Learning From the Masters

The independent adjuster faces