One sense of humour required to work with Cornish characters

Being a good listener, having a sense of humour and an outgoing personality are three traits that Jackie Coutts says are needed to be an effective insurance inspector working in the depths of rural Cornwall.

“There are many characters, particularly in farming, that I come across every day but that is what makes my job so exciting and different”, says Jackie. The 39 year old from Praa Sands is one of a handful of female Inspectors working for Cornish Mutual. Her patch covers much of West Cornwall including Camborne, Penzance, Helston and the Isles of Scilly.

She continues, “It's such a unique job - one minute you can be up to your knees in mud next to a herd of cows and the next walking across a golf course discussing claim forms or premiums. It's so varied and that's what makes it interesting. You need to understand customer needs and be able to communicate with all types of people.”

Jackie adds, “Both my parents were farmers in Stithians and having grown up with two brothers and being part of the young farming community, which is mostly made up of males, you tend to take things in your stride so being a woman in this business is never a problem.”

She has been working for the company for over five years but concedes her biggest challenge was getting started, “At the beginning, the existing Inspector was retiring after 40 years, so not only was a female taking over his patch, but as he'd been there for a good length of time, customers were a bit cautious about me at first, but not any more.”

Jackie, who is married with a two year old son and enjoys a round of golf in her spare time, has been in insurance for over 22 years. She left school to start out as an office junior and worked her way up through the ranks.

She believes in the future of farming in Cornwall, despite current difficulties, and is equally optimistic about Cornish Mutual, “It's moving with the times and I love working for the company, we're increasingly insuring more non-farming businesses and now offer a wide range of products including home and Let Property insurance. It's about job satisfaction for me personally and meeting different people and being able to help them out.”


News brought to you by www.cornishmutual.co.uk