Diary of an Insurer: Markel’s Chris O’Shea

Monday

The early 6am alarm call wakes me up to ensure I have time to walk the dog before heading to the train station. 

My Monday morning usually starts with an hour booked out in my calendar to prioritise my weekly goals and deadlines. My diary is typically packed with various meetings, so I fill the gaps in between to make sure I’m fully prepped for each one.

We’re currently in an intensive discovery phase to implement a new claims management system so the first meeting of the week is an ‘expectations’ one, setting out exactly what to expect in each of the sessions. 

I swiftly jump into an interview for a delegated claims position, which isn’t within my reporting framework; however, it’s an essential component to the ongoing success, growth and development of our Wholesale Claims function.

Next up is a two-hour media training refresher workshop but it ended up being postponed, which freed up time to catch up on emails and to get ahead of a couple of priorities such as addressing some European tax-related questions and reviewing our Cat estimates ahead of our Q3 reserving process.

After lunch, I put on my international hat to discuss a complex US claim with our Netherlands country claims lead and head of Europe claims, before going back to our claims management project and attending a steerco meeting to review project milestones.

I was also able to finalise and submit my quarterly Exco report, which was due.

Tuesday

Tuesday through Thursday are the busier days for me, so I ensure that I attend the office on these days to see as many of the claims team and senior leaders as possible.  

Our new international casualty claims manager recently joined the business, and it was great to grab some time with him this morning for a quick chat.

A prime focus for us is on delegated claims management, so the first scheduled meeting of the day was a discussion around loss fund management with a key service provider. 

I then have a short meeting to discuss our claims risk controls framework with the Claims Governance team before heading into a fascinating presentation from EY on the Lloyd’s Market performance and how Markel’s syndicate compares to it. 

This is followed by a one-to-one with Markel International’s chief underwriting officer, which we have on a quarterly basis to ensure we both have a touch point to discuss underwriting and claims priorities. 

This was followed by a lunch with one of the claims managers – a nice, informal way to catch up on all things team-related.

The afternoon includes a meeting on a high-profile delegated account that has been extensively impacted by US social inflation. 

This is a regular quarterly meeting ensuring we are on top of reserving and doing everything we can to manage the portfolio and continue providing our insureds with a first-class service.

The final task of the day is to review the details of a party to celebrate a member of the team’s 40th anniversary at Markel – a truly remarkable achievement.

Wednesday

Wednesday always begins with a blocked-out session to focus on strategy and further expanding our wholesale and international claims function at Markel.

After this meeting, I have two interviews throughout the course of the morning – another candidate on delegated claims and one who will serve as the service owner for the new claims system.

We have our fortnightly claims leadership team meeting in the afternoon, which comprises of a two-hour session on high-priority matters within the wholesale claims space. 

This time, we had Markel’s wholesale operations director join as a special guest. This was followed by a meet and greet with our new underwriters in marine liability and a call with the new global executive underwriting officer for property and first party at Markel Specialty – we’re always keen to ensure we’re closely aligned with our US colleagues.

I typically leave the office earlier on a Wednesday to help at home by picking up my youngest daughter from her tutor, as my wife is collecting our other daughter from her dance class. Dad duties done, I head off to an awards ceremony where Markel is a finalist for three awards – Insurance Carrier of the Year, Employer of the Year and the Claims Service Award. 

A fun night capped perfectly with the team winning the latter for our complex claims management, which is a testament to the team’s tireless hard work and a reflection of the value we can add to deliver our insureds the service they desire.

Thursday

Thursday was a day off from the norm as a guest on a corporate golf day. A fun day out with the weather holding out, but I can’t say my golf was the best – the only real highlight seeing me sink a 50ft plus putt. Nevertheless, it was great to spend time away from the daily routine and catch up in-person with some of our key clients and service providers.

I finished golf in plenty of time to join a call with Kings Counsel on a high-profile equine claim. I thrive on getting back into specific technical claims matters and this one sees us defending our insured’s interests. 

Our TP legal team and Counsel did a top job breaking down the complexities of the case, providing me and my colleagues with the opportunity to challenge and explore the best strategy.

Whilst the time out in the morning was much appreciated, I work most of the evening making up for it. This saw me liaising on the training needs of not only the wholesale claims team, but also all the key functions within the wholesale division as part of my role as the sponsor for our ‘people’ related priority. 

I also revert on a Lloyd’s Cat return for a US state regulator request and what seemed like hours working on my latest report for the underwriting committee – this committee is the feeder to the board, and we have recently added claims to the agenda.

Friday

Akin to most, Friday is a working-from-home  day. However, I find myself in the office on this particular Friday, as we have scheduled a few hours for the claims leadership team to discuss strategy and high-level business as usual matters.  

The agenda pretty much goes out the window because we over-run on the first subject matter. I must do better at managing agenda time.

We all benefit from this session, again pulling us away from the day to day and ensuring we spend the time to discuss our main priorities. We agree the Friday session worked well and have already organised another meeting on this for a few weeks’ time. 

The day also provides an opportunity to have lunch as a leadership team – we’re a people-powered business so spending time with colleagues over good food is important.

The day wasn’t quite finished as I had a call with my counterpart in the US to discuss some core US matters and how they can support us with local technical and legal expertise. I think I provide a useful sounding board given they have recently moved into the chief claims officer role and are navigating the challenges this position can bring.