Risk expertise is a vital part of an insurance broker’s job, which is why working at an insurance company puts many in good stead to switch careers.
Runacres domestic broker and Insurance Business Young Gun 2019 Kate Baldwin (pictured) started her career at NZI, where she worked with brokers to secure cover for clients while also learning the ins and outs of how insurance advice operated. After a number of years with the insurer, Baldwin decided to make the move – and she hasn’t looked back since.
“I first entered the broking industry after a few years of working for NZI – I joined the dark side, so to speak!” Baldwin told Insurance Business. “An opportunity came up at Runacres for a domestic broker support role that couldn’t say ‘no’ to.”
“Working for NZI I gained an understanding of how the broking world worked, and I managed to build relationships with key broking partners including Runacres, who had an excellent reputation in the market,” Baldwin continued. “So when the opportunity came, up I jumped at the chance to join them.”
When it comes to the job itself, Baldwin says the best thing about it is also the biggest challenge – and that’s when a client comes in with a particularly difficult or complex risk. Nonetheless, securing cover for a client with a ‘hard to place’ risk involving red zones, TC3 land or flood zones is also incredibly rewarding, and Baldwin says she would now like to see brokers focus on educating clients about the intricacies of insurance, especially as it relates to higher-risk properties.
“Education is definitely one of the biggest challenges in the domestic space,” Baldwin said. “For example, things like earthquake underwriting are still very much alive, which people often do not realise. This is only going to get harder as time goes on, and as part of my role I aim to educate as many clients on the insurance process as possible.”
“Ten years from now, I would hope to lead a large Runacres domestic team, looking after all the domestic business across all our offices,” Baldwin concluded. “I want to allow our commercial brokers to do what they do best, knowing our team has the domestic business looked after.”
