ILC LEADER

Industry Leader Interview – Tim Goodman, Company Director, ICAB

Job title: Company Director

Employer: ICAB

Sector: Home Claims

2nd April 2020

What's the biggest Coronavirus related challenge facing your sector of the industry?

The biggest challenge we’ve faced so far was when Boris Johnson announced that hotels were closing. Following recent flooding around the UK, we have several families housed in hotels around the country. The announcement meant ICAB had to act fast to secure alternative accommodation for our customers. Fortunately, we have a highly dedicated, hard-working team and a great network of serviced apartments so we managed to get all our customers relocated safely.

How are you and your business dealing with this?

ICAB’s priority is ensuring our staff and policyholders are safe and our affected customers are looked after in suitable accommodation for however long this takes.

We are also planning with our suppliers for an anticipated uplift of claims when the industry gets back to normal.

What is the most important piece of leadership advice you can offer?

We’re all in this together.

It’s scary times for staff and business owners alike. I think the best leadership advice I can offer is to ensure you are communicating with your staff as much as possible.

What are your top tips for home-working productivity?

I have a call with my colleagues at 9AM every morning to set priorities and make a plan for the day. In this unusual scenario we find ourselves in, the most important thing is to trust your staff and to set a good example from the top.

What would be your overriding message to the industry right now?

It sounds a little cliché, but I think we need to all pull together. We’re all in the same boat and we can get through this if we help each other out as much as possible. I think the insurance industry have really stepped up and set a fantastic example for good customer service at a difficult time.