Q. What’s your most memorable career achievement?

A. Launching the first broker “pay as you drive” telematics insurance policy in September 2008 with Coverbox. It changed the way young driver insurance now works and I am convinced that it has saved many lives. It also set me on a path that I have enjoyed immensely and gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of very interesting and fun people in the insurance world. Creating companies from the ground up, learning and pivoting when it goes wrong, and facing challenges day after day, but really benefiting from the success, has led me to helping others now, and I get just as much enjoyment from that.

Q. What has been the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received?

A. Listen. You have two ears and one mouth, use them in equal proportions. Not that I’m very good at it, but I definitely get more from communication if I try!

Q. What has been the key positive and/or negative impact of change in your area of the market?

A. Positive – the use of data to validate the risks we take on at inception. The data sets available from Experian, Lexis, etc. were game changing in an aggregator distribution world where consumers could change answers digitally to better the price. The temptation was there and multiple quotes were made. Being able to validate the answers instantly via the databases de-risks that distribution model. Negatively – the same distribution model, whilst it has enormous benefits in terms of ease for the consumer, has destroyed broker/customer relationships and created a price-focused market in the UK.

Q. If you were not in your current position, what would you like to be doing, and why?

A. I would love to have been a criminal defence barrister, but there is no money in it! I find the whole court “theatre” fascinating, and the ability to persuade and convince a jury, tell a story, and know the law is an amazing skill.

Q. What three items would you put on display in a museum of your life, and why?

A. A family photograph comes first. I had a wonderful life with my parents, sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins growing up, and I would have a group photo of all of us from the eighties at a family “do”. My Irish passport, not only does it allow me to travel freely around Europe, which I like to do, it is a reminder of the history of my family and how important they are in who I am today. A postcard of Naples in Florida, it’s where I got engaged to my husband and where I have spent many lovely holidays.

Q. What three guests would you invite to a dinner party?

A. Peter O’Toole, Peter Ustinov and Richard Burton. All dead now, but I think it would be a fun party, though I might be dead by the end of it.