Diary of an Insurer: AmTrust’s Hannah Connolly

Monday

Monday morning usually starts with a 6am swim to try and counteract some of the cake I have eaten over the weekend. The rest of my household are still asleep, so I have to creep out of the door. Once I’m back I start getting my six year-old ready for school.

I start my working day with a cup of tea and check my emails. I set myself some tasks that I want to achieve that week. The team all have their own individual workloads but we always have a team call to check in and set priorities.

I have an urgent task that needs to be completed by the end of the month, so I get to work on that.

I have various meetings scheduled today to talk about the plans for 2025 and to discuss how 2024 has been. Partner relationships are very important to us, so I make sure I have regular meetings with our coverholders.

I look at some referrals that have been sent over by my team and log into a ‘lunch and learn’ session about another area of the business, which was really interesting.

Tonight I am starting a new exercise class that involves a tiny trampoline. I’m excited and nervous in equal measures.

Tuesday

I head into the office in Nottingham where my team are based. After a quick catch-up, I set to work. I reply to any outstanding referrals from the team and check my inbox for any additional emails.

Today is mainly Teams calls. I am still working on my urgent task, which requires the input from other teams. The Teams calls have allowed us to make some progress which is great.

I brought the team some caramel shortcakes, so we have a cup of tea and some well-earned sugar.

The rest of my afternoon is spent looking at reports for any necessary changes to make in 2025. I then make the dash home to be back in time to take my daughter swimming.

Wednesday

I leave my house at 6am to get to London for 9am. I tend to be in London every Wednesday for face-to-face meetings. 

Partnerships are key to our business, and as great as Teams is, you cannot beat a face-to-face meeting.

After lunch I head back to the office for some internal meetings and head off to get the train home.

The train home was not straightforward as they experienced a signal failure which was not ideal, but these things happen.

Thursday

I head back into the Nottingham office with the team.

I make sure that all the tasks outstanding for month end are prioritised and in hand. I check through my emails as I was in and out of the office most of yesterday and action anything urgent.

I have another coverholder meeting to talk about a new opportunity.

We had our team strategy lunch, which is a good opportunity to talk through what happened in the previous year and any changes we need to make into the new year. It’s great to talk freely about any ideas and future plans.

Lunch was nice and it was great to see the team. I head back to the office to reply to some emails. I then drive straight to pick my daughter up from cricket practice.

Friday

I start the day with another 6am swim (in preparation for the cake).

Friday is always my busiest day for teams calls but it means I go into the weekend with all, if not most, of my tasks complete.

We have weekly full team catch-up to go through any outstanding items and it gives the team a chance to talk through any referrals or tasks. It’s great to bounce thoughts and ideas across the whole team as its good to get a range of different opinions.

Something urgent has hit my desk, so I set to work on that.

Overall it’s been a really good week. I’ve managed to spend time with my team and have caught up with lots of our partners. I have a nice family weekend planned and I’ll be refreshed and ready for Monday.