Before Lita heads out of the door to catch her morning train to work there’s 20 minutes to watch a sneaky bit of the box set of Downton Abbey. Lita didn’t get to watch it first time round and there’s a lot to catch up on.
Lita is at her desk in Greenfield Insurance Services’ Park Gate office by 8.30 ready to start her day. A check of her inbox is first on her list, have any urgent enquiries come in overnight? It’s been a quiet night for once so Lita can get straight on with contacting her renewal customers.
Lita has been working at Greenfield Insurance since 2005. As the High Net Worth manager of the Executive Home Cover division Lita deals with all aspects of personal lines insurance – high value contents, buildings and motor as well as holiday homes, let properties and travel.
First on her list is Mr O’Brien* whose home contents policy is due for renewal in 2 weeks. Lita gives him a call to go through his requirements and check whether his sums insured have changed over the last year. He confirms that the £40,000 for his art and £20,000 for jewellery are at the right level so Lita is happy to go back to the original insurers to get a quote. But it’s not great news. The premium has gone up a considerable amount despite no changes to the sums insured.
Lita gets into action and goes out to the market to see if she can get a better offer. Having been in the insurance business for 40 years she know exactly which are the best underwriters to contact and can spot any minor differences in the small print to ensure Mr O’Brien gets exactly the same cover. She’s managed to get a range of quotes back from £1200 to £1700 but rather than move the insurance she goes back to the original underwriters to negotiate a cheaper premium. Lita has a good relationship with them and know they handle claims very well which is why she recommended them to Mr O’ Brien in the first place. They agree to lower their quote so she calls Mr O’Brien with the good news and gets the renewal paperwork in place.
Next up is a call from Mrs Crawley*. She’s had a leak in the radiator pipe in her dressing room and the damage has spread to the dining room below. Lita reassures her that it will all be sorted out (the last claim she had like this was settled within 2 weeks) and tells her not to throw away any damaged items because the underwriters may well want to see them. She makes a call to the underwriters right away to report the claim and diaries to call them again tomorrow to determine whether they have appointed loss adjusters and what the latest update is. A final call back to Mrs Crawley to let her know that all is in hand.
In the afternoon Lita receives a call from Mrs Vaudray*. She lives in a £4m property with her family in South West London with fine art and antiques worth over £500,000. They have been with Executive Home Cover for the past 8 years. They are in the process of buying another investment property to let out in Padstow and need to arrange insurance. Lita loves the challenge of working in the high net worth insurance market. Each client has a very individual set of circumstances and Lita never quite knows what the day will entail and whose problems she needs to resolve.
It was a chance of fate that led her to insurance. Back when she was 17 years, her mum called up Hill House Hammond in Southampton to get a quote for her brother’s motor bike insurance. At the time Lita was working in a loans office and looking for a new challenge. Her mum happened to ask if there were any jobs there and her career in insurance began. Lita stayed there 28 years until they were bought out and she started with Greenfield a year later.
Lita’s got through her list of renewals and new quotes and chased up on the claims. At 5 o’clock it’s time to head home. Tonight is her weekly Am Dram group in Hamble and they are rehearsing for their upcoming play Calendar Girls (her role doesn’t involve taking her clothes off!)
A busy day and nearly time for bed but not before another catch up on Downton Abbey. That Matthew Crawley and Mary make a lovely couple…..just the Christmas episode to finish off tonight…..she always loves a happy ending……..
Find out about the rest of the Greenfield team here.
To contact Lita with your insurance enquiry please call 01489 579808.
*All names have been changed
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