PROFILE
MECON Insurance At MECON, our passion is to deliver solutions and provide value to our brokers and clients through education, service and innovation. 02 9252 1040
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IN THIS magazine last year, MECON highlighted the changes the company had made to adapt to the pandemic. This year, it would seem ongoing change is the new normal. We’ve gone from remote working to a hybrid return to work; we launched our completely revamped broker platform, MECONLINE; and we’ve also added new faces to our leadership team – none better placed to talk to us about what’s next for MECON than new general manager (formerly Victorian state manager) Jon Denney. But first, a bit about Denney’s background. Denney has worked in the insurance industry since 1995, first in the UK and then in Australia since 2013. Like most of us, he ‘fell’ into insurance, though it sounds like it was more of a push. Once Denney had completed his university degree and worked for a while at a factory, his dad told him that after putting him through university he expected to see him get a career. And that’s just what he’s done – with experience spanning global insurers and underwriting agencies, in underwriting, distribution and management positions. So, why did Denney choose MECON? Initially, Denney met with MECON chief executive Glenn Ross, and Ross shared his vision for the company of ambitious growth while maintaining the culture of a close-knit family firm. Six years on, Denney now helps lead a team that’s proud to represent MECON, with low staff turnover and strong internal promotions. What’s Denney’s vision for MECON? “A lot of my vision is evolution, not revolution,” he says. “We’ve not grown by accident. We’ve grown through keeping brokers at the forefront of everything we do, by giving our brokers access to good products, service, claims and training. “In addition to our reputation and longevity – 18
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years! – one of our strengths as MECON is that we’re specialists; we don’t try to be everything to everyone. “On the flip side of that, the construction industry itself is facing challenges,” Denney adds. “You’ve seen builders going out of business, from the top end of town through to family companies, with the whole industry facing supply chain issues and material shortages. “It’s a complex class of business to write and manage, and a lot of brokers don’t specialise in construction. That’s where we come in – we’re here to make life easier for our brokers and guide them through understanding coverage, placing a risk, and walking them through claims as well. “Balance is a big part of our future plans, especially as we move into COVID normal. Our team is transitioning back to working in the office and continuing to give brokers that level of service and accessibility. But at the same time, we want to offer a degree of flexibility for the wellbeing of staff.” Balance is something Denney thinks is also required at the industry level. “The volatility of the insurance cycle doesn’t benefit anyone,” he says. “The focus has got to be on achieving profitable growth through underwriting discipline and flattening some of the soft and hard market waves. This will provide stability for policyholders so they’re not seeing huge premium swings. We need to look at ourselves as an industry and become more consistent.” And, given its award-winning products and claims service, MECON is well placed to continue to drive excellence and innovation into the future.
JON DENNEY, GENERAL MANAGER
INDUSTRY EXPERTS IN CONSTRUCTION AND CONTRACTORS’ PLANT For more information, contact: Sydney 02 9252 1040 | Brisbane 07 3146 0100 Melbourne 03 9421 6379 | Perth 08 9322 4529
CLIENT FEEDBACK “I’m writing in an effort to extend our gratitude for the efforts of MECON over the past 30-odd months. Whilst our family business has been covered by MECON since 2013, it wasn’t until we were challenged and faced the reality that everything we had worked so hard for was under threat that we realised the true strength of MECON. “The advice given by our broker was comforting and reassuring right from the beginning. The assessor MECON appointed reinforced and reassured my wife and my belief that someone ‘had our back’. “My wife and I, and my four children, cannot thank MECON enough for the protection, advice and reassurance provided during this difficult time. We will wait patiently for the outcome of the tribunal and hopefully celebrate the good result we have all worked towards.”
BROKER FEEDBACK “The client conveyed to me his appreciation of the attitude displayed by MECON in the management of the claim … I explained to Dave, who has been a long-standing client, that MECON is our first choice for construction insurance because of the philosophy of finding reasons to settle clients’ claims as opposed to avoiding or diminishing settlements opportunistically as some insurers do.” David Beard, MD Coastsure Insurance Brokers
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