For Huntington, insurance is about keeping workers safe

Listen to this article

For many people, insurance is about paying a premium every month.

But for Abby Huntington, it’s much more than that.

Huntington found her way into commercial insurance after her brother, Andrew, died in 2017 as he worked on a job site providing disaster relief. Before that, she had been working for years to train insurance agents and brokers on safety, risk management and compliance.

“Knowing what I knew about the impact loss control and safety could have … I had to get out there and start doing something,” Huntington said.

Now an insurance executive at the New Berlin-based Marsh & McLennan Agency, Huntington works with clients who are architects, general contractors, engineering firms and subcontractors. Her certifications in construction, risk and insurance training give her an uncommon perspective into how risk is often linked to how contractors do business and how their contracts are set up.

“Everything I do revolves around the risk element,” Huntington said. “How can we help organizations improve their safety practice to impact the total cost of risk? Some of that falls under the scope of worker’s compensation; some of that is general liability.”

Huntington helps contractors review their policies, often discovering that their coverage is insufficient and then makes sure they get coverage that is specific to their business.

She heads up a team of experts who provide firms with resources to help with human resources, safety and compliance. For example, she’s been helping Dave Earhart, senior estimator at Waukesha electrical contractor Next Electric, set up a program for emotional and mental health.

That program is part of a larger effort Earhart and Huntington have been working on through the LiFE OF HOPE PROJECT, a suicide-prevention and education organization. Earhart is the president of the project’s board.

“She’s a very passionate individual,” Earhart said. “When she believes in something, she just puts in 100 percent toward it and makes sure she does it with excellence.”

Deeatra Kajfosz, executive director of the LiFE OF HOPE PROJECT, couldn’t agree more.

“There’s something about her positive energy that I think is contagious,” Kajfosz said.

“When you have that level of joy that you’re willing to share with others, I think it’s easy to attract a positive following. She does that so effortlessly. I think that makes her a great asset to any organization that she’s a part of.”