa already offered staff a certain level of flexibility in terms of office/remote work balance before the pandemic; how did that help manage the initial mass move to home working in March 2020?

Before the first lockdown, 30% of our UK employees had the capacity to work from home. We quickly brought that up to 95%. It was a huge operational challenge, which our IT colleagues overcame brilliantly in a short space of time. But it wasn’t a paradigm shift: we already believed in flexibility. What lockdown has shown us is that employees appreciate this flexibility as a way to achieve work/life balance. Once restrictions are lifted, we will be rolling out a hybrid way of working combining home working and office presence. This was unveiled in January by our Paris head office and we call it our Smart Working strategy. 

In terms of recruitment and continuing professional development, how have you managed to keep it as business-as-usual as possible since March 2020?

The remote working, increased flexibility and balance in our lives is allowing us to attract a more diverse pool of talent.

We have pivoted our selection process to conduct job interviews virtually; it’s the same process. The challenge, if any, comes afterwards, with onboarding: how do you make sure people feel part of a team when you’ve never met them? Our managers have different ways of making sure newcomers feel welcome and supported. For example, virtual team drinks in their first week to help create informal connections.

Our professional development activities have also successfully moved online. Our new data academy is being delivered entirely remotely; it is an ambitious apprenticeship programme, with over 50 employees from many different offices enrolled. With the training taking place online, the geographical reach is wider and is more accessible to people.

What has been the biggest positive that you have taken from the last 12 months?

This has been a period of extraordinary innovation, experimentation and creativity for lots of businesses, Axa included. That’s the one thing I want us to build on as an organisation for us to be better for our people and customers going forward.

What do you miss most about working in insurance pre-pandemic compared to now?

I miss working with colleagues ‘in real life’. Saying hello to people at a coffee machine, walking down the corridor, doing site visits with our customer-facing people. Screen interactions are practical, but I miss the variety of being in person too. 

If you had to repeat the first 12 months of lockdown again, what would you do differently?

Make sure I get some exercise outdoors every single day, even if just to take our dog round the block. A bit of fresh air makes a big difference.

The IT boss who relocated North

Graeme Howard, chief technology and information officer, Covéa

What was your reaction following the initial National Lockdown in March 2020? How has it been matched by the reality?

We started to see this coming in late February with the events happening in other countries, so worked quickly on mobilising ourselves, ordering equipment. Our thinking then was it would last maybe a few months at worst case. We planned a reactive response, expecting a short sharp shock, but, of course, it stretched out for months, easing into summer.

That was when we started implementing longer term solutions putting plans into place for the rest of 2020; looking at offices and changing network and telephony systems etc.  By August/September, and with regional and tiered lockdowns introduced, it became apparent this was going to be for the long haul, so we had to pivot plans and switch from what was initially a temporary response to ensuring everything had longevity and stability.  It has been a lot worse and lasted longer than we expected. If we knew this at the start, we could have done things differently, but we are now more resilient.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced since March 2020?

After six months commuting from the South I moved up to Halifax to be closer to my teams. I moved my family up into a rented house while we looked for a more permanent place. It’s been hard it being just us in a different house which we’ve not been able to make into ‘ours’, with most of our possessions still in storage and not having friends or family to visit. It’s tricky with no familiar support network close by. I’ve managed to get some of our furniture in, and paintings, and we’ve managed to make it feel more like home and our space.

How do you keep people motivated as a leader when you’re struggling yourself? I’ve been honest sharing what’s going on in my life as I know I’m not the only one feeling like this.

How easy was it to get the Covéa staff equipped to work from home when the first lockdown was announced?

We did this very quickly and I’m extremely proud of what we achieved. We had 98% of our people working from home in first week of lockdown. It took some quick planning and a lot of tenacity from our people, plus we already had a project for home working which was brought forward which helped. It might not have been an optimal experience, but it worked. 

Working from home has been okay for some of our people, but some have struggled too.  Younger people, for example, earlier in their career are less likely to have suitable work spaces at home. We can see it’s difficult and our focus now is on how we help them.

Do you subscribe to the idea that the Pandemic has sped up the digitalisation of the UK insurance sector and what evidence would you point too to support your answer?

Yes and no – we were part way through a disruptive transformation at Covéa when the pandemic started and we’ve managed to maintain this alongside normal operations. I don’t think the pandemic sped up that transformation, but didn’t slow it down either. We were fortunate to have an existing plan which put us in a good position before the pandemic started. 

A lot of time went into setting up essential applications and enhancing feature sets on platforms like Slack and Teams.  We rolled those out fast with less testing because they just had to work. But that’s not transformation, it’s keeping up. This hasn’t changed the industry, just helped it keep pace.

How have you kept on top of employee’s cyber security awareness since March 2020?

We were already adopting a stance on cyber security where everything has to be authenticated no matter where you are; a lot of it is about education and with everyone at home people have to be more careful.

We have some incredible talent in our team who bring a fresh perspective. We’re creating an uplift culture, with new content and new ways of speaking about it, keeping it simple and less techy, and making it more accessible so people aren’t afraid to ask questions. We’re doing penetration testing, we’ve refreshed mandatory training, increased communications and we’re conducting more varied phishing attack simulations, for example, with a social media focus.  We’re getting the message out that cyber security doesn’t need to be scary or boring, it’s for everyone.

What lockdown clichés/sayings/’things’ would you most like to see consigned to the graveyard?

Not having to do everything on video conference and not be talking about video conferencing.

What has been the biggest positive that you have taken from the last 12 months?

We operate now as a single unit regardless of site. Location isn’t as much of an obstacle which is definitely a good thing. From home everyone’s voice is heard equally, which has helped us discover some real superstars.

There’s also more empathy and understanding for how people are feeling. People are more open and honest about how they’re doing, which is a massive positive and we need to make sure we hold on to that openness as we move forward.

What do you miss most about working in insurance pre-pandemic compared to now?

The interactions and nuances of being with people. There are positives of having an uplifted digital engagement culture to help people feel connected, but we’re not as connected to everyone we’re working with and you don’t have those random conversations. You have to have a more planned approach, which can be a bit siloed as you can’t always connect as easily. There’s also less spontaneous learning from colleagues.

If you had to repeat the first 12 months of lockdown again, what would you do differently?

I would mandate an assessment on home working, looking at what people need as individuals, things like proper office chairs, monitors for example. I’d do more work up front to set up people’s home working environments to suit them.

We might have stopped some programmes that we don’t get benefit from or re-scoped them based on the new world we’re living in, but lots of things would have been done the same. Overall, I’m massively proud of what we achieved.