Mon 26 Nov. 2018
November's Presidents Message
Talking of pre-Christmas events, I must thank all those that came along to our CII Curry Night on 15th November. It was a great night and is now becoming a fixture in our yearly events planner. Great food, excellent company and a few stories over a curry; what more could you ask for…..
Supporting Suffolk Mind
I am going to start this month with a plea for your support and/or cash! Suffolk Mind, my chosen charity, is promoting RED January and I am “signed up”!
January is often seen as the “Blue” month. RED stands for “Run Every day” and is an initiative that encourages people to support mental health by doing something active each day through January. RED January can provide a goal and a focus in a characteristically tough month. Please do think about joining up and starting the new year in a positive way.
I am committed to RED Jan and I will myself be running each day. This will be a (significant) challenge for an unfit “office worker” in his fifties. As well as looking to improve my own physical and mental health, I am looking for sponsorship to raise money for Suffolk Mind. Here’s a link to my giving page: www.suffolkmind.org.uk/richardbrame. Please sponsor me if you can – all support is hugely appreciated. Sarah Deacon, my deputy this year, is also signed up for Red Jan and has a just giving page – https://justgiving.com/fundraising/redjansarah - and again would appreciate any support.
Events gone and to come
The room was full as our members turned out in full force on Thursday 1st November to attend our lunchtime session on “Introduction to Blockchain” by Gary Nuttall. The session has received great feedback. The presentation was really informative with questions and discussion following this. This type of topic is perfectly aligned to one of our key themes this year – modernisation – and we will look to follow up on this success. (If you are interested you can find a link to the presentation on our website).
On Thursday 6th December, between 12.30pm and 2.00pm at the Co-operative Education Centre, Ipswich IP4 1JW, we are running a session entitled “Feeling Average – shake these blues with an insurance valuation”. Martyn Barrett, a Chartered Surveyor at Barrett Corp & Harrington Limited will help us understand the importance of insuring a property for the correct value and to spot the tell-tale signs of possible underinsurance. We are trying out a new venue, so it will be good to see how it works, do remember to feedback. As ever, please register via our website where there are further details on the event.
And in the New Year
On Tuesday 22nd January 2019 we are running a lunch time event in Colchester. In line with our core theme of “people”, the session is called “Vulnerable Customer” and will be run by Alan Chandler, an insurance trainer. Attendees will learn about how to identify and deal with vulnerable customers, with the event running between 12.30pm and 2.00pm at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, Mile End, Colchester, CO4 5UP
We are now close to finalising details of our 2019 all-day conference. This will be a local conference, held at Wherstead Park near Ipswich. The day will focus on change, modernisation and emerging risks. Inga Beale will be amongst the speakers. Details will be circulated in due course but do put the date in your diaries – Wednesday 6th February 2019.
And last but not least, please don’t forget our Annual Dinner on the 5th April 2019. Tickets are selling really well but are still available. With a great dinner, a live band, a raffle/auction and a photographer and photo booth, it should be a great night. If you would like to buy tickets for the dinner or have any questions, please contact me directly or Vicki Chapman, our Dinner Secretary (vicki.chapman@willistowerswatson.com)
A Day in the Life of…..Mike Farrer
For those of you who have taken exams in recent times, you may well have met Mike. Despite now being retired, Mike remains an active member of the CII Council, is part of our Education committee and frequently oversees exams. Mike is a great character and has a wealth of Insurance experience and associated stories. So, in his own words:
I joined the Orion Insurance company in 1968, as a deliberate choice, as the firm offered training in a profession, with qualifications, to be a Head Office Motor Underwriter. Only when I joined did I learn no-one had been in that department for more than 6 weeks, as another company had poached all the previous staff!
A steep learning curve followed but, I joined on Monday, was in the CII on Tuesday, and in college for 3 ACII subjects on Thursday - I managed to complete ACII in 4 years - 10 passes in those days!
After 3 years Motor Underwriting, I moved to the Cornhill, working in Claims (mostly motor but some fire and accident) and the Claims Inspector’s job. I found that very stimulating and enjoyable, so after another 3 years I joined Pycraft and Arnold Loss Adjusters and never looked back. Every day was different, with fires, storm and theft claims being the most common.
There were also dead race-horses, burnt yachts, film camera claims at £80K+ in the1970s and everything in between. The people were wonderful too, from 1930s racing drivers, retired Colonels, some rock and film stars, as well as the travellers and not-so-welcoming sectors of society.
I moved to Cunningham Hart (now Cunningham Lindsay) in 1982, qualified as a Chartered Loss Adjuster in 1985, and moved to a new office in Cambridge where 2 of us covered 3 counties, so there was lots of travelling!! The work was just as varied but now included Goods in Transit and liability too for good measure. The G I T claims included 1000 New Zealand frozen lamb carcases where the lorry had driven down an embankment off the A11 and 18,000 bottles of wine in another container damaged when the lorry went over rather than round a roundabout. We had to count how many survived to assess the loss – all 16,000 of them which took until 10.30 p m after an 8.30 start that day.
I continued in Adjusting until 2014, but spent the last 15 years or so as a Fraud investigator.
I joined the Ipswich Institute Council in 1987 and have served on both the Sports & Social and now the Education committee. I was very honoured to be elected President in 1997/8 and 2008/9. I currently organise the CII exams in Ipswich, arranging the venue invigilators and supervising the exams, returning the scripts to the CII every day.
I have done some background enquires to ease pressures on Council members who are in full time work but otherwise as I’m retired I am able to follow my passion, and fly a light aeroplane whenever the weather and my wife allow.
I can truly say that insurance gave me a wonderful profession with the qualifications earned helping on a daily basis to persuade others to agree to proposed settlements. As an Adjuster, fulfilling the insurance policy’s promise to make good insured losses made each day an enjoyable challenge, to the extent that for most of the years I felt I didn’t go to work but meet people who needed assistance (and was paid to do it). If I could I’d do it all again
And Finally
Thinking of exams, we are now making arrangements for Prize Giving in the New Year. I hope to get someone along from central CII to talk to us and help hand out prizes to those that have worked so hard to pass exams.
For now, enjoy the run up to Christmas, take care in the colder weather and good luck with those trying to me year end targets, etc.
Please visit our website for more details of events and activities. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to know more about joining Council.
Very best regards,
Richard.