Diary of an Insurer: Axa Partners’ Beth Buckland

Monday

I start my week with a day in the office, which involves a 30-minute drive from my home in North Cheam. I enjoy working from the office and am in around three to four days a week.

I have been at Axa for 27 years and have built up a lot of connections with UK colleagues, as well as globally. I get to the office for 8am to best accommodate my colleagues in different offices across Europe. Equally, I have some meetings towards the latter part of the day to accommodate my colleagues in the US, for example.

My first meeting of the day is with the head of global operational excellence, and we talk about how we can improve processes and tackle specific pain points. We also focus on the group project around agent journey.

The rest of my Monday is mostly spent having one-to-ones with some of my direct reports, where we discuss a variety of topics, such as their areas of focus for the week, any issues or challenges, priorities and any support they need from me. In addition, we also have a team meeting on a Tuesday and Friday.

Tuesday

It is another day in the office, and I kick it off with a sensitive case review meeting. 

During this meeting, my team and I discuss ongoing or emerging complaints, as well as live medical assistance situations. This includes travel, motor assistance and home emergency customers.

We discuss all options and agree on next steps to reach the best outcome for customers. We review on a case-by-case basis and always strive to achieve the optimal solution, whilst responding to challenging customer emergencies.

After grabbing a quick lunch from the canteen, I am straight into multiple meetings, including one on travel claims forecasting, which involves underwriters and our commercial and workforce planning teams. During this meeting we review trends and patterns that inform our business decisions and resourcing.

Wednesday

Usually on Wednesdays, my team and I will have a meeting called ‘Think time and discussion’, which allows us to take a step back from the business as usual  tasks and think more creatively. 

It is a more informal meeting for colleagues to throw out ideas, generate thoughts and do some strategic thinking.

I am also setting some time aside to focus on my continuous professional development, which I think is really important. 

I am currently completing an Environment, Social and Governance course on LinkedIn.

This is followed by regular meetings, including an ad-hoc call regarding an urgent situation – being agile and available is key.

After work, I do a 10-minute Hiit Pilates session, which I usually do three times a week. They are quite intense sessions, but I always feel great afterwards, and they certainly help with my well-being and overall fitness.

Thursday

I am back in the office and one of my main meetings today is about travel cost containment. 

During this meeting, my colleagues and I will look at a variety of areas, such as fraud, claims payment processes  and cost recoveries from other organisations. 

This is a key focus area, and we work with local and global stakeholders to ensure we control our costs, whilst delivering great customer outcomes.

In the afternoon, our media relations manager notifies me about a national media enquiry we have received. It relates to a travel insurance case and the journalist has asked for a comment. 

Our UK & Ireland country manager is off on leave currently, so I work with our sales director to agree and sign-off the statement, which has been drafted by our media relations manager, who liaises with the journalist.

It is important we work quickly when a media enquiry comes in, as the deadlines can be tight, and we need to make sure we are correctly represented in the journalist’s article. 

Friday

On Friday morning, I usually attend our weekly board meeting with the executive team. The focus of these meetings changes week-on-week, ranging from risk management, customer outcomes and regulatory updates. Today’s meeting is focusing on the customer experience.

Rounding off the work week, I have our second team meeting, where we discuss what we have achieved over the past week, any challenges we have faced and anything anyone wants to flag to the team.

After logging off, I look forward to seeing my family, who often come round on a Friday evening. I get to see my grandson, who I am obsessed with, as well as my own parents and three sons, so it is a real family evening and the perfect way to relax and unwind after a week of work.