by Angus MacCaull

The airbags had saved her, but she started waking up in sweats, months and months after the accident. Her car had flipped at over a hundred kilometres an hour.

The woman’s doctor said that she had no permanent damage. But she felt confused by the strange pains and excess adrenaline wracking her body. One day, she shared her concerns with me while we were both out and about in our community. I was genuinely interested in her pain because I had recently recovered from a frustrating back injury. And as a teen, I survived a similar car accident. I actively listened and recommended a specialist who had helped me. Her face lightened. “I think I’ll make an appointment,” she said.

At AA Munro, community members often ask our advice. It’s usually not of a medical nature. At the grocery store or house gatherings or the office, people ask questions about insurance. Many of them aren’t clients. But they want to know what to do about their property or their plans or their policies.

“I focus on the free service of just looking at a policy and explaining it to you,” says Jason Minigan. When someone comes into our location in Dartmouth Crossing with an insurance question, Jason goes through the details of their existing coverage and what it means—whether or not that person is a client and whether or not he can offer them a lower price.

To many people, all insurance is the same. People who don’t work in the field are naturally less aware of varieties in coverage; and of the legal and financial infrastructure behind the coverage. But insurance is complicated, and it takes the focus and experience of different kinds of professionals to work. So when Jason gets a question about something outside his wheelhouse, like life insurance or TFSAs, he’s happy to refer people to Mike and Maureen Ross in our financial services division, AAM Financial.

With Mike and Maureen at the helm, we hosted a free customer appreciation event at Cineplex in Dartmouth Crossing around the holidays.

“I must say it was a touching gesture,” one client wrote in an e-mail after the event. “I have never experienced an insurance customer event like the one you held and have told all of my military friends being posted to Nova Scotia how well you treat your customers.”

“This would be the first time in my life that any company has offered such a wonderful gift to their clients,” wrote another. “My daughter and I had an amazing time at the theatre.”

Showing people care is a part of being a community member. Care brings depth to a person and depth to an institution. And for us at AA Munro, respecting others in the financial services field is a part of being insurance professionals. With more financial expertise and greater financial literacy in Nova Scotia, our communities are stronger and our culture more vibrant.

 

Mike Ross on Jason’s desk
Jenna, Jason and Neal in Dartmouth Crossing