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Unfortunately, the recent COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on many small businesses across the country, including 52-year-old Ellen Winfield’s accident repair centre in Bristol. This meant that, in September of last year, it was forced to close its doors.
“The business had a really good reputation,” Ellen explains. “It was a shame that after 20 years it had to come to an end – especially due to circumstances outside of our control. It was such a drastic life change that came completely out of the blue, so it was very difficult to process.”
One of the major challenges that the mother-of-three had to contend with when she lost her business was finding work…
“I started looking for work as early as September. But the only things I was being offered involved a day of work here and there, and you can’t run a household on that.
“It was a very strange time for me. As a small business owner, I went from working 60 or 70 hours a week to doing nothing at all. So I had to come up with creative ways to fill my time. Part of this was spending endless hours on job websites, and sadly, for a long time, it was to no avail.”
However, in May of this year, Ellen’s hard work and perseverance were finally rewarded when she was offered a role as a household claims handler at Ageas Insurance, one of the UK’s largest home and car insurance providers. Currently undertaking Ageas’ six-week training process, we caught up with Ellen to discuss her journey so far…
“I was looking for a job where I can feel like I’ve made a positive change in someone’s life”
Throughout her job search, Ellen found herself running into many of the same challenges that lots of people do when looking for work as an older adult.
Ellen says, “The main problem was that I was constantly being told that I was ‘overqualified’. It’s true that I have accumulated a lot of qualifications and experience over the years. For example, I ran my own business and I’m also a qualified damage assessor. But sadly, you know you’ve hit that age barrier when companies begin to rule you out based on you having too much professional experience.
“One interview in particular jumps to mind. It was for a vehicle estimator role. The person interviewing me said that I’d be bored doing it. Though, at that point, I would have been happy doing anything. You can’t judge somebody like that because they might be happy in a role that’s not as challenging as the one they had before.”
After running an accident repair business for 20 years, a job that she explains, “ran at 100 miles an hour”, Ellen herself was looking for a position that wasn’t quite as demanding as her previous one…
“It was a very intense job. To run a small business, you have to sacrifice a massive chunk of your personal life. The pressure is really high because it’s your name above the door. So after losing my business, the two things I was looking for were stability and a role where, at the end of the day, I can feel like I’ve made a positive change in someone’s life.”
Ellen’s way of thinking can be good advice for people looking for work at any stage of their lives. Instead of focusing on specific job roles, it can be helpful to consider what you want from your next opportunity. Would you like more flexibility? Do you want to feel a sense of reward at the end of the day? Questions like these can open up your options and perhaps encourage you to consider roles that you otherwise wouldn’t have.
At this time, there weren’t many jobs available in the insurance industry, so Ellen found herself applying for a wide range of roles; submitting as many as 40 applications a day. Although, one day, she had an idea…
“Out of all the insurance companies that I dealt with, Ageas was always the best”
Ellen says, “I’d had dealings with Ageas for many years when I was running the body shop. I used to speak to them often, as we’d repair lots of vehicles for their clients. And what I found was, out of all the insurance companies that I dealt with – and there was a lot, believe me – Ageas was always the best.
“You could tell that all the staff that worked there were happy, and as a customer, you’d get lots of support. They were always very open and approachable. So one day, I was going through my old phonebook and I thought, ‘I wonder if Ageas has any roles available.’”
After looking on the Ageas website and seeing that there were roles being advertised, Ellen wasted no time putting her application in. Before long, she was invited for her first interview in early May.
“The interview process was excellent. Between my first and second interviews, Ageas sent me a load of information on interview techniques, things to prepare, and questions to ask. This means that if you’re not confident in an interview situation, or you haven’t been interviewed for a long time, you’ve got all the tools that you need to do well. I found this very refreshing.
