After 35 years working in engineering insurance, Barry Regan, Miramar’s Senior Engineering Underwriter, will retire at the end of 2023.

But he’s bowing out on a strong note, having grown the Miramar engineering business substantially and helped build a quality team to take it forward.

“Engineering team leader Joel Edwards and the team are more than capable of filling any gaps left, and nothing will change. If anything, brokers will find that dealing with us will be even more efficient, thanks to Joel’s strong focus on process improvements and relationship building,” Barry says.

“Add to that our engineering underwriters, Dey Kuzmanovic and Michael Dandy, who between them have many years of experience across engineering insurance, the industry and claims. It will be nothing less than business as usual.”

From an electrical apprentice to insurance

Like many long-time insurance specialists, Barry didn’t start out in the insurance industry.

“I did my apprenticeship as an electrician and then I chose to do a post-trade qualification in refrigeration and air-conditioning,” Barry says.

He describes his mechanical background as the perfect training for his future as an engineering underwriter.

“I was a little bit disillusioned with working as an electrician and replied to a job ad looking for someone with my skills to join Machinery Insurance Services, which was partly owned by Zurich.”

After a combined 15 years at Machinery Insurance Services and Zurich as an engineering underwriter, Barry wanted to broaden his insurance knowledge base. He moved to CGU to underwrite contract works insurance and from there, it was onto QBE in contract works, looking after the Housing Industry Association book of business.

After 15 years, Barry came full circle, returning to Miramar in 2018 when it took over Zurich’s engineering business.

For Joel, working with Barry has been a pleasure.

“Barry is very skilled in the engineering space and well respected by his peers and brokers alike,” Joel says. “It’s been a pleasure working alongside him whilst he transitions to an exciting new chapter of his life.”

Highlights and changes

Barry says one of the great privileges during his career has been the opportunity to travel all over Australia to survey risks and assess claims.

But it is also one of the areas he has seen significant change. Advancements in technology mean quoting on risks and reviewing risk information can now largely be done online rather than through site surveys and inspections.

He says another highlight was transitioning the engineering book from Zurich to Miramar, which he describes as “hard work but extremely rewarding”.

Towards the future

After decades in the industry, Barry says it’s time to “step back, let my hair down, travel Australia and do some cruising”.

While Barry may be quite literally sailing off into the sunset, Joel says brokers can rest assured the engineering team will continue to focus on two of Barry’s hallmarks: consistency and communication.

“Our team has so much expertise and experience with the engineering product, and we’ll always pick up the phone and share our engineering insurance expertise with brokers, whether they are Miramar customers or not,” Joel says. “I’m looking forward to working closely with our broker network to build more quality, long-term relationships and partnerships.”

To contact the engineering team brokers can email the engineering inbox: engineering@miramaruw.com.au or give us a call on 02 9307 6600.

Miramar Underwriting Agency Pty Ltd (‘Miramar’) acts under binding authority as agent for Zurich Australian Insurance Limited (‘Zurich’), the insurer of the products.