Tag Archives: AIB Insurance

Continued Growth for AIB Insurance

Despite living in a world of global economic uncertainty, we are excited to announce that due to our continued growth, we have recently taken on three new recruits. This is largely thanks to our excellent business partners, insurers, and amazing clients.

We would like to introduce Ross Hoskins, Adam Thorp and Kimberley Brown. They have each passed their probationary period with flying colours and are already proving to be a great asset to the business.

Welcome Ross Hoskins – Insurance Consultant

Ross joined our team in January 2022 having spent 4 years on the road within the construction industry installing VNA guidance systems (Yep, we didn’t know either – it’s the wire that stops trucks driving into large racking!). Prior to this he was a concrete floor finisher. With his diverse set of skills, Ross now plans to immerse himself in the world of insurance and will be taking his insurance exams as part of his professional development. Best of luck Ross!

 

“What prompted you to get into insurance?”

“I love talking and interacting with people, so this was the perfect job for me.”

 

“What one item would you one day love to insure?”

“My dream dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback.”

 

“What did you want to be when you were younger?”

“Can I say taller? Probably a footballer.”

 

Fun Facts: 

  • Ross was born and bred in Lyndhurst, Southampton
  • He lives with his girlfriend Ashleigh and dog Bandit (Great name!)
  • He is a huge Southampton FC fan and loves Formula One
  • His favourite Saints player is James Ward-Prowse
  • George Russell is his favourite Formula One driver
  • His favourite music is pop-punk
  • He decided once on a drunken holiday to get a Blink 182 tattoo!

Welcome Adam Thorp – Insurance Consultant

Adam joined AIB Insurance in March 2022 having decided upon a complete career change due to the huge impact that Covid had on his life and career in retail and as a Doorman. With his background in security, Adam has a passion for customer service which is a great motivator for him in his new role.

Director, Kirby De-Gray Birch commented: “Adam has a natural enthusiasm which is infectious and has settled brilliantly into our team.  He is fast learning all aspects of our business including motor, fleet, and home.  His strong communication skills have stood in excellent stead and I’m excited to watch his career develop”.

 

“What prompted you to get into insurance?”

“Good balance to work and home life with the added job security of a brilliant industry.”

 

“What one item would you one day love to insure?”

“An aeroplane or jet would be cool!”

 

“What did you want to be when you were younger?”

“An archaeologist.”

 

Fun Facts:

  • Adam was born and bred in Poole and attended Ferndown Upper School in Dorset
  • He has a passion for Dungeon and Dragons and calls himself a lover of all things nerdy
  • He loves listening to J-pop (Japanese music)
  • He is currently doing everything he can to pass his driving test

 

Welcome Kimberley Brown – Insurance Consultant

Kim joined the business in April 2022 and has already hit the ground running. She joined AIB having worked for almost 5 years in the healthcare industry.

Kim has a passion for Japanese imported cars so insuring grey imports is something that really interests her. She is looking forward to developing her career within the insurance industry.

 

“What prompted you to get into insurance?”

“The hours and a new challenge were really exciting to me.”

 

“What one item would you one day love to insure?”

“I’d love to insure a 4×4 Hummer. My colleagues around me have, and I’m always green with envy!”

 

“What did you want to be when you were younger?”

“A musician – singer song writer.”

Fun Facts:

  • Kim was born in Newcastle
  • She lives with her boyfriend, James in Southampton
  • Kim once met Taylor Swift whilst attending her Fearless concert. She snuck around the back to sneak a glimpse as she got out of her tour bus. Not only did she see her, but she also got a hug, high five and a signed arm!
  • She has been told she is a lookalike for American actress, Dakota Fanning

National Best Friend Day!

It’s National Best friend day today and we’ve got lots of love in the office!

George & Jordan both love home and property insurance and can cover holiday homes and rentals!

Jenna & Kirby love modified and kit cars, classics and motorhomes.

Kim, Megan and Josie love customer service and giving our clients the best possible advice.

Ben and Jordan love learning together and are both studying the for the insurance recognised Cii level 3 certificate in insurance!

Call our team now on 02380268351 for an instant quotation!

But more importantly, have the very best National Best Friend Day!

YouTuber!

We are delighted to say today we insured the star of the popular YouTube family, The Roaming Radfords.  It wasn’t mum nor dad but the motorhome they tour the UK and Europe in!

 

 

It’s a good chance this will be the first you’ll have seen of the beautiful Swift Kontiki 874 on a Fiat chassis as the Roaming Radford’s were given the prototype as ambassadors for Swift.  It was literally the first one off the ramp!

