Diary of an Insurer: Axa’s David Pearce

Monday

On Mondays I usually work from home. This involves getting myself ready for the day by quickly checking my emails, reading relevant articles from over the weekend and having breakfast with my two daughters before taking my eldest to school. 

I always appreciate the flexibility I gain from hybrid working and I always take the opportunity to do the school run and be there for dinner and bath time.

Next on the list is checking our daily sales, conversion, average premium, retention rates and market movements. I can get deep into the numbers, and it helps me really connect with what’s going well and our challenges. 

Keeping on top of trends is critical because the UK market is so dynamic and it allows me to focus our efforts in the right areas and adapt our business actions accordingly. 

I also have a call with my leadership team every Monday and ensure we’re all clear on the focus of the week and importantly reconnect after, hopefully, a bit of downtime over the weekend.

We also review the latest claims and underwriting trends. This session includes all the teams which have a focus on motor and it’s a lively affair where we share our latest findings. Collaboration is key as there’s been so much happening in this area over the past two years.

I generally end the day catching up on emails and making sure I’ve captured all the actions from the day. This is normally after my daughters’ bedtime and allows a period to think before the rest of the week.

Tuesday

I’m in the London office today. It’s a great chance to catch up with people and see what’s happening in other business areas.

First on the agenda is a session on our application fraud controls, working with one of our strategic partners to integrate new capabilities. We chat through progress made so far and next steps for the project that will help improve our services for customers. 

This includes work on further communications to customers to help educate and raise awareness of scams and share preventative measures.

This project is really important as it signifies a further step forward in Axa’s commitment to tackling fraud. The industry is facing increases in claims costs and reducing fraudulent activity is just one of the ways we can help relieve cost pressures for customers.

I hold a team meeting at the end of the day. This gives me a chance to ensure I’m communicating our progress effectively to the team and reaffirming priorities, as well as opening up to any questions. 

We also talk about team activities and volunteering and finish up with a quiz to add a bit of fun. I must admit I generally score poorly and there are a few in the team who are always riding high on the leaderboard.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I am usually in either Ipswich or Redhill. 

Today I have a pricing meeting that focuses on customer affordability and pricing activity, which is a focus for the wider retail business.

The team are also talking me through the investigations they’ve carried out on our customer journeys – we have some great tools to help understand challenging areas. For example, we’ve found some customers were struggling to navigate our online renewal user experience.

The team have been working to improve the clarity of explanations and streamlining the number of steps so that customers will find it easier to self-serve. They expect this to be live shortly and I can’t wait to see the results. It’s important we keep raising the bar here so that any issues customers face are more easily and quickly solved.

Thursday

Back in the London office today and the main task is our monthly risk committee meeting. This is a great opportunity to review the risk environment and look at the best ways we can manage these risks. Identifying risks as they emerge is crucial in order to help reduce impact on the business, so these meetings are hugely insightful.

After this meeting I usually put together an action plan and share this with my team, so they are all familiar with the current risk landscape.

I have our weekly trading meeting in the afternoon, where we work through all the detailed trading insights, latest profitability statistics and customer experience results.

It has been a day full of insight which has really helped shape the work that the team and I do and ensure we’re working on activity which helps to both successfully deliver our financial plans and improve customer satisfaction.

Friday

The last day of the week is less structured than the other working days. I use the morning to catch up on any urgent emails and spend time with my direct reports having one-to-ones.

This week I have been looking at some of the activity taking place in other Axa entities. After lunch I have a meeting with colleagues from Axa Switzerland, who are talking through their current trials for EV battery health testing using a third-party manufacturer. 

This testing kit gives electric vehicle owners the opportunity to see how well their car battery is performing and if it is in good health.

This is an interesting end to the working week as it provides food for thought on ways in which we could use this in the UK and potential benefits for EV drivers, particularly when it comes to the second-hand EV market.

When working from home on a Friday, I make sure that I log off on time so that I can spend time with my family, this is really important to me and always makes for a good start to the weekend.