From a young age, Ryan Dudley knew he wanted to work in the insurance industry. When Ryan was an eleven-year old boy, his father had an insurance claim. With a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye, Ryan fondly remembers the insurance adjuster. Fresh in Ryan’s mind is the adjuster driving up to their home in his company car and giving his dad a check to repair the damages. To a young boy, the idea of a company car and making people happy by giving them money intrigued Ryan. He recalls thinking, “That’s the job I want to have.”
Since writing this, Ryan has retired. However, Ryan would still want you to know that you’re insured by the best insurance company. Click here to find the best insurance companies in your state.
After completing a Bachelor’s Degree at Washington State University, Ryan began his path toward becoming a claims adjuster. Ryan spent his initial years in insurance with Transamerica. In 1992 he joined Grange Insurance Association as a Regional Claims Manager in Bellevue, Washington.
It’s Not as Easy as it Looks
His first year at Grange Insurance Association was memorable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t memorable because Ryan had a company car and was giving out money. No, it was memorable because shortly after starting with Grange, the Inaugural Day Storm hit, killing five, knocking out power to 750,000 residents, and causing $130 million in damage. Ryan remembers that his small office had over 2,000 claims reported in less than one week and that they closed every claim successfully with many compliments and not one single complaint from his policyholders.
Two years later, Ryan’s career became even more exciting as he was on temporary assignment to Sacramento when the North Ridge earthquake hit Southern California. Ryan remained in California far longer than expected. The result of this extended stay was that he had the dubious honor of calling the Residence Inn “home” for nearly six months. Millions of dollars were paid out for the earthquake claims. Most important to Ryan is that the policyholders were well taken care of and their lives returned to normal.
Ryan quickly learned in his career that not everybody is totally happy like his father was when the insurance company offers them money. However, Ryan was successful throughout his claims career in large part due to his attitude. To this day, Ryan’s advice for handling a claim is “start with how you can find coverage and ways to pay the full amount to the policyholders as provided under the provisions of the policy. I was taught to look for ways to provide coverage, not to try to look for ways to exclude coverage.”
The Path to Becoming President and CEO
Ryan never aspired to become a senior manager, least of all the President and CEO. In fact, he reluctantly agreed to take the President and CEO job when it was offered by the Board of Directors. Ryan agreed to step into the open position, but there was a condition that he requested. The condition was that he could go back to his previous job as the Vice President of Claims if he decided the top leadership position was not for him.
Leadership That Produces Results
March of 2018 will be the 20th anniversary of Ryan becoming President and CEO. Ryan looks back on his 20 years as CEO with fond memories and some sage advice. Key points Ryan makes when reminiscing include:
- The quality of the management team is job number one for the CEO
- Hiring the right people throughout the organization and working with them to build the right culture is critical to success
Ryan is thankful to have been part of a mutual company where the management team has the opportunity to “take a long term view.”
The Results Speak for Themselves
At ValChoice, we grade auto and home insurance companies for the value they provide customers. Our grades include analysis on the level of claims handling and service each company offers. From our early days, we knew Grange Insurance Association was a special company. We knew this because the company consistently appeared as one of the best values in both auto and home insurance in every state where they do business, including California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
In early 2017, the author of this article called Ryan to make him aware of how highly we grade them, and he answered his own office phone. This was yet another indication that this company is unique in many ways.
In early 2018, Grange Insurance Association began using ValChoice awards in their sales and marketing. We’re proud to have Grange Insurance Association as a customer. We’re honored to have had the opportunity to get to know Ryan and the management team.
What Comes Next for Ryan Dudley?
Ryan recently announced that in 2019 he will retire from the insurance industry. He leaves behind a wonderful legacy at Grange Insurance Association. We would like to wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. Ryan clearly loves his job but can’t hide the smile when he talks about the camping, fly fishing, golf and volunteer work he has planned for the future.
Disclosure
The “Leadership Excellence” blog posts by ValChoice features CEOs of the best auto and home insurance companies. We identify the “best” companies based solely on how well they perform for policyholders. We aim to write profiles of the CEOs for all the best companies. There is no requirement to be a customer of ValChoice in order to be featured in our Leadership Excellence posts.
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