 

 

 

Our policy includes unlimited windscreen cover, additional contents cover and extended European cover and, business use (yep, even YouTubers need business use if they are using the motorhome in connection with their work!)

 

 

Given we specialize in all types of motorhomes, campers and RV’s as well as vehicle’s part converted or self-converters we have practical solutions for almost any needs.  Give our office a call on 02380 268351 or visit www.aib-insurance.co.uk for an instant quote and cover.

 

You can watch The Roaming Radfords and see how their adventures develop by viewing here:  Roaming Radfords – YouTube

The Car of The Day….. The Lotus Evora 410 GT

Our wonderful client Mr B has offered to share photographs showing his pristine Lotus Evora 410 GT.

 

This vehicle is one-of-a-kind built during the short of production of the Lotus Evora, Lotus made just 20 of these Evora GT 410 as a special set of Cars!

Not only is this vehicle 1 of only 20 built but Mr Bs has a Certificate of Vehicle Provenance showing this is the only one in the world built to the high-end specification noted in his policy.

 

Mr B bought the car new in May 2021 and it has only covered 3200 miles!

We have this one-of-a-kind Lotus insured under a very special policy which offers; agreed value, choice of repairer, legal expenses cover up to £100,000, salvage retention and many more benefits which we offer here at AIB Insurance.

 

We value every classic car understanding the needs of each client and offer bespoke policies which cater to cover our classic car clients needs! If you have a Lotus or a classic car of your own call one of our specialist consultants on 02380 268351 for your bespoke quotation.

Thank you, Mr B, for sharing your wonderful example of the Lotus Evora 410 GT.

Concorde Classics Car Show – A Garden Party for Car Enthusiasts!

On Sunday 11th September 2022 will be the 13th Concorde Classics Car Show held at the Concorde Club in Eastleigh. The show first started in 2008 when a group of like-minded people wanted to support local businesses, as well as raise money for worthy causes.

It was decided to utilise the lovely grounds around the Concorde Club to stage a charity car show, little did the small organising team realise what a great success the show would become and now features as one of the best Car Shows in the area. Many visitors describe the show as a garden party for car enthusiasts.

The show in the first year featured a few cars on display and was really just for owners and their vehicles taking part. After two years of running the show, the organising committee teamed up with Naomi House Children’s Hospice to make the show primarily about supporting and raising funds for Hospice. In fact, every penny made from the show goes to the charity.

Naomi House is a children’s hospice providing a professional palliative care service for families whose children and young people have a life limiting illness and their families from central southern England. The charity provides care to families living in communities across the seven counties of Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire. The children’s charity has two specialist units, Naomi House for children, and jacksplace for young people. Each unit is purpose built and provides an appropriate environment for each age group. It costs around £4.5million a year to run the two units. The vast amount of money for running the hospice come from donations and fund raising like Concorde Classics Car Show. In the last 12 years the Car Show has now raised over £107,000 for the charity and in November 2019 was awarded the Dr Peter Lee Award for long term support to Naomi and jacksplace.

As the word spread, and the show changed from not just a show for owners but for visitors as well and began growing in popularity. Today the show attracts over 3,000 visitors with around 160 cars on display at any one time. The cars on display vary from vintage right the way up to modern supercars and is very family orientated.

Being family orientated the organizers understand how expensive it can be for a family day out and therefore set the entry cost to visitors low, being £5 per adult, £1 for a child under 12 and children under 3 can get in for free. Tickets are purchased on the day only at the entry gate, and payment by cash is requested. All display vehicles need to prebook, and the show is so popular most of the display places go by June before the show. Display owners pay £8 per car to display. During every show the public vote for their ‘Car of the Show’ and the winner has a lovely photograph taken of their vehicle and awarded a trophy. In 2019, the last full normal show before Covid, the winner was beautiful Jaguar E-Type.

 

 

Every year the organizers want to have a special attraction for people and over the years we have had an array of attractions like Michael Schumacher’s Benetton winning F1 car, Dragsters, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Batman and his Batmobile and much more

 

          

The show always attracts a lot of attention, and the show often gets celebrities attending to help support the show. The TV chef James Martin is a big petrol head and has a wonderful array of classics cars and often attends the show with one of his beauties. The photograph shows James being interviewed with his beautiful Ferrari 275 GTBC. You will often see ‘The Stig’ at the show, although don’t expect him to talk to you, but he does enjoy sitting in people’s cars.

