Launching its sponsorship with Nub News Teddington, regional editor Emily Dalton spoke to Mel Franke from Coversure Teddington.

Those local to Teddington will know it is a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other. In this small neighbourhood, an independent insurance broker thrives of clients both local and a far.   

Established in the 80's under the name Scots Insurance Consultants, it then joined the Coversure franchise in 2016. Coversure offers a wide range of insurances and helps local residents with their personal insurances from home to travel, shop owners, businesses and landlords to get the quality insurance protection they need.  

Mel, who joined the company in 2015, said: "I was a childminder, and I was working in the Constitutional Club, when I met the owner of the business he was in the Con Club and he asked me would you fancy working a couple of hours a week while my son was at school.  

She took up the offer and started working one-day a week. As her son got older, Mel started work more: going to two days, then three days and then working full-time.   

Explaining the history of the business, Mel says: "Back in the 80's you went to a broker because you had some type of insurance that was difficult to place. Alot of our old clients lived in the city and had block of flats that you couldn't cover, or they had businesses and casinos- weird and wonderful stuff."  

Although Coversure has clients all over the country, it also supports numerous local businesses in the Teddington area. Some of Mel's notable clients include: Teddington Carpet Centre, The Loft, Teddington Photographic, London Health Foods, Sidra, One Hundred High Street, Café Mimmo, Teddington Lawn Tennis Club, Teddington Sports, Rackets Kingdom, EBI's & Six barbers, Coutts Jewellers, The Place, Ruba (where you may see her son working) and the newly established Flourish Yoga they are also keen to grow their local business so please make contact with Mel or Ciara.  

"It's really nice when you walk down the high street and people know you. They're like 'Hi Mel'," she says.  

Coversure Team. (Photo: Supplied)

Mel and Ciara are both also heavily involved in Teddington Together, a volunteer-run organisation made up of local businesses, which organised Teddington Lights Up.    

Always trying to use local and Teddington-based charities, Mel fundraises for United Response and has done the walking marathon for Ruils.    

"We support local businesses, I'm always in café Mimmo; if I need my picture taken, we always go to Teddington Photographic. You do the same in return, y'know?"  

"When you're a [local] business and there's only a couple of people in the office, it's nice to get out at lunchtime and speak to the local people you do business with," Mel says. "It's just nice to say hello and have a chat."    

As a small business, Coversure is very contactable and communicative. You can reach them via email, telephone for quotes on your business or you can drop in to have a chat.   

The insurance brokers also support quite a few elderly residents who maybe cannot use a computer or the internet very well. These clients pop in and simply ask for help with their car or home insurance.   

With three people in the office (including Mel and her daughter) each have their own set of clients, but anyone can deal with them.   

"You're not ringing a call centre; you're ringing individual people," Mel says. "It really works and it's what people really like."  

She says anecdotally of one client telling her he had a quote cheaper with someone else, but he said: "I would rather ring you than sit on a phone for half an hour and not know who I'm speaking to." 

Teddington Nub News is proud to announce that Coversure is the latest sponsor of our news service.

Coversure's support will help us deliver the high-quality journalism that Teddington deserves - no clickbait or intrusive ads, just the latest updates on what's happening in our town.

It is thanks to the generosity of organisations like Coversure that we can continue our mission to revive local news, both in Teddington and across the UK.