A Day in the Life of... Jess Addison

Unlike most, I didn’t “fall” into insurance but instead chose it. At the ripe old age of 17 I’d been on a work experience week, travelled to London, toured Lloyds with a broker, looked out over the Gherkin whilst sat at my desk and well, that was it. I fell in love with the idea of an insurance career, the atmosphere and the people. Insurance was where I wanted to be.

For the past 4 years I have been part of the Willis Re division of Willis Towers Watson in Ipswich as an Accounts Controller. I started in the Specialty team initially, looking after an Aerospace portfolio and after two years moved over into International which is where I currently reside. I sit under the Asia Pacific umbrella predominantly looking after a book of Indonesian business. Every day is so different for me, from dealing with client requests or talking to my colleagues in Jakarta, no two days are the same. The main part of my role is to “move money”, inwards and outwards, premiums, claims, proportional and non-proportional treaty – you name it, I’ve moved it.

Reconciling accounts to enable these movements can sometimes be challenging, especially as we approach milestones such as year-end. However being part of a team that works cohesively together makes it so much easier to manage and makes coming to work every day worthwhile.

When I joined Willis Re, I started studying towards my ACII which I achieved in February this year. I really enjoyed studying (some may be questioning my genuineness here). I loved learning about Risk, Underwriting, Claims and EVEN Insurance Law; I actually felt a little lost when I qualified.

A lot of my journey in Insurance has been aided by the people I’ve met. I joined the local CII Council only 4 months after entering the Insurance Industry. At that time I was part of a pilot to help grow and promote a new Young Professionals Group (YPG). I have managed to keep some part of the “Young Professional” title, as I chair the Group, alongside being Treasurer. Please watch out for the Annual Christmas Curry Night in November organised by the YPG!

Council has helped me to understand the variety of roles amongst the Financial Services and Insurance Industry through bringing people together and building friendships I will treasure forever – I haven’t used a headshot here, but instead a picture of what was the YPG Committee at the time of our 2018 Annual Dinner (from left: Tom Chambers, Jess Addison, Laura Blyth, Oliver Watson); these are just some of the good friends I’ve made. I wouldn’t be the person I am without the support network of the people around me.

Besides from work, when I have some free time, I’m either out and about with my cocker spaniel Toby roaming the countryside, eating plenty of doughnuts, watching Disney films or more importantly making time for all those special people in my life.