Whilst wondering around the show you will see a great selection of cars, treasured by their owners all willing to chat about their cars and what they have and do to maintain them, whilst relaxing and enjoying the show themselves. The show has a Ferrari and Super Car section, often sporting the newest Super cars on display for visitors to see. At intervals during the show you will hear the ‘Sound Off’ competition and this is great to hear the rumble of V8 and V12 engines.

The show has a large marquee with trade stands, and you can have a go on a large Scalextric track, the fastest person around the track over a number of laps will win a prize.  If you’re hungry then there is a BBQ, Ice Cream Van, Bar and Coffee van. Attention to detail is the show organizers wish and they are always looking for new and exciting things to bring enjoyment and fun to all who attend.

If you fancy a ride out in a car, then the show has Sporting Bears Charity running ‘dream rides’ for a donation to the show charity. You will be taken on a 10-mile drive to experience an array of different cars and is a must do for any visitor, so make sure you book your slot on the day early as places go quickly. Visitors attending the show are directed to nearby car parks and the show runs a Park & Ride scheme as well, so look out for the signs when arriving. To help transport people across the car parks they have Trigger the Train which you can ride on for free, the kids love this experience

This year the show is being sponsored by Airsports Insurance Bureau (AiB) in Chandlers Ford and the show organizers are planning a special show to welcome people back after the recent pandemic. The show this year will feature a Movie and TV car and bike display. The show will have a wonderful ‘Back to the Future’ DeLorean, Herbie the Love Bug, James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and many more.

To find out more about the show visit www.concordeclassics.co.uk

 

 

Motorhomer sets up YouTube Studio from his camper!

Philip Tomlinson, a long standing AIB client, has started to use his motorhome as a studio to record YouTube videos!

Philip, owner of popular www.Motorhomer.com arranges rallies for his members across the UK. Spending many weekends away, he soon realised that a mobile studio would be absolutely necessary to record content for his new Youtube channel ‘Those Two Wits’.

Philip has teamed up with his good friend Bruce Lauderdale to create witty videos that leave their subscribers with a smile. Their funny reactions to other videos and the hilarious games they play with other YouTubers, make up the core of their content. Bruce, originally from South Africa, lives full-time in his self converted campervan. He is a professional videographer and he brings his expertise in this field combined with his talent for comedy, to the mix.

Philip’s eldest daughter recently got married to an American, in the USA. To better understand American culture and history, Philip and Bruce started to watch YouTube videos about the USA. They recorded their reactions to these videos and asked American citizens to leave comments on what to watch next, with hilarious results!

Their escape room style ‘Beat The Bomb’ game is a great success. The players objective is to defuse a pretend bomb by solving a series of puzzles. Each puzzle tests different skills, including hand to eye coordination and memory. At the end of the game, the player receives a score that is recorded on a leader board, with the highest-ranked being awarded a trophy at the end of the year.

Partner vs Partner is another one of their creations where couples compete against each other in challenges. These include games like ‘Raw Egg Roulette’ and ‘Undress Your Partner Blindfolded’. Seeing really is believing with these random, weird and downright hilarious games!

Their TikTok account boasts over 219,000 followers and 3.7 million likes, and they are gaining ground on other social media. In addition, they will soon be releasing longer-form podcasts that last around an hour, where they debate a range of exciting and compelling subjects.

If you are interested in watching any of their content, search for ‘Those Two Wits’ on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok or use the link below:

Those Two Wits

Introducing….. Charmagne Alderson!

Charmagne Alderson

 

As our successful team at AIB continues to grow, we would like to extend a warm welcome to Charmagne Alderson. Charmagne joins our administration team working with Administration Manager, Megan Greer. 

 

The position became available when our brilliant Ben Simpson, who previously filled the role, has joined our sales team working directly with sales manager, Kirby.  Ben spent six months working in our customer service and administration department, learning the insurance ropes before making it impossible for us not to promote him into our sales team. 

 

22 year old Charmange was born in Guildford before growing up in Waterlooville, attending Crookhorn College. She honed her customer service skills within the hospitality industry and joins us from  Premier Inn, where she was a duty manager.  

 

FAST FACTS: 

Charmagne often gets told she looks like the older sister, Susan Pevensie in the 2005 blockbuster, The Chronicles of Narnia. it’s great to have her fantastical skills on our side! Charmagne has a rescue dog called Jenny, lives with her boyfriend Tyler and has a whopping ten siblings (some of whom are half / step brothers and sisters). Her large family means she is personable, communicative and she now is part of another great, extended family at AIB.

