Irena Binnebesel

Assisted in property underwriting by acquiring knowledge of insurance products and operational workflows.

• Supported compliance with regulatory requirements and facilitated interactions with brokers.
• Established a reputation for identifying risks and inefficiencies in daily operations.
• Contributed to the e-trade business readiness team by ensuring that new work processes were validated against real scenarios prior to implementation.
• Acted as a liaison between operations and technology, flagging risks and challenges early in the project lifecycle.
• Helped ensure that regulatory controls were integrated into new systems and processes.

Whilst working as a a Property Owners UW at Intact I gained knowledge on understanding risk selection and underwriting decision making. Experience in identifying desirable risks aligned to underwriting appetite, assessing whether cases are suitable for underwriting, reviewing previous risk history, and making informed underwriting decisions. Some of the most vital skills I learned are:

• Assessed whether risks were suitable for underwriting by reviewing property details, previous risk history, and overall exposure.
• Identified good‑quality risks we wanted to write while highlighting concerns or exceptions where needed.
• Made informed underwriting decisions using policy criteria, experience, and commercial judgement.
• Provided clear, straightforward underwriting reviews, ensuring decisions were easy to understand for brokers and internal teams.
• Reviewed flood data and calculations alongside property details to support balanced and informed risk decisions.

With my time at The School of code I developed a strong understanding of the fundamentals of coding, from writing and reading code to building fully functioning applications. I worked closely within a team throughout the programme and became a peer mentor towards the end of the course, supporting other learners. Some areas of knowledge I am proud to include:

• Gained back end experience working with APIs and tools such as Postman and Node.js to test, connect, and manage application functionality.
• Worked in collaborative agile teams, contributing to group projects and supporting others as a mentor during the programme.
• Regularly presented applications and progress through weekly demos, explaining technical decisions and functionality clearly.
• Designed and built a user friendly website for students within the School of Code to connect and collaborate of projects together.

During my time working as an Event Coordinator for a full service events company specialising in curated, unique experiences, I supported the planning and delivery of bespoke events for a diverse range of clients. A key highlight of my role was coordinating a Highlands Show themed team building day, Key experiences I learned from this day and other events are:

• Coordinating logistics, suppliers, and on site delivery to ensure smooth and engaging event execution
• Organised and managed complex events while maintaining strict timelines and quality standards
• Delivered high quality client experiences through strong organisation, creativity, and attention to detail
• Took feedback from clients constructively to apply continuous improvement to our product