Diary of an Insurer: iPrism’s Amie Wright

Monday

I wake up at 6.30am and venture out for a run along the River Thames. I’ve only just started getting back into running and have started the Couch to 5K challenge. It was a hard slog today, as it was so cold, but a great mental start to the week.

I kick off the working day with a rallying cheer to my team to go and smash our weekly targets before turning to new business. I spend the morning reviewing any new private clients business that was written in the past month, looking closely at the data to identify where we’re getting our business from, and whether there are any emerging trends in the high-net-worth market, or anything we need to closely focus on.

After lunch it is time for renewals. I focus on anything complex due for renewal within the next eight weeks. With Christmas fast approaching, I want to ensure that any renewals involving large claims or quirky circumstances have time to be reviewed in detail and discussed with our brokers.

Tuesday

We kicked off our iPrism Nine days of Christmas challenge today. We’re always looking for fun ways to engage with teams across the business, and we like to pepper the year with activities and opportunities to bring everyone together.

The challenges this year included best decorated desk, most festive pet, best Christmas jumper and the furthest paper airplane. I was disappointed that my jumper didn’t win, but I loved seeing so many funky jumpers brightening up the office.

As we’re a relatively small team, I spend time each day supporting colleagues with queries, taking calls, reviewing renewals and getting back to the basics of underwriting. Today, I worked on a referral for a very unusual property. HNW homes really do come in all shapes and sizes.

I ended the day with a really positive meeting with one of our insurers’ new claims team to discuss new processes and agree service level agreements and expectations. This will set the standard for our ongoing work together and make sure that we have the opportunities to continually improve our customers experience to ensure they get the best service from us.

Wednesday

I start today with my November peer reviews. This is a monthly activity, which involves selecting several cases underwritten by each member of my team and reviewing them thoroughly to ensure they have been underwritten correctly. Everyone passed with flying colours; they’re doing an excellent job.

Following the peer reviews, I conducted my team one-to-ones. I believe the key to a strong team is honesty and openness, and these meetings give my team the opportunity to talk to me about their work and home lives. I really enjoy these sessions as we can dedicate time to their own development and careers.

A fun end to a cold Wednesday, I went along to Christmas drinks and networking hosted in the City by one of our insurers. It’s always good to catch up with others in the HNW space and raise a toast to working together.

Thursday

Christmas came early for iPrism today, and we had our team leaders’ Christmas lunch. Although we all work in the same company, we all have very different focuses, so it’s good to catch up and discuss things that work for them, and how we can all collaborate to support our people.

After lunch it was time for Secret Santa, which is an iPrism tradition. I was very happy to unwrap a Ryan Reynolds mug; my Santa obviously knows me very well.

Another evening, another chance to party. It’s our iPrism Christmas party this evening, and a chance for all of our people to come together and celebrate another successful year. I danced all night and enjoyed a healthy amount of Christmas cheer.

Friday

Well, the week has flown by in a flurry of festive activity.

Two of my team had thought ahead and booked annual leave in anticipation of a post-party sore head, so I am focused on underwriting today. I’ve worked on a good mix of new business, mid-term adjustments and renewals. We always aim for a turnaround time of under four working hours for new business enquiries, so I was happy to jump into action to support the team.

I looked back on our targets for this week, and was happy to let the team know that they had smashed their objectives and completed another successful week. I love to end the week on a positive note.

Before winding down for the weekend, and some well-earned relaxation after a busy week, I settled down to finish wrapping my Christmas presents and consider whether an early morning Saturday run might be on the cards.

Amie Wright is private clients team manager of iPrism Underwriting