Congratulations to Past President Robin Nathaniel on his retirement

Robin started his career at the age of 18 and he is a rare breed who enjoys his work, particularly the technical aspects and this is one of the reasons why he delayed his retirement, wishing to pass on his technical knowledge and expertise to colleagues. Robin is pictured with his daughter, Jennifer, at the Bradford Annual Dinner in 2022.

He started his career in the 1970’s at NEM (National Employers Mutual) before moving to the Cornhill at Horsforth as a Claims Inspector, which was very handy for walking home. He gained an early reputation as being someone who knew his stuff and who didn’t suffer fools gladly! Something which Jen his daughter is often told about by work colleagues who worked with her Dad back in the early years of his career. He then progressed to a role as a Loss Adjuster, enjoying being out and about on the road and utilising his technical skills.

He spent a number of years at the aptly named “Robins” Loss Adjusters and his daughter Jen has many fond memories of visiting the office in Bradford with her Mum as a little girl in the 1980’s, scribbling on his note pads and re-arranging things on his desk! Something she continued to do when they both worked at Hendersons in the ‘00’s!

He has dealt with the insurance response to some large losses, such as the Hurricane in 1987 and Cyclone Daria / the Burns’ Day Storm in 1990, effectively being on the front line of handling the claims as a Loss Adjuster. This remains the most deadly storm to have hit UK shores, costing 47 lives and also hitting the insurance industry with claims costs totalling £3.37 bn; the UK’s most expensive weather event to Insurers.

“Robins Response” was the name given to Robins’ Loss Adjusters claims handling response and resulted in Robin spending a number of weeks in South Wales and Exeter, dealing with the fall out of the storm and the numerous claims. As an incentive and thank you to the Loss Adjusters dealing with these claims, Robins challenged their employees to accurately guess the anticipated total number and cost of the claims to Robins, something Robin estimated very well and as a result of this, won a trip to Paris!

Robin gained his ACII which took longer than anticipated due to one particular exam which became his nemesis. These were the days when the CII courses were held in person at “Night School”.

Robin went on to work in the Legal profession in the mid 1990’s, expanding his knowledge further and seeing claims from the other side. He gained the Advanced Diploma in Personal Injury litigation and held positions at Leeds based law firms, including Ford and Warren where he was a Litigation Manager.

Seeking a new challenge Robin then worked for an Insurance Broker and also had another period of working as a Loss Adjuster until the time came to stop travelling and being on the road so much. An office based job at QBE was his next role where he worked for a number of years before being head hunted by Hendersons (Now Aon) where he will retire from his position as Claims Manager.

Robins Daughter Jennifer Thomas has said:

“ I’m proud of my Dad, especially his achievement of being the President of the Bradford Insurance Institute. He has always been someone I could refer to when I needed a technical response on something out of the ordinary. Both myself and my older brother James have followed him into the Industry despite never intending to work in Insurance, as many people can probably relate to. People have joked about it being the “Nathaniel Insurance Dynasty” My younger brother did start out in Insurance but is now carving out his own successful career in the niche area of "IT Security and Pen Testing.”

Robin is well known and respected; he can never go out somewhere and not bump into someone he knows through Insurance! He has been a training support and Mentor over the years and the huge amount of knowledge and experience which will retire with him will be a loss to the Industry.