As a self-described home body, AMI technical claims specialist Mike enjoys the chance to help others repair their own in the event of a claim.
A technical claims specialist for AMI in Christchurch, Mike describes himself as a "stay at home kind of guy."
When he's not working, he's usually at home getting his house looking spick and span, spending time with his kids, playing competition darts with his son or watching the cricket.
Mike adds that his kids, aged 19 and 21, are still at home - a fact which he seems pretty happy about.
"They're very much home bodies like me so they're both here. They've got it easy!"
Clearly home is important to Mike. That's why it makes so much sense that he spends his time helping people rebuild and repair theirs in his role.
"We manage a number of the high value, complex, fire claims," he explains. "We also do quite a lot of mentoring for [other] AMI team members [to help them support customers.]"
Mike adds that many of the people he deals with have lost a home, a car, family heirlooms, or even people close to them. He does what he can to make a difficult time for people a little bit easier.
"I enjoy the ability to help people get their lives back on track."
During more than 30 years in the industry, Mike's processed thousands of claims, but one event stands out for him - the Lake Ohau fire. The fire came through at night and took out a large portion of the area’s homes, but luckily people got out just in time.
Mike says he was glad to have the chance to help the town rebuild.
"I was actually able to help get the settlements done in a really short period of time," he notes. "For some we were able to get the money in their accounts within weeks."
While Mike's often able to help replace the structure of the home and most possessions, there's little he can do to replace memories, heirlooms and other priceless things. He says in those situations it's all about trying to make people's lives a bit easier:
"I tell our customers that if they have any questions, if they just want to check up, or if they want to talk about anything, give me a call. I'm always here. I think it takes a lot of weight off people's minds."
At the end of the day, Mike believes the purpose of his job is to help people put things back together so that they can move forward and get back what they lost, whether that's a car, possessions or a home.
"It’s about being there to help put things right," he says. "Whatever's happened, we're here to help you through it."
