Not long ago I woke up in the early hours of the morning to find my own home ablaze. It was a difficult time, losing our possessions and having to deal with the clean-up and aftermath. This is why doing the work I am doing for HBI Australia has a special meaning for me. It’s really good to know that what I do it making a difference.

Everyone manages a personal crisis, such as damage to their home differently and I understand that it can be challenging from time to time. So, when I go onto a site and the owners are having a bad day, I get it. For me it’s about doing my best to fix things for them.

My work with HBI Australia over the past two years has been mainly in the mid north coast area although occasionally I will travel further afield to assist with a job. Recently I helped on a job in Muswellbrook for someone whose home was damaged by fire and have offered to assist in Lismore.

Taking on insurance work with HBI Australia has been very rewarding. I know that people in the north coast have been hurting so it’s good to know I am helping to get them back into their homes.

Actually, the work with HBI Australia has kept me quite busy so about a year ago I put on another plasterer, another Aaron. So now it’s the two Aarons.

These days we aren’t 100% committed to HBI Australia but we get plenty of their work and always eager to take on more when we can. HBI Austraila is easy to deal with and getting jobs through the portal is terrific. Other companies are email driven which get really confusing as you lose information, or get dates confused when things change. With the HBI Australia’s portal everything is in one place and the timelines and priorities are clear. We know what the job is, we know what’s covered, where to go, when to go, agree on the costs, and then at the end use the portal for invoicing. They also have terrific people that we can reach out to if we need clarification on a job.

It doesn’t mean that everything is perfect, and us tradies like to grumble every now and then. However, when I look back on a job I have done with HBI Australia, I can be confident that we did the job with as little hassle as possible for the owner and proud that we have made a difference to another person’s life moving forward.