Our People

Ā Tātou Tāngata

Our People

Ā Tātou Tāngata

Tim Graon

Cheif Executive

Tim Graon became Chief
Executive of the Insurance
Council in November 2012. Tim
has extensive experience in

Jane Brown

General Counsel

Tim Grafton became Chief Executive of the Insurance Council in November 2012. Tim has extensive experience in providing strategic, policy and communications advice to public and private sector…

Sarah Knox

Consumer Affairs Manager

Tim Graon became Chief
Executive of the Insurance
Council in November 2012. Tim
has extensive experience in

John Lucas

Insurance Manager

Tim Grafton became Chief Executive of the Insurance Council in November 2012. Tim has extensive experience in providing strategic, policy and communications advice to public and private sector…

Yvonne Wynyard

ICR Manager

Tim Grafton became Chief Executive of the Insurance Council in November 2012. Tim has extensive experience in providing strategic, policy and communications advice to public and private sector…

Christian Judge

Communications Manager

Tim Graon became Chief
Executive of the Insurance
Council in November 2012. Tim
has extensive experience in

Tim Grafton

Chief Executive

Tim Grafton became Chief Executive of the Insurance Council in November 2012. Tim has extensive experience in providing strategic, policy and communications advice to public and privatesector leaders. He was an executive director of a leading market research company prior to taking up his position with ICNZ. Tim has a strong understanding of the machinery of government, having been an adviser to former Prime Ministers and Ministers of Finance as well as leading private companies. He has extensive knowledge of post-disaster recovery issues and insurance regulation. He is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and holds several governance roles. He is Vice-President of the Global Federation of Insurance Associations, Chairs the Code Compliance Committee of the Fair Insurance Code, is the former Chair of the Representative Users Group of the Deep South Science Challenge which focuses on research to adapt to climate change, and is on the New Zealand Advisory Board of the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and the Advisory Board of Victoria University of Wellington’s Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change.

Sean Fullan

Resilience and Recovery Manager

Sean joined the Insurance Council in 2023 as the Resilience and Recovery Manager. In this role, he works with members to develop sector positions to advocate for national investment in resilience and adaptation to natural hazards. He facilitates the Climate Change Standing Committee and is a member of the Advisory Board of Victoria University of Wellington’s Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change. He coordinates the insurance sector’s role in response to catastrophe and natural hazard events, maintaining relationships with central and local government to assist in insurers’ critical role in recovery from disasters. With over 20 years’ frontline experience from the response and recovery from many insurance catastrophes in both the United States and New Zealand, he has an in-depth understanding of natural hazards and their impact on insurers and communities.

Susan Ivory

Regulatory Affairs Manager

Susan Ivory joined the Insurance Council in 2023. As Regulatory Affairs Manager, Susan’s work focuses on advocacy on regulatory issues and working with members, government and stakeholders to promote policies that support a strong and stable insurance industry. She also facilitates the Council’s Regulation and Liability Committees. Before joining the Council, Susan worked in financial services regulation and policy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and as a lawyer in the banking industry. Susan has a law degree from Victoria University of Wellington and a Master’s degree from King’s College London.

Sarah Knox

Consumer Affairs Manager

Sarah Knox joined the Insurance Council in 2015 as Communications Manager and took up a new role as Consumer Affairs Manager in 2020.The Consumer Affairs role is responsible for working with the general insurance sector to improve customer outcomes and is the Fair Insurance Code and complaints expert. Sarah also runs the industry’s Personal Lines (home and contents), Travel and Employment and Education Committees. She holds a MSc (Distinction) in Responsible Business Practice from the University of Bath UK and a Bachelor of Management Studies (Honours) from the University of Waikato.

John Lucas

Insurance Manager

John Lucas joined ICNZ in 1996 as Insurance Manager. He is responsible for the Motor, Commercial Property, Marine and Finance Committees.John began his insurance career with NZI in the early eighties, specialising in farm insurance and commercial property underwriting. He then moved to the UK where he worked for a number of broker firms before specialising in insolvency insurance placement in the London and Sydney insurance markets. John is a Senior Associate of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance.

Patrick O’Meara

Communications Manager

Patrick O’Meara joined the Insurance Council in January 2024 as Communications Manager.In his role, Patrick is responsible for developing and managing ICNZ’s communication needs to support a resilient, sustainable and inclusive insurance industry that safeguards New Zealand. Before joining the Council, Patrick worked in senior communications roles in Government, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Transpower and was an economics and business journalist for two decades.

Yvonne Wynyard

ICR Manager

Yvonne joined ICNZ in April 2018 as manager of the Insurance Claims Register (ICR). Yvonne graduated with a Master of Training Development and Bachelor of Administrative Leadership from the Universityof New England, Sydney, Australia. She spent 22 years with the New Zealand Army as an intelligence practitioner, trainer and manager and a further 9 years with ACC in which she developed and implemented their intelligence capability, including database design and training. Yvonne’s role is to provide oversight of the ICR, liaise with internal and external stakeholders, provide analytical support to ICR members and manage fraud related issues in the insurance industry. She is also the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) Manager.