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Disaster insurance agency, the Earthquake Commission (EQC) has confirmed the new structure of its executive leadership team, aimed at improving performance in Canterbury claims settlements.
EQC refreshed its ranks with headline appointments including Paul Jepson and Renée Walker as two new deputy chief executives. Walker will manage the settling of Canterbury claims and lead government and stakeholder relations. Jepson will continue to lead EQC on technology and customer and claims.
“Paul and Renée are highly experienced senior leaders,” EQC chief executive Sid Miller said. “General manager Canterbury business unit Heidi Barlow supported the changes but decided not to apply for one of the new roles.”
A Canterbury Business Unit (CBU) has been set up to manage all remaining Canterbury earthquake claims. It will act as the customer’s first point of interaction, call centre and communication when settling their claims.
Miller noted that the new leadership team and organisation structure firm up interim changes made when chief customer officer Trish Keith left EQC in July.
“This change enables the further aligning and coordinating of the work that teams across EQC are doing,” Miller said. “We have made good progress in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Ministerial Advisor’s report, and this change will enable us to continue to build on this.
“We are also making improvements to our internal systems’ claim management processes so that EQC can adapt and respond to future events in New Zealand, enable communities to be more resilient in the event of a natural disaster, and with good customer experience and service being fundamental to that,” he added.
