President's Message April 2020

As an industry overall, I think we have done incredibly well to adapt so quickly to the changing circumstances. I suspect the upcoming months will see their own challenges as we continue to adhere to Government guidelines and eventually begin our return to “normal”.

I’d be interested to know however, what changes (if any) you will be taking forward with you? What will your new normal look like? For myself, I’ve appreciated the slower start to my day and not sitting in the car, fighting traffic to get to the office. Being home has also made it far easier to fit in daily exercise, and I’m noticing that I’m eating less snacks (despite the temptations we’ve had over Easter!). Please take care everyone; stay home, stay safe, save lives.

Coming up on the 27^th April is our Annual General Meeting. This year, we’ve taken it online! If you’re interested in joining the call and hearing as I recap on the year we’ve had, booking details can be found on our website. I’m surprised at how quickly my year has gone, but I’m excited to look forward to Laura Blyth’s year, and the different perspective she will bring to our Institute.

Chosen Charity – Lizzie’s Fund

My charity this year is Lizzie’s Fund, in honour of Lizzie Bramall. More information can be found here: https://www.thebraintumourcharity.org/get-involved/our-supporter-groups/supporter-groups/groups/lizzies-fund/

We still have our Virtual Challenge running until the end of April! The response so far has been fantastic, but there’s still time to get involved. We’ve adapted it slightly – instead of completing a 10k, why not try taking part in 10 Joe Wicks sessions? Or maybe mix up some dog-walking with cycling and Insanity workouts?

All the information on how to donate and submit your evidence can be found here:

https://www.localinstitutes.cii.co.uk/ipswich/home/events/20192020/virtual-run-for-lizzies-fund/

Staying fit and healthy is always beneficial but adding in exercise to your day at the moment is more important than ever.

Here are a few photos from completed challenges so far for inspiration!

Educational Events

A huge thank you to our Education Secretary Johanna Mulley, and the entire Education Committee, who have worked really hard to change existing events into webinars, and also setting up a whole suite of webinars over the next few months.

In the last few weeks alone we have had sessions on Remote Working Best Practices; BI policies and COVID-19 and Accessibility to Insurance Advice.

Keep an eye out for flyers coming round with details on upcoming sessions, and feel free to let us know what topics you’d like to see.

Just before we went into lockdown, we held our annual Student Presentation event, celebrating the qualification achievements of our members. Pam Cottman delivered an excellent session on Building Resilience before we made the presentations. Well done everyone!

You can see more about the event as well as a full list of achievers on our website: https://www.localinstitutes.cii.co.uk/ipswich/home/about-us/news/2020/student-presentation-event-2020/

The Insurance Charities

I am also promoting the activities of the Insurance Charities this year, as both myself and the rest of our Council believe they are a valuable resource of help and support dedicated to our insurance community that are much underused.

During this difficult time, remember there is help out there. https://www.theinsurancecharities.org.uk/

The Insurance Charities can provide support for current and former insurance employees and their dependents in the UK and Ireland, experiencing difficult life events. Whether it’s one-off help you need or ongoing support, get in touch and see how they can help.

Watch out for Insurance Charities Awareness Week, 22-26th June 2020, when organisations around the country will be holding events. The aim of Awareness Week is to let as many insurance employees as possible know about their industry charity, and that they’re here to provide help and support to those in the sector in times of need.

People are often surprised that they don’t just help those in insurance, but also dependent relatives. When misfortune strikes, whatever it is, it can affect the whole family.

CII Day in the Life – Johanna Mulley

This month we hear from our outgoing Education Secretary, and Past President Johanna Mulley!

When people ask me what I do for a job I stumble a little to give a short answer, but I’ve worked on that and now I say ‘I organise the implementation and ongoing maintenance of global insurance claims management programmes. The main aim is to ensure that the clients insurance claims are handled smoothly and efficiently around the globe and that the client is provided with accurate and insightful data to help them manage their risks’. Still not a short answer, I know!

Like most people in insurance, I didn’t choose it as a career when I was at school. I was lucky enough to begin my career as an office junior with McLarens which set me off on the path I have travelled to get where I am today.

I have been a homeworker since 2012 but for the past year I have been undertaking a new role which sees me travelling to Milton Keynes for a good proportion of most weeks. So my day often starts off stuck on the M25! I manage a team of people who help to make sure we deliver our promises to our clients, they deal with implementation, reporting, data quality, data analysis and data visualisation, amongst a million other things! I think managing a team is the favourite part of my job. The work that we do is quite unique and hugely varied - even writing the various job descriptions was quite a challenge! I have several young professionals in my team and mentoring and training then gives me a lot of satisfaction.

With clients all over the globe, I do sometimes get to travel and if I am lucky I get to see more than just the airport the hotel and the office! Over the years I have made good friends in several countries and I truly hope that we remain in contact as those relationships have become about so much more than their insurance programmes.

I joined my local CII council over ten years ago. We are a team of around twenty volunteers who have a great deal of fun and gain a wonderful sense of ‘doing good’ as we work to make sure that our local members are getting the most from their membership. It is not totally selfless though as I am sure that the experience and exposure has played a major part in my career development. Being part of council has allowed me to push outside my comfort zone, in a safe environment and my confidence has grown immensely. I am certain that I would have not met so many people from all of the various different sectors of both the Insurance and Financial Sector had I not put my hat in the ring all those years ago.

If you’ve read this and feel like you’d like to find out more about what we do on council, please just reach out to any one of us, by email or at the next education/social event and we’ll be happy to talk to you - no pressure!

As I head into my final weeks as President, it just leaves me to say thank you all for your ongoing support and stay safe.

Until next time,

Sarah