Sedgwick's Daniel Palmer to speak at inaugural ANZIIF seminar

Specialist Liability and Cyber Chartered Loss Adjuster Daniel Palmer is working towards his goal of being Head of Cyber for Sedgwick New Zealand.

High quality outcomes

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, where he has lived his whole life, the 33-year-old insurance professional attended Massey High School in West Auckland up to year 13 but left to enter the workforce.

“I didn’t feel like I was making the most of my time at school,” says Palmer, who specialises as a cyber incident response manager working closely with industry-leading experts to provide rapid responses and high-quality outcomes.

As a storeman at a warehousing and logistics company, it wasn’t long before Palmer wanted to try something new. He and his partner, a real estate administrator both responded to an ad online asking for 12 people to be inducted as claims consultants with IAG.

“Funnily enough, we both got the job,” he recalls. “It was a great experience as we received a five-week classroom learning-style training, going over everything from what is a premium to what is an excess.

“I knew absolutely nothing about insurance when I started and by the end of the five weeks, I was ready to start taking calls and helping customers with private vehicle claims.”

Serendipity creates a career

Palmer says working in claims just clicked for him. “The job felt right, and I really enjoyed being able to help people in difficult times,” he says. “I knew straight away that I wanted to create a career working in this industry and that the opportunities for development seemed limitless.”

By the time he joined Sedgwick in 2019, he was an experienced professional with five years of experience in claims including roles with IAG brands and NZI under his belt. Palmer started his loss adjusting career in 2017 in a role at Godfrey’s Chartered Loss Adjusters.

Having handled claims ranging from the losses of everyday business to complex and technical commercial losses, including fire and earthquake, Palmer joined the MCL (Major and Complex Loss) Global Division in 2021. He became a Chartered Loss Adjuster in November 2023 after graduating from the MCL team under its “protégé scheme”.

Working to refine skills

With his experience in handling general and public liability claims, including damage to third party property, defective workmanship and contract works claims, Palmer works closely with senior liability adjusters always seeking to refine his skills.

“In my current role, there are endless opportunities and some challenges,” he says. “Opportunities include being able to assist overseas branches with CAT events, interacting with new people from all walks of life, and helping people.

 “As a loss adjuster, it’s my job to respond when an insured’s system has been hacked or compromised and it can’t operate. I get involved in helping to deal with the incident and working towards restoring the organisation to the position it was in before the incident.”

He says one of the main challenges of his role is managing expectations. “A lot of the time, things are outside our control and so it’s about ensuring lines of communication are open and that stakeholders are being provided with the most up to date and accurate information in a crisis,”

Also, in the cyber world, things change rapidly. “It is paramount to be on top of what’s happening, for example, attack vectors, attacker mentality, legal requirements and the best methods of responding to certain types of attacks,” he says.

Taking ownership of professional growth

As a result, ongoing growth and development are critical. “I would not be where I am today if I did not continue to take ownership of my own personal and professional development,” Palmer says. “No one is going to do this for you, and it all comes down to how much you want it.”

He adds that joining the Sedgwick MCL team under its “protégé scheme” required taking responsibility for building and fostering relationships with clients to receive work and instructions directly, as well as attending marketing and educational conferences and seminars.

“The protégé scheme was created specifically to help foster, nurture and mentor people like me to eventually graduate as fully-fledged MCL loss adjusters,” he explains.

“This process took me nearly three years and I successfully graduated in November 2023, having received my ANZIIF Diploma of Loss Adjusting and becoming a Chartered Loss Adjuster via AICLA.”

Mark of a great leader

As well as the ability to manage customer and stakeholder expectations, Palmer says strong communication skills are the mark of a great leader.

“Communication goes hand-in-hand with expectation management,” he says. “It is important to foster an open line of communication built on trust so that customers and stakeholders feel safe.”

In addition, Palmer points to the self-awareness to know when to ask for help.  “Not being afraid to ask for help may seem like a small thing but actually has a massive impact,” he says.

“Often, we put unrealistic expectations on ourselves and fear looking silly. In reality, trying to navigate a new scenario or situation without asking for help is the more unwise approach.”

He adds that as a loss adjuster, networking is a crucial component of his job. “Meeting new people who are connected to the insurance industry can mean a lifeline to experts you can call on in the event of a claim,” he says.

“Being able to interact face-to-face with new people and those I work with on a daily basis is the key to building and nurturing relationships which enable robust leadership.”

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