What team have you been working in and what areas do they cover?
I have been working in the Health and Protection Team where we consider all things to do with health insurance. Whether this would be looking at the incentives surrounding health insurance provisions or the impact that a law could have on life insurance policies. Our team work closely with medical professionals, charitable organisations, government and our members to provide solutions on challenges affecting the health of the nation.
What has your role involved?
For a bit of context, in 2023, the Department of Work and Pensions reported that occupational health coverage in the UK stands at about 51% which was considerably less compared to our counterparts in Europe. Combined with a soaring rise in economic inactivity due to long-term and short-term illness following the pandemic it’s clear that more can be done to create a resilient workforce that can help to drive economic growth. Whist it could be difficult to follow our friends in Europe with mandatory occupational health provisions, an implicit lever could be changing the reporting requirements for firms with regards to employee benefits. My role has been to focus on policy exploration with regards to disclosing employee benefits and to try and understand what this could look like.
What has been exciting about my role is that this is a relatively new policy area for governments who are currently discussing how they approach non-financial reporting requirements.
Describe a typical day for you at the ABI?
There is always something new to do at the ABI which reflects the constantly shifting world of insurance. A lot of my time has been spent researching any developments regarding reporting requirements as well as catching up with any additional updates that are affecting the ABI, or the insurance industry, be it press coverage or events in which the industry is being approached to give their input. I tend to set myself a to-do list in the morning which can help choose what tasks to prioritise.
Did you know anything about the insurance industry before you joined the ABI?
If you were to suggest to me 5 years ago that I would be working in the insurance industry I would’ve laughed. Prior to joining I knew very little about the industry and even less about its acronyms! Having recently graduated in economics I knew a thing or two about incentives and mechanism design which has been useful to draw upon during my time at the ABI.
I think one aspect that I found quite satisfying was getting up to speed with not only health insurance policies but also the political changes which can affect our industry, the general election being a prime example.
What’s been the best thing about working here?
I would say that it’s the people. Everyone in the ABI truly stands for its values and are really helpful in providing much needed support to help me settle in or do my work
What skills have you improved during your time here?
I think some of the skills that I gained were those that you simply can’t learn through textbooks or lectures but from experience. Being given the responsibility to take ownership of my work enabled me to develop a plethora of soft skills, in addition to learning how we go about evaluating suitable policies, which was something that I was eager to learn at the beginning of my internship.
What most surprised you about working here?
What surprised me most was how interdepartmental my work was. Often, I would liaise with our other teams such as DEI, Public Affairs or Prudential teams to get a better understanding of their perspectives and additional considerations. As a result, I didn’t just learn about the policy space surrounding health and protection services but gained a much more holistic understanding of the insurance industry itself and the work that the ABI does across departments.
What advice would you have for anyone who thinking of applying to an internship?
I would say go for it. If you are unsure what the insurance sector is like or about policy advising, the best way to learn is to experience it for yourself. Researching what the ABI is and what work they can do will go a long way in helping you to settle in. I think another thing to consider is how do you align yourself with ABI’s values. These values are crucial in providing the wonderful work environment at the ABI, so really getting a firm grasp of this would also be very beneficial.
If you're interested in an internship at the ABI then please visit our current vacancies page