Broker profile: 'I learnt through conversation and building relationships'

Stefanie Clarke is a second-generation broker, following in the footsteps of her father Tim, the Director at North East Insurance Brokers which has offices in Victoria’s flood-affected Mooroopna, Yarrawonga and Deniliquin.

Have you been flat out with the latest flood catastrophe?

It has been pretty crazy. Everyone’s just running on survival mode I think. We were all getting a bit of momentum after covid lockdowns, especially the businesses out there, and then these floods – it’s pretty devastating for them, kind of blow after blow.

The majority of clients that we’re hearing from that have been flooded are in the Mooroopna and Shepperton area and we have been contacted by clients through Deniliquin who are concerned about a lot of heavy rain coming this week. Seymour has been hit quite badly as well.

We’re just doing what we can to support them at the moment. It’s a matter of the water lowering and just a really messy clean up at the moment. It’s going to be dirty and tough for those affected for quite a while.

The causeway between Shepperton and Mooroopna is accessible now, that was actually cut off for quite a while so it’s good that people can at least travel between and, fingers crossed, it’s not too much longer before we can get in there and get everything cleaned up.

I’m now living down in Melbourne, so looking out my window it’s pretty hard to believe what’s going on out there when I see the news.

Just over a week ago they were bracing for the Goulburn River to peak at around 4am. I can’t even imagine that feeling, just waiting for water to come up.

Where did you grow up?

In Yarrawonga since starting high school. I joined the family business in around 2015, about a month after I finished my VCE at Golden Valley Grammar School in Shepperton. Dad offered me some admin work as a gap-year position because I was a bit unsure of what exactly I wanted to do with my career.

That first year, I’d go out with dad on most of his client reviews. Starting out that way, learning about the industry through conversation and building relationships, was where I identified I had the skills and confidence to give it a real crack.

I chose to stay working with him and completed my studies, moving from an admin role to general insurance broking. Seven years on I’m still with him and I am down in Melbourne now servicing our existing client base and building our business down here.

What’s your dad’s history in the sector?

He is a first-generation broker. When I was about five we moved from Melbourne up to Hay, NSW, which is quite a remote area. He was working for Elders before he started up his own insurance brokerage. He has over 25 years’ experience in the industry.

I am one of three. My brother originally was working for us and then went into electrical and my sister is on a dairy farm. So it’s dad and I, which is quite nice. Lucky we get along!

During lock downs we were really lucky because we were living on the border and could cross over to NSW and kind of live more relaxed rules when it was quite strict in Yarrawonga.

How are your clients going?

Just so many people are affected. It’s coming so close to Christmas – everyone knows there’s that deadline. Trying to get things done this time of year tends to be tricky enough, let alone with thousands of people needing help at the one time.

The strip that our office is on down in Mooroopna, they were really heavily flooded. As soon as the water lowers, it will just be getting assessors on the ground as quick as we can, assessing what damage there is, and then getting builders out there to quote again.

How long it’s going to take for repairs to start is probably my greatest concern. That people in the construction industry will treat these flood-affected areas as a priority is what I hope for.

There was concern even before this happened, things were tough enough with the construction industry. With material shortages, trying to get a tradie out to repair a flooded bathroom or a storm-affected house before these floods happened was hard enough. So there is that concern as to how long it’s going to take, and the cost.

Fingers crossed, they treat flood affected areas as their priority and maybe we’ll get some support from people in the construction industry from nearby towns.

How’s the insurer response been?

They have been really great. I think after the bushfires and other floods that have happened their processes are quite good. They know what they’re doing.

As you have the information from the client and you launch it online, the turnaround time for us being contacted and an assessor being appointed has been very impressive. After covid a lot lost staff numbers and when the floods first happened, I was pretty concerned because we were having ongoing issues with call centres and the claim services have been quite shocking.

So the response we’ve had with the floods – I’ve been very surprised and impressed.

They’ve obviously really put in the groundwork to improve their customer service, which is great. We’ve received emails from just about every one of our major insurers providing their plan of how they will best support us and the affected clients.

Our number one priority is that they’re safe to start with, and then organising emergency repairs to secure the home or their business, and then just offering someone for them to talk to. Most insurers will have a support line. You know, ‘How you’re feeling? What support do you have around you?’ So that’s really lovely and necessary that they’ve offered mental support as well for them.

How do you spend your leisure time?

I’m currently training with a triathalon group, that takes up a fair whack of my time outside of the office. It’s good because when you’re sitting on a computer all day you need to clear the mind before and after work, so I do a lot of that. And I’m pretty lucky to get home back to Yarrawonga often. To see the family and get some fresh country air always helps.