“Ageas also have a very human approach towards both their clients and employees. I’m part of the company’s first remote household claims team, and when they sent us all of our equipment, I noticed a little box. It contained things like a notepad, pens, and a water bottle, as well as a plant with a message that said something like, ‘Plant this and, like your career, it will grow.’
“However, the main thing that stood out to me was a book on mindfulness. They’d obviously considered how working remotely could affect your mental health. It’s things like this that show that Ageas is constantly thinking about staff wellbeing.”
“The training makes sure that you’re up to speed and not only that you’re able to do the job, but that you’re comfortable doing it”
Household claims handlers are the first point of contact for many Ageas customers. When an incident happens in the home – such as theft, accident, or flood – household claims handlers are there to gather all of the relevant evidence and information, judge whether the claim can be settled, and support people through the claims process.
“The training has been absolutely phenomenal,” Ellen tells us. “Having actually started my career in household claims back in 1986, it’s been like a refresher course for me. But there are people on the team who’ve never worked in the insurance industry before and they’ve covered all the bases.
“It’s a six-week training course, and it’s very intensive, but they hold your hand through every step of the process. At first, you have lots of Zoom classes. Then, you buddy up with someone who’s already on the job, so you can watch how they do things. And tomorrow, we’re going to be taking our first calls, but we’re being shadowed. So if we get stuck, they can take over.
“Ageas don’t chuck anyone in at the deep end. The training makes sure that you’re up to speed and not only that you’re able to do the job, but that you’re comfortable doing it.”
“By the time we’re 50, we’ve gone through a variety of different things and this can give us a better understanding of how somebody else is feeling”
While Ellen has been immensely enjoying the training at Ageas, she reminds us that, as with any role, there are some challenges to contend with.
She says, “There’s no getting away from it – sometimes a claim can be very upsetting. So being able to remain calm in difficult situations is key to being a good household claims handler. A big part of the job is about making the customers feel more reassured, so having good customer service skills and the ability to empathise are also a must.
“These sorts of traits come with life experience. By the time we’re 50, we’ve gone through a variety of different things, including a fair few difficult experiences.
“This can give us a better understanding of how somebody else is feeling and you can put yourself in their place a little more easily. So as an older adult, you’ll already be in a good place to start a role like this.”
Reflecting on her time running the accident repair centre, Ellen is looking forward to this new opportunity, as it’ll help her to live a more balanced lifestyle and spend more time with her family…
“It’s definitely going to offer a better work-life balance. To be honest, as a mother of three children, it’s not until now that I look back and see how much my children probably missed out on when I was running the accident repair centre – the standard things like family holidays – because my work was so intense. I would start at seven in the morning and not finish until nine o’clock at night, and that would run across six days.
“My team have been laughing at me all week because I’ve been saying, ‘You get time off for this? Goodness me, you get bank holidays off! What are they?’ I haven’t experienced that up until now. I know it sounds silly but it’s one of the things that we take for granted. My youngest is visually impaired, so it’s also really great to be able to work from home.”
Final thoughts…
After the shock of losing her business and months worth of searching for roles, Ellen is now looking forward to completing her training and starting her new adventure as a household claims handler with Ageas. And despite the difficulty of the past year, she remains optimistic about the future…
She says, “As I said, after losing my business, one of the things I was looking for in a job was stability. Landing at Ageas has given me the piece of mind that I’ve found my professional forever home. So I’ll hopefully stay here until I decide to retire.
“My career change came about in a funny way. I didn’t want it, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it. I absolutely loved what I did, but sadly the rug got pulled out from under my feet.
“So, to anyone who’s thinking about making a change or currently looking for work, I would say, ‘Embrace the opportunities that come towards you in life.’ Don’t rule anything out. It can be easy to look at a job description and say, ‘That’s not for me.’ But until you try it, you won’t know. You’ve got nothing to fear but fear itself.”
If you’re interested in a position at Ageas Insurance, there’s a wide range of jobs available on our website. From a household claims handler to an IT developer, there’s sure to be a role for you.