On the Scene (October 01, 2008)

Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. lost a long-time stalwart member and friend with the passing of John McHugh on Sept. 24, 2008. John, vice president, Claims Operations for Crawford, was known throughout the industry as a fine gentleman, a devoted family man, a distinguished claims professional, and a gifted leader. His career spanned over 30 years with well regarded local independent firms Gray, McHugh, Virley; Adjusters Canada Inc.; and Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. John’s friendships were local, regional and national and he will be greatly missed by all of those who had the benefit of his positive outlook, willingness to help, and dedication to the claims profession. John is survived by his wife Nancy, daughters Emily and Molly, and son Calvin. Our thoughts and condolences are with them. •

Brian Glass has been appointed branch manager for Cunningham Lindsey Canada Claims Services Ltd.’s operation in Owen Sound, Ont.

Glass has more than 28 years of experience in the insurance industry. Most recently, he has been an assistant claims manager for a major insurer.

He has extensive experience with major property losses and is a certified fraud examiner, a Cunningham Lindsey release says.

“We are very fortunate to have someone of Brian’s experience join our team,” Mike Morris, Ontario district supervisor at Cunningham Lindsey, said. “He has tremendous knowledge of our industry and is dedicated to delivering superior quality and service to our customers.” •

Cunningham Lindsey Canada Claims Services Ltd. has opened an office in Kelowna, B. C., and has appointed Scott Jordan as district manager.

Jordan has spent 10 years with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia as a special investigations unit officer and special constable for the province, a Cunningham Lindsey release says. He has worked for two large adjusting firms in B. C. as a senior claims adjuster, adjuster in charge, and most recently as regional branch director for the Okanagan and Interior.

“We are expanding our operations in British Columbia to increase our level of service response capabilities and to better serve our customers in western Canada,” said Gary Dalton, Western region senior vice president. •

The CICMA Bluenose Chapter and CIAA Atlantic Chapter donated $5,000 to the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, NS.

The funds were raised during the 2007 Atlantic CICMA/CIAA Joint Conference. From left are: Jane Richardson, president, CIAA Nova Scotia Region, Lynn Ross, vice president of CICMA Nova Scotia and Joanne Bath-Noble, manager of annual giving at IWK. •

Carstar Automotive Canada has created two new regional director positions aimed to help the company develop three distinct regions of operation within Canada.

Bob Gagnon will assume the role of regional director eastern Canada (Quebec and the Maritimes), bringing to the role 25 years in senior automotive franchise system management positions.

Lloyd Wheeler will take on the position of regional director western Canada (B. C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba), with 20 years of experience in senior automotive retail, franchise and service positions.

Currently, the Ontario region is managed by Larry Jefferies, executive vice president, but a regional director will be added in 2009. •

FirstOnSite Restoration LP and Disaster Kleenup Canada Ltd. (DKC) have parted ways effective Aug. 31, 2008.

A limited partnership — FirstOnSite Restoration LP — was created in 2007, comprised primarily of a number of DKC members.

As FirstOnSite’s business model developed, it became evident that it was not compatible with that of Disaster Kleenup’s, and so the two parties have mutually agreed to a separation, according to a release.

“Our strategy and vision is to build Canada’s first complete national provider of disaster restoration services,” Ian Milne, FirstOnSite’s CEO, said in the release. “To achieve our objectives, we need to be completely independent.”

Matt Johnson, CEO of Disaster Kleenup, added: “It is important that Disaster Kleenup and FirstOnSite are able to meet their individual business goals and objectives. Disaster Kleenup will continue to maintain its solid presence in the property damage industry and our commitment remains unchanged.” •

Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. has re-branded its auto appraisal division as Crawford Appraisal Management Services.

“This re-branding is the final stage of a strategic plan that was developed to align the division’s services with the rapidly evolving needs of our clients,” John Sharoun, CEO of Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc., noted in a release. “The new name was chosen to better reflect the range of services provided by this division and we have built solutions that will improve the service quality of our appraisal process.” •

Glenn Penny has been appointed vice president of claims at Kingsway Financial Services, Inc. In the newly created role, Penny will be responsible for the oversight of claims functions, including building claims capabilities and common practices throughout the Kingsway Group.

Penny has 24 years of claims experience, most recently as vice president of claims with a major Canadian personal and other specialty lines insurer.

“We are excited to have someone of Glenn’s capabilities and experience join the Kingsway Group,”Shaun Jackson, president and CEO of Kingsway, said in a release. “This newly created role is part of our strategic plan to increase oversight and provide best practices to all of our insurance companies throughout the group.” • Jim Haskins has been appointed Aviva Canada Inc.’s executive vice president of claims and procurement, effective Sept. 22.

Haskins “possesses strong strategic and leadership skills, customer focus and operations management experience,” Aviva noted in a release. “He joins Aviva Canada after 17 years in the property and casualty business of two major U. S. insurance companies.”

Most recently, Haskins was the senior vice president of the claims division of The Hartford Financial Services Group, based out of Hartford, Conn.

Prior to joining The Hartford, he held increasingly senior roles in regional claims operations for Progressive Insurance. •

Aon’s Ontario claims group has made a variety of new staff appointments.

“These appointments reflect a variety of role changes and promotions, resulting from retirements and other internal moves,” the company noted in a release.

Eugene Savaia has been appointed senior claims consultant.

Savaia has more than 26 years worth of insurance claims experience. He has experience resolving major industrial/ commercial property losses, as well as casualty experience during his tenure as national H. O. mould technical specialist at Royal & Sun Alliance.

Prior to joining Aon, Savaia provided several years service in the claims unit at Zurich North America Canada.

Deanna Scott has been appointed senior claims analyst.

Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. appointed a new leadership team for its ClaimsAlert contact centre, which will guide the division through continued growth and expansion across Canada.

Roland Giguere has joined Crawford as assistant vice president, ClaimsAlert. Giguere brings with him extensive experience in optimizing human resource management, technological innovation and business line development. He will develop and execute strategic initiatives focused on revenue growth, new business development and customer service.

Andrea Zimny will assume the role of director, op erations. Zimny has worked in a number of different positions with Crawford, most recently as manager, ClaimsAlert, and was instrumental in the division’s recent expansion and success in Ontario and Quebec. She will be responsible for both the Waterloo and Montreal centres.

Alan Gallagher has joined Winmar Ottawa’s team as a manager/ estimator.

Gallagher is a chartered insurance professional with the Insurance Institute of Canada and the past president of the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association, a Winmar release says.

“Since 1989, Alan’s diverse background as an insurance broker, claims adjuster, and independent adjuster arms him with the common sense and skills necessary to ensure good communications between insurers, insureds and everyone in between in the related service industry,” the release continues.

“As such, Alan brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.” •

She has 10 years of experience at Aon, and will assume responsibility for claims handling and advocacy on the accounts previously handled by the recently-retired Don Roach.

Scott will continue to act as liaison for our clients with a focus in the GRS accounts including the social housing and conservation authority programs.

Mark MacDonald has been appointed as a claims advocate. Prior to joining Aon, he gained extensive working knowledge of automobile, liability and property claims. In addition, he gained in-depth experience in accident benefits claims including large losses, special investigation claims and catastrophic claims.

Adam Furfuro was appointed claims analyst. He joined Aon in 2005 as part of the Wilfred Laurier University co-op program. •

Jordan Whaley will assume the role of national manager, telephone adjusting claims. Whaley is an alumnus of the ClaimsAlert telephone unit and most recently was the group’s manager. She will continue the process of streamlining and improving the management of telephone claims with Crawford’s key partnership customers. •