12 October 2022
I originally trained as a Sports & Development Coach, which took me down the personal training and fitness route and I loved it! I worked in fitness clubs full-time for about four years before reducing my hours to part-time so that I could take up a position in the Scottish Ambulance Service. This was an exciting job, and I learned a lot about dealing with challenging situations. However a few years down the line I decided it wasn’t what I wanted to do long term. So, I left the UK to travel round the world and experience different cultures by working and living abroad.
I ended up in the Customer Service and Sales sector, which was diverse, and challenging, but also a lot of fun and in turn has helped me get to where I am today. When I came back to the UK in 2007, I joined Kindertons as a Claims Handler – the interaction with customers was something I enjoyed and the role helped me learn and develop that passion to excel, and above all “make things happen”
Fifteen years later I am now Head of Deployment Services. I am driven to lead the team in a way that enables them to do the best they can and have created an environment that helps them to perform. It’s very fast-paced and objective driven, which means keeping a close eye on how we’re performing is critical. My ethos is that we should always aim to ‘make something happen’ for our customers – and it’s a phrase that is embedded into the structure and approach of our teams. We’re here to deliver a service and so we need to do everything we possibly can to make it happen, time and time again. It’s important that we are honest and act with integrity at all times, always doing the best we can to achieve the expectation of our customers.
But it’s not always easy!
The vehicle insurance sector is complex and there are lots of aspects of the claims process that aren’t necessarily well understood by the customer - so they aren’t always aware of who is helping them with their claim and why, I believe we need to be open, honest and take full accountability at every opportunity to ensure that our customers know that we are here to HELP and care about them as individuals.
One of the biggest challenges I have seen in the past two years is the shortage of new vehicle availability. The reduced production capacity of vehicle manufacturers, caused firstly by Covid and now being affected by the war in Ukraine, has resulted in a massive shortage of vehicles in the rental sector. This causes complexities for our Deployment Team when trying to source a suitable hire vehicle for the client following their accident. We’re having to work harder and smarter than ever to ensure the client’s vehicle requirements are met within a timely manner. However, we’ve found that educating our clients about the challenges being faced has helped manage their expectations and the majority are more than understanding in the event of any short delays.
Not only has the shortage of new vehicles affected our hire vehicle provision, it is also impacting our clients whose vehicles are deemed a total loss following the accident. Demand for second-hand vehicles has increased and with that, so have used-vehicle prices. It’s now far more difficult for the customer to buy a similar vehicle when theirs has been made a total loss - especially if it wasn't a relatively new vehicle to start with. Again, our Total Loss and Salvage Teams are having to work with our clients more than ever to ensure a positive outcome and to ensure they are put back in the same position as they were prior to the accident.
The past two years has presented many challenges and I’m sure there will be more to come, however, I’m pleased how with we’ve adapted to overcome everything that’s been put in front of us.