~ Geobear hires Ashley Stevens to head up insurance portfolio ~
Global geotechnical asset management company Geobear has appointed Ashley Stevens as commercial director for insurance, UK, beginning in August. Stevens has 22 years’ experience in insurance and ground engineering and holds membership of chartered institutions for surveying, loss adjusting, building, building engineering and party wall matters. The Geobear leadership felt that Stevens represented too exciting an opportunity to pass up, so they moved quickly to secure him to lead the company’s UK insurance offering.
Stevens joins Geobear after running his own business, Ashley Stevens Surveying Ltd. He will bring excellent technical skills and experience, which are difficult attributes to find in the narrow field of domestic subsidence insurance. His comprehensive experience across various organisations in the insurance industry will be of great benefit to Geobear and its clients.
In recruiting Stevens, Geobear has hired one of few insurance consultants truly qualified to direct its policy on domestic subsidence. Having worked in subsidence insurance consultancy for more than 13 years collectively for Crawford & Company, a global insurance solutions provider, Stevens has the technical background to excel in his new role, where his new responsibilities include strategy development, policy procurement and compliance.
“Geobear is known throughout the industry as a pioneer. From the outside, I’ve admired it for the boldness and conviction with which it operates, unafraid to offer alternative solutions if they’re better” reflected Stevens. “I’m looking forward to being a part of that operation and doing my bit to defend homeowners around the UK from subsidence.”
“A lot of our clients are already familiar with Ashley, given his experience in handling subsidence claims and managing subsidence teams in the insurance sector,” explained Simon Hughes, managing director at Geobear UK. “His experience, connections and his authority within the industry will enable him to be very effective.”
Stevens replaces Chris Carlton, who leaves the company at the end of September. Carlton has performed admirably in the commercial director of insurance role; during his tenure, he has cemented Geobear’s position as a key provider of subsidence solutions to the insurance and social housing sectors. This has enabled the company to build relationships with all major insurers and loss adjusters in the UK.
“When we learned of Chris’s decision to leave, we wanted to find a replacement speedily. However, we weren’t going to compromise on the quality of our new director,” Hughes continued. “With Ashley, we’ve secured the best candidate, and done it quickly, to ensure a seamless transition for our clients.”
“We know Ashley’s reputation very well from the market. As part of Geobear, he will help us continue to reduce claim duration, increase sustainability and decrease the costs of handling subsidence insurance claims,” said Otso Lahtinen, CEO at Geobear.
To read more about Geobear’s leadership in the UK, see the whole team here: https://www.geobear.co.uk/uk-team/
