Adjusting the Balance

As incoming president of the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association, Paul Feron knows he will juggle the interests of two diverse member groups, independent and staff adjusters. Finding common ground may not, however, prove difficult.

Adjusters as a whole face a host of issues, including licensing, new privacy legislation and litigation trends that are seeing individuals personally named in bad faith lawsuits. Add to this growing burden the bigger picture issue of industry consolidation, and it is clear that adjusters from both sides of the profession need to “step out of their cubicles” and use the association as a vehicle to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.

Imagine the tightrope walker, poised high above a three-ring circus, stepping cautiously but with determination toward his goal. This could describe the task assumed by incoming Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association (OIAA) president Paul Feron as he attempts to balance the needs of members and the mission of the association itself in a rapidly changing marketplace. If confidence and experience is what is needed, then Feron stands in good stead as a member of the OIAA for nearly 20 years and a vocal supporter of the value the association offers both independent and staff adjusters.

His pet peeve, he says, are people who ask, “what do I get from the OIAA?” While he acknowledges that the association “could do better” in terms of promoting itself to members and non-members alike, Feron feels that the educational and networking opportunities offered to members speak for themselves. “The people who have put their time and effort into the association have seen [the benefits] come back to them.”

Growing issue

In the past several years the association has made numerous changes to deal with what Feron describes as, “one of the primes areas we need to evolve in”, that is, membership growth. These steps include the transfer of funds to local chapters for seminar and educational sessions, a move Feron says is integral if the association wants to reach all of its widespread membership. “If we want education to be a mandate of the association we have to feed money back to the local chapters…we’re an Ontario organization, not a Toronto organization,” he stresses, despite the fact that the majority of membership is indeed Toronto-based.

And, he notes, the organization has to continue to promote itself as a venue for both the independent and staff adjuster. Unfortunately, the networking opportunities presented by OIAA’s trade show, conference and seminars have been seen as stomping grounds for independents to meet future clients. Staff adjusters too often “exist in cubicles and cocoons”, a mistake in a time when consolidation, mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing mean adjusters must expect to change posts several times throughout their careers.

The chance to meet “their next employee or their next employer” is one of the benefits Feron hopes to put in the faces of adjusters as he deals with membership that has been “up and down” in the past. The other area that will be key is education, a personal focus for Feron. And in the swirl of discussion over adjuster licensing, Feron says the association could see its role as the educator of adjusters increasing. “We could be integral in education, depending on what happens with the licensing [issue].”

Eyes on Alberta

A year ago the foremost issue on the minds of Ontario’s adjusters was when the push for staff adjuster licensing going on in Alberta would make its way to this province. Fast forward to this year, and the victory of insurers in Alberta, which is making the possibility of licensing in Ontario remote at best. The Alberta government’s last minute decision to scrap licensing in favor of sanctions or penalties against companies if a staff adjuster acts in a way deemed inappropriate can be taken as a sign that the licensing debate will not soon migrate to Ontario, Feron believes. The Alberta decision “seems to be a clear message that insurers are not going to let this happen,” he notes, adding licensing “won’t likely happen here” in the foreseeable future.

But, like most in the industry, Feron recognizes the need for formal control of conduct within the profession. “As a profession, you earn more respect by having individuals accountable for what they do.” Although licensing was struck down in Alberta, “the thing that evolved out of it is accountability,” he notes. If staff adjusters are found to be behaving improperly, companies will be liable for sanctions or fines. Feron notes that the compromise system in Alberta will also mean that adjusters will carry reprimands with them. “This stays with them, they can’t just move to another company [with a clean slate].”

While the Alberta situation may seem to put licensing on the backburner, Feron and the OIAA are not resting easy on the issue. They are already partnered with the Canadian Independent Adjusters Association (CIAA) and the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association (CICMA) on licensing panels. The CIAA’s president, Paul Hancock, says that group is working to become the self-regulatory body for the independent adjuster profession.

For Feron, issues such as licensing present a fine line to walk. “We can’t, as an association, have an opinion,” he notes because of the dual responsibility of representing both independents and staff adjusters. Also, it is difficult to know how the issue will come into play, if at all, and therefore to take a definite stand. However, he adds, “we are the voice of adjusters in Ontario…if it [licensing] comes on the table, clearly we will be involved”.

Privacy concerns

Other issues are more likely to dominate the OIAA’s legislative agenda in the near future. Among these are the regulations being developed to implement Bill C-6, the federal government’s privacy act. “There are going to be some significant issues affecting us as a profession,” says Feron. The OIAA has submitted a paper to the government offering itself as a source of input during discussions to work out the practical details of the legislation. “We would like to have input,” he says. The legislation, which will not affect most insurance institutions until 2004, may make the retrieval, use and dissemination of client information more difficult for companies. Among the concerns raised by many insurers, including the industry’s lobby body the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), is how the detection of fraud may be impeded by the act.

The other issue Feron feels should dominate the agenda is the increasing frequency of lawsuits naming adjusters personally as defendants. It’s a trend that “scares our members”, he says. “These are adjusters acting in the course of their employment…the situation is totally unacceptable.” Should the cases before the courts find in favor of plaintiffs, an adjuster’s personal assets, family and home could be “attacked”. Feron adds that the trend is “the biggest slap in the face” for adjusters, who are currently taking more courses and attaining higher levels of education than ever before. Claimants are not always pleased with the results of an adjusting job, he says, but to attack an adjuster’s personal assets through litigation is unfair, “this cannot continue”.

Strong advocate

Adjusters from both sides of the profession will find they have no stronger advocate than Feron. With a long career in adjusting, stretching back to his almost ten years in Toronto working for Anglo Gibraltar General Insurance Company and later S.B. Sobel & Associates, through his move back to hometown London, Ontario, in 1992 to join TWR Adjusters, and then onto his current position with Shumka Craig & Moore, Feron has built up a network of friends and advisors in the industry. Many of these, he notes, have come through his involvement with the OIAA, which began in 1982. A member of the London Chapter executive in 1994, he later became OIAA secretary in 1996 and began the rise to president. With the support of his family (wife Wendy and daughters Alexandra and Meghan), and the help of the OIAA executive, Feron says his primary goal for the year will be “getting the [association’s] message out”.