Before starting his insurance career, Michael worked as an animator for twelve years. Eventually, Michael made the decision to switch careers and took a six week Career Exploration Course. Insurance Broker was in the top five results.
We sat down with Michael to discuss his career, SeaFirst, and the most common insurance questions he receives.
Here is what he had to say.
Q. What is your current position/role in Seafirst?
A. I am an Auto Insurance Advisor – ICBC Fleet and Garage Coordinator. I call the Saanichton branch home; however, I manage accounts across all of our branches.
Q. What brought you to Seafirst Insurance?
A. When it came time to move back to Victoria, after moving around for sixteen years, SeaFirst Insurance was my first choice as they had been in the area for as long as I can recall.
Q. What do you like best about being a broker? What brings you the highest level of satisfaction?
A. I like to learn and accomplishing a big project that requires a lot of problem solving.
Q. The top 3 fleet questions you receive from clients and your answers to those questions.
Q. I have five vehicles how come the discount from ICBC is not 63%?
A. Discount calculation has many factors. One factor is continuous, unbroken insurance history with no gaps in coverage for a period of three years. Another is if there was any chargeable claims in that last three year scan period, could be.
Q. Do I have to list new drivers?
A. No, listing drivers is not a requirement with ICBC fleet insurance.
Q. How will this claim affect my discount, should I file a claim?
A. Yes please, always notify ICBC of a possible claim situation. I review the discount offered and loss experience and review claim payout options if available.
Q. Your hobbies and/or interests.
A. I am a goalie in ice hockey and roller hockey. I like to draw, though I do not do it as much as I did in my past life. I like to watch YouTube for history, culture, ice hockey goalie tips, self-improvement, physiology, drum covers, music, film theory, whatever I can get my hands on to expand my knowledge.
Q. If you could have any career in the world (other than insurance broker) what would you choose ?
A. I guess my first answer is drummer; it is something I want to learn. I also want to get back into longsword martial arts. Another would be a therapist/counsellor, I find it a very fascinating subject.
Q. What is your particular areas of expertise or area you would like to be an expert in ?
A. I have nine years of insurance experience and focused on learning ICBC products like fleet, garage, prorate, farm and special coverages. I would like to continue to work on these skills and build a reputation that SeaFirst would be the best or one of the best commercial auto and special coverage insurers in the peninsula.
Q. Why is this your area of expertise / would like to be your area of expertise?
A. It seemed to me that not all ICBC products were viewed as the most interesting to learn. Therefore, I wanted to become invaluable and collect as many ICBC skills and knowledge as I can.
Q. What do you enjoy most about this type of insurance?
A. The complexity of it and clearing any misunderstanding of coverage.
