Incoming president: Reno Daigle

Finding a way to attract future generations into the field of insurance adjusting is essential to ensuring the ongoing success of the industry.

This is priority number one for Reno Daigle, the incoming president of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association (CIAA), who is the regional manager and assistant vice president for the northeast region of Ontario for Crawford & Company (Canada).

The first step is to educate the younger generation about loss adjusting: What it is, what the job entails, the benefits to being a loss adjuster, etc.

“A lot of people don’t know what loss adjusting is,” Daigle, who will be inaugurated at the association’s annual conference in September on Prince Edward Island, says. “You will say “insurance adjuster” and [the younger generation] will have no clue what it is. So, you will have to educate people as to what is loss adjusting . . . That’s going to be very important.”

Daigle notes that when you mention insurance, people automatically think life insurance, “and people are scared of life insurance, because they don’t really want to sell life insurance.”

In addition, he notes, quality of life is essential to the younger generation and being an independent adjuster is a very demanding profession. “You are on call, you will have a cell phone, you have a pager, you have a computer, and there’s a lot of stress,” he says. “For this reason, I think that the younger generation, when they start looking at all that together they say, “I don’t need this. With the amount of money that you are paying these people to start, it’s not worth it”.”

Because of this, it might be necessary to pay new staff a higher salary than previously, but this will be difficult for some adjusting firms and insurance companies. Daigle is quick to point out, however, that he’s not sure if this will be enough to attract new staff.

“It’s something that will have to be reviewed,” Daigle says. In fact, Daigle intends to set up a CIAA committee dedicated solely to attracting new people into the industry. This committee would determine what is needed to get the next generation interested in working in the field of loss adjusting: Is it benefits? Is it salary? Is it simply a matter of letting the next generation know this is an available career?

Educating independent adjusters

It’s not just future generations that Daigle is concerned about — it’s the current one, as well. Continuing education is also a main focus for Daigle as he prepares to take on the presidency. Currently there is no consistency in terms of continuing education requirements across the province — with some provinces having no requirements at all.

“I would like to make sure that we get good programs for continuing education,” he notes. Pastpresident Miles Barber, as chair of the licensing committee for the CIAA, has been working diligently over the last year or so towards harmonized licensing for independent adjusters. This will not only allow for more seamless licensing of independents to work in more than one province, but it will ensure that all independent adjusters are on par in terms of licensing and education. Daigle will be working closely with Barber to further this mandate.

“There are so many changes in our industry and the law and the methods,” Daigle says. “That’s why I think (continuing education) is needed.”

Increasing membership

As many presidents have done in the past, Daigle will continue to work at boosting membership within the CIAA — especially among the smaller companies. By joining the CIAA, Daigle notes that small adjusting companies may find a sense of camaraderie within the organization. As the owner of a small business one often finds himself or herself working alone or in a small group, but as a member of the CIAA, “you are not alone,” Daigle says. He recounts when he first started out on his own, being a member of the CIAA expanded his network so that he was no longer alone in the industry. He would take trips from North Bay to Toronto for CIAA events where he would meet others in the industry, “who still today are really good friends,” and learn about changes in the field and new technologies that could help his business. He laughs as he recounts that he was the first in North Bay — after learning about the technology during a CIAA event — to have a fax machine, and how Pilot Insurance, who had an office in the same building, would come to use his fax.

“There’s a friendship that develops over the years,” Daigle says of being a CIAA member. “And that is very important to me.”

Selfless acts

Giving back to the community is also very important for Daigle and was, in addition to wanting to become involved further in the industry, one of the main reason he joined CIAA back in the late 1970s.

“I’ve been really involved in the community and the insurance industry,” Daigle says of his career. “That’s always been my focus and my goal in life — to try and help people.”

Throughout his time as a CIAA member, Daigle has served as convention chair for a regional convention in North Bay, Northern director for the Ontario region, second vice president for the Ontario region , education chair for the national executive and first vice president. In addition to being an integral part of the CIAA executive, Daigle has been involved in Judicial Affairs for the appointment of judges, he has been chair of the Insurance Institute in the Cambrian Shield, he has worked with the Economic Development Commission, the Air Base Property Corporation (which has led to the creation of 300-400 jobs in the North Bay area) and the BayWay Corporation, he has held various positions with the North Bay Heritage Festival, he was on a committee to save the local ski hill and he is a Kiwanis Club member.

“I’ve always been giving to the community and to the industry as much as I could,” he notes.

As the grandfather of five, family is important to Daigle. He had every intention of stepping down from his role on the CIAA executive to spend more time with his brood. But after a call from Barber and another push from past president Craig Walker, Daigle couldn’t say no to the position of president.

“I was scared and nervous,” Daigle says, laughing. “I’m still scared and nervous.” He is dedicated to doing a good job in his role and is very excited about taking the helm in PEI. Having grown up in New Brunswick, the Maritimes is dear to his heart.

“I know that I am going to have a hell of a year,” he chuckles. “I’m a firm believer in being involved. The industry and the people give you so much, that giving some time for the industry and the profession is a good thing to do.”