 

Charmagne’s father had the honour of paving Cheryl Cole’s driveway! Parking is now ‘ALOUD’ Ms Cole!’

 

 

CHARMAGNE SAYS:

“I have been warmly welcomed into the team here at AIB. I am enjoying the role immensely and feel lucky to work with such a talented group of people. The job is interesting, exciting and it’s been a great experience working with Megan so far – I look forward to a positive future within this excellent company.”

 

WE SAY:

Megan Greer says: “It’s safe to say, Charmagne has hit the ground running. Her excellent attitude to customer service and the complex skillset she brings from the hospitality industry is evident in her approach. She has already been of great assistance to me in the day to day running of AIB and I am so pleased to have her on my team.”

 

The Car of The Day is…. The legendary Skyline R32 GT-R!

The only Japanese supercar of its generation. One of the best cars Jeremy Clarkson says he ever drove.

 

 

The Skyline R32 GT-R (Grand Tourismo Racer) — nicknamed “Godzilla” for effortlessly crushing all competitors in Group A Series racing — winning 29 consecutive races in the Japanese Touring Car Championship and three consecutive championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship after being reintroduced by Nissan in 1989.

 

 

This remarkable track record is part of the reason the Skyline R32 GT-R has such a strong following among serious car enthusiasts around the world. Other reasons include impressive appearances in games and popular street racing movies like The Fast and Furious series, a reputation for having launched the JDM car scene, a leading role in serious street and drag racing, the exclusivity wrought by a 25-year import restriction in the United States — which finally ended in 2014 — and performance that is nothing short of incredible. If you want maximum bang for the buck, it’s hard to beat a well-tuned Skyline R32 GT-R imported directly from Japan.

 

 

Mr D has shared some pictures of his fantastic Skyline R32 GT-R! Mr D has insured his pristine example through ourselves with all of the amazing benefits we can offer.

 

 

Here at AIB Insurance we offer specialist classic car polices which can also include optional extras such as UK and EU breakdown cover, Motor Legal Expenses Cover up to £100,000, Courtesy Vehicles for the duration of repairs and Agreed Value.

 

 

If you have a Skyline GTR R32 or another classic car would like covered under a specialist classic car policy, call our friendly motor team on 02380 268351.

 

Exam Success for Jordan!

Congratulations are in order at AIB as December spells personal achievement for our dedicated team member, Jordan Thomas.

 

 

Jordan passed his IF1 – Insurance, Legal and Regulatory exam meaning he’s now one step closer towards achieving a professional qualification.

 

These achievements not only celebrate personal growth, but also endorse AIB’s commitment to continuing professional development. AIB remain committed to encouraging all staff to progress with examinations to enable us to offer the highest level of customer service to our clients and insurer partners alike.

 

More details of the Insurance professional qualification and can be found here: https://www.cii.co.uk/learning/qualifications/

 

Car of the day… Mantula Coupe!

The Mantula Coupe was launched at the Motor Show in 1984 beginning a long relationship between Marcos and the Rover V8 engine.

 

 

The Mantula Coupe evolved from the 3 Litre form with the addition of a front-end spoiler,- giving the car a lower approach angle, extended wheel arches, a wider back end, and a bonded windscreen. The interior was also altered with the addition of a gearlever console, incorporating storage trays. The suspension was unaltered from the 3 Litre.

 

 

In July 1985 Marcos ventured for the second time into a soft top car with the Mantula Spyder. The original car was fitted with a detachable T-top which was dropped on subsequent production models due to being too expensive to produce and not entirely practical.

 

 

In 1986 with Ford live axles becoming difficult to source, the fully independent rear suspension was introduced. Utilizing differential and hubs from the Ford Sierra range and wishbones, uprights and A-frame developed by Marcos, transforming the ride quality of the range, the live axle was phased out on factory-built cars at this stage.

 

 

Mr O has a lovely 1992 Marcos Mantula currently insured with us under a bespoke classic car policy. The policy has many benefits including agreed value, choice of repairer, salvage retention and 30 days fully comprehensive EU cover! Thank you, Mr O allowing us to share your pristine example.

 

 

Here at AIB Insurance we offer specialist classic car polices which can also include optional extras such as UK and EU breakdown cover, Motor Legal Expenses Cover up to £100,000, Courtesy Vehicles for the duration of repairs.

If you have a Marcos Mantula or another classic car would like covered under a specialist classic car policy call our friendly team on 02380 268351.