Aimee Henderson
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Tell us about yourself and your business
I joined the Insurance industry in 2007, starting in New Zealand before relocating to Perth. I believe Insurance is about real life, and I love to help people by talking about it and making sure they are prepared and covered properly for things they don’t think will happen. When a catastrophe hits, their insurance comes into play. It’s real life, and I am passionate about educating people and finding ways to make it real for them. I believe my strength is in using my experience alongside real examples to genuinely help people understand why their insurance matters for their unique situation.
Grace Insurance is a boutique brokerage with our head office based in Joondalup, WA. We have offices in NSW and Victoria and we service clients all across Australia. We specialize in Business Insurance for SME clients.
Please visit https://graceinsurance.com.au/
What was the journey that brought you to your current role?
I joined the insurance industry in 2007 in New Zealand, beginning in a processing role before moving into a broker support position with a large global firm in Wellington. I moved from the health and benefits team into commercial property, learning and developing on the job to become a broker in my own right and obtaining a Diploma in Financial Services (Insurance Broking).
Relocating to Perth late in 2018 and taking time to settle, I turned my focus back to my insurance career, moving to Grace Insurance in June 2020 where I have worked my up from a Broker role up to WA State Manager / Senior Broker.
Whilst my initial attraction to insurance was an employment opportunity, it quickly became clear I had made the right decision as the industry’s potential sparked a deep passion in me for helping people.
What’s behind your success?
Passion. I have a strong passion for the Insurance industry and helping people which go hand in hand. I have a passion for excellent customer service, always striving to go above and beyond for all my clients.
Drive. Drive to be successful and build my career by continually educating myself and making it a point to align myself with other people in the industry who share my passion.
What’s a mistake you’ve made that you’ll never make again?
Not keeping a client informed.
When you don’t keep a client informed whether it is a claim, a policy renewal, changes to the market or anything that affects their coverage, it exposes the clients assets and they are generally not too happy if there is an exposure they are not aware of and don’t have the opportunity to rectify.
What’s the one secret about your field or industry you wish everyone knew?
How easy it is to keep your client happy. Take the time and effort to make all your clients feel important by learning about them and their business, educating them on their insurances and just be available to them when they need.
You should essentially become part of their team
What are your predictions for the industry for the next few years?
Technology will evolve and continue to develop to make things “easier” for brokers. Although this will assist, it takes a lot of the human touch element away from broking. Those that maintain the face to face relationships will thrive – customers at the end of the day want to know their broker cares and doesn’t just send an invoice every year with no personal contact.
What’s your main goal for the year ahead?
Continue to grow our portfolio in WA whilst leading a dynamic, high performing team to success
What are the biggest problems you face when dealing with MGAs, underwriters or insurers?
The biggest problem is communication. When you contact an Insurer or underwriter and get no response, it affects the client. Most insurers have only generic inboxes or 1300 numbers and you don’t have a specific person you can contact to get issues sorted.
Insurers or underwriters should form part of our business relationship with the client. Sometimes we need them to review rates and assist in a hard market but a lot are not open to assisting.
There’s just no personal relationships anymore
Follow Aimee on LinkedIn and Grace Insurance
