Insurance man Bob Dowty says he will miss meeting people the most after a career in which he has probed thousands of claims.

Manxman Bob, 55, has decided to go out on a high after more than two decades working with Tower Insurance.

He intends to continue pursuing his avid interest in motorcycling.

Many memories came flooding back as Mr Dowty prepared to call it a day as the company’s in-house claims investigator.

He is handing over the job to Heather Corkish.

Mr Dowty said: ’What I will miss will be the people, both in terms of the people you work with, and customers.

’The island is full of characters and people with interesting stories.

’With most people, you like to think you have had a positive experience with them.

’Yes I will miss the people but what I won’t miss is lying in bed at night with the wind whistling around the chimneystacks and thinking: ’’I wonder what damage this will be doing.’’

’People have been very nice and saying things won’t be the same without me. But it will be very much business as usual for Tower Insurance.’

Speaking from the company’s offices at Jubilee Buildings, Victoria Street, Douglas, Mr Dowty said every day had brought its own challenges and memories.

He worked with Tower for just under 24 years. For eight years prior to that he worked for a firm of loss adjusters. He went to school at King William’s before going to St David’s, Lampeter, in Wales where he read History and was at one time considering pursuing a career as an advocate.

Mr Dowty said: ’My job, a lot of the time, has actually meant I’ve been helping people with claims.’

A large part of Mr Dowty’s work involved insurance claims relating to commercial and residential property.

’The first 24 hours after an incident has happened are the ones where, in some ways, youcan make the biggest difference, and when people need the most help.’

Mr Dowty pointed to incidents in in recent years which stood out in his memory:

lThere were the floods in the first week in December a couple of years ago. ’You had businesses which had several feet of water in the premises, massive amounts of stock being damaged and the fact we could react fairly quickly and make early, and in some cases, quite substantial payments, obviously helped them to get back on their feet as quickly as possible.’

l He recalled a fire at the Laxey Wheel cafe in the mid 1980s which, he said. came close to setting the Laxey Wheel on fire.

lA major fire at Snugborough.

lFloods at Sulby. He said: ’There were major issues there. There were a lot of people whose homes were affected with some traumatic experiences.’

Mr Dowty said the job of a claims investigator needs tact and the ability to communicate with people who have often been through dreadful experiences.

’You need to keep reminding yourself that whereas it is another day at work, for many people it is possibly one of the most traumatic events they are going to go through.

’But having said that you are constantly amazed at how resilient people are.

’The vast majority of people are extremely good at mucking in as far as they can and my job has involved helping them get in touch with the right people.’

Mr Dowty said one aspect of the job which fascinated him was coming into contact with many of the island’s wide range of businesses. And it appears retiring from the job does not mean he will be slowing down. He keeps more than 20 classic motorbikes in the cellar of his Douglas home. And he has raced as a sidecar passenger at the MGP and the Southern 100.

Bob Dowty pictured outside the Tower Insurance building in Douglas, shortly before retiring from the business