Everyone has a childhood dream – and Delta Insurance senior claims handler Fleur Goodyear’s dream was to join the police. However, some twists and turns in life led her to the insurance industry.
Goodyear (pictured) spoke to Insurance Business about how she tried to join the police, got introduced to the insurance industry along the way, then fell in love with the industry.
“The police inspired me into the insurance industry. My childhood dream was to join the police because I liked the idea of being at the coalface and helping out in the community. I did a police confidence course at high school and was the only one to finish in time,” Goodyear explained.
After finishing school, she applied to become a part of law enforcement but was informed that she needed to fulfil some qualifications – leading her to fall into the insurance industry.
“I was thinking about doing law but they told me they’ve got enough lawyers and they needed people with business nous so I studied business at AUT,” she said. “I applied to join the police again after graduating and they told me to get some work experience. After six months of working in insurance, I couldn’t be bothered going for round three … and taking a pay cut … so here I am!”
Goodyear jumpstarted her career as a receptionist/broker’s assistant at Inbroke, which was run by Kerry Wilson with the aim to provide local brokers with a wholesale broking facility.
“We insured brothels, twins, rubber duck races, hole in one competitions, old pubs etc. It was a great introduction into the insurance market,” Goodyear said. “After two years at Inbroke, I did my OE and went to the UK for four years. I met my husband there and we finally decided to come back to New Zealand. Since then I’ve worked for a number of organisations including QBE, AIG, and Marsh, and now here I am at Delta.”
With more than 17 years of financial lines claims handling experience, Goodyear has plenty of words of wisdom for those who are interested in entering the industry.
“Always operate with honesty and integrity and fight the battles you believe in. Claims is a really interesting area to work in and everyone knows each other in the business. It’s important to have really good relationships with others and it’s helped me to work through difficult issues in a more constructive way,” Goodyear advised.
“I suppose there’s also a bit of the detective in me that makes the insurance industry appealing, much like the police force. You have to be a private investigator of sorts and not take everything at face value. Trust your instinct, if something doesn’t feel right, investigate further.”
However, she warned that working in insurance could be quite challenging, particularly in financial lines claims – “so it’s important to have empathy, understanding, and a desire to do the right thing.”
“You always see people at their worst because you’re working in conflict situations. They’re worried, they’re angry, they’re sad,” she explained. “It’s important to have highly-tuned skills when it comes to dispute resolution. You need to work together to try and create an outcome that might not be liked by all parties, but at least acceptable to all parties.”
