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Kerry D.

Head of Home Underwriting

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Top Insider Advice

Be open to change and grab opportunities that come your way to help you grow and develop yourself. Always have a growth mindset and don’t close down opportunities because you’re afraid that you can’t meet the challenge. Pushing yourself outside your usual skill set will help increase your confidence and show you what you’re capable of.

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Career path

Head of Home Underwriting

First Central

Started 01/2022 to Present

Head of Business Change

RSA Insurance

From 05/2020 to 12/2021

Motor Underwriting Manager

RSA Insurance

From 05/2017 to 05/2020

Company

What do you like about your job and the company?

Working on Home insurance is new to First Central and we are a small team within the company who are very focused and enthusiastic around what we want to achieve. I feel very lucky to work within a team of great people who love what they do and are focused on getting the best outcomes for both our customers and First Central.

Greatest achievements

The opportunity arose and I put myself forward – it felt like a bit of a leap, and I was nervous and second guessing myself, but I wanted to push myself into something new and ambitious. I had a small team, and we were really thrown in at the deep end, suddenly working in a large change project, which was also trying to implement agile methodology. It was a really challenging time as we had a number of deadlines to meet and there were a lot of stakeholders involved. I quickly saw that the key to success was to ensure that we really focused on our deliverables by creating ambitious but realistic plans that we stuck to. The team was small but had a variety of experience which we used well to plan and prioritise our output. We built our underwriting rules in record time and showed how quickly we could produce output within the organisation by embracing the agile methodology and focusing on one common goal.

Other insiders

Becky H

Finance Change Lead

Top Insider Advice

Had I not taken on a secondment I don’t think I would have found a role that I’m able to excel in and enjoy. This was a change to what I was used to as I’d never been part of a project team before. There were ups and downs but through my willingness to learn and put in effort I have found my niche and even now I don’t stop learning and understanding processes I may not have had exposure to in the past.

Angela W

Policy Review Specialist

Top Insider Advice

They often outweigh the negatives but get overlooked. Is a bad day really a bad day? Weigh it up and look for the positives. You’ll probably find it wasn’t so bad after all.

Adam W

Product Manager

Top Insider Advice

It sounds obvious, but sometimes it can be easy to perform the actions required for your role in a way that doesn’t best amplify your strengths. Be acutely aware of your own strengths and play to them, putting together a development plan for areas of improvement. I’d recommend developing your strengths too. Just because you’re naturally good at something doesn’t mean you should rest on your laurels. Have a mindset of wanting to move from the top 10% to top 1%. Always welcome feedback too whether it’s positive or constructive. Don’t take constructive feedback negatively, to be imperfect is to be human. We all have areas we can improve on.

Discussions with Kerry D
Whats the best thing about working at FC?
in Career Tips·Friday, April 28, 2023
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2 responses
85 views
What does growth and development look like here?
in Career progression·Tuesday, May 9, 2023
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3 responses
154 views
What is the work-life balance like in your role?
in Career Tips·Thursday, March 23, 2023
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5 responses
191 views
What motivates you about your role?
in Career Tips·Tuesday, November 7, 2023
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2 responses
18 views
Hello Kerry D, how do you leverage Data Analytics in underwriting with Automation?
in Application support·Thursday, January 25, 2024
1 response
22 views