Liability Insurance through the eyes of a 9-year-old.

A good question from my 9-year-old daughter trying to understand what I do for a living. And to avoid going to bed. Even a lesson in commercial liability insurance is better than dealing with the monotony of the bedtime routine apparently.

How do you answer that question in a succinct and stimulating way? It’s hard enough to excite and explain to a bunch of brokers at BIBA or Cii accredited clients and coverholders at an MGAA conference. But how do you make the complexities of compliance and the nuances of underwriting risk sound fascinating to a curious 9-year-old that you are desperate to impress!

How about using the Wikipedia definition?

Liability insurance is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser (the “insured”) from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims and protects the insured if the purchaser is sued for claims that come within the coverage of the insurance policy.

Bit heavy going maybe.

So how about Tara Foley’s explanation,“Insurance is the democratisation of risk – there’s nothing more purposeful than that.”

Bit showy-offy perhaps.

Plus, I didn’t think bedtime was the appropriate moment to quote the CEO of AXA UK & Ireland. So, this is how my lesson went…

Me: Liability Insurance helps protect people and businesses when things go wrong.

Daughter: So, a bit like a policeman or a superhero?

Me: (desperate to ‘yes’ to get some mum kudos!) Not quite. Insurance companies pay out money if something bad happens so that the company doesn’t go out of business. And it helps people if they get ill or injured at work.

Daughter: like a nurse?

This career advice was going badly.

Daughter: Can I get some insurance, so I don’t have to go to school?

Me: No, you can’t. Night night.

Daughter: Why not?  Lots of bad things happened at school today. Alice fell over and cut her knee playing tig. Well Joe pushed her, but nobody believed her. And I lost my favourite rubber. I need money to buy a new rubber.

Me: I’ll buy you one. You don’t need insurance.

Daughter: So, what’s the point if the insurance won’t get me a new rubber or Alice a plaster for her knee?

It’s a fair point. Maybe one to explain during tomorrow’s bedtime ritual.

Daughter: Do I have to do insurance when I’m older like you?

Me: No sweetheart. You can do whatever you want to do.

Daughter: Good. I’m still going to be an actress or a singer then. Insurance sounds boring. And pointless if you can’t even get a new rubber.

And just like that my 25-year career in insurance is diminished to being boring and pointless.

*Stops there, knowing this isn’t the time or the place for a masterclass in liability insurance*

Leaving her bedroom downhearted to reflect on my career choice, as I kiss her goodnight, I’m thrown a lifeline.

Daughter: Mummy, does Taylor Swift get insurance?

Me: Yes, she does. Everybody needs insurance. It’s very important because it contributes to…

Daughter interrupting and suddenly interested: Does Irwell give it to her free because she’s famous?

This is my one chance to rescue my career choice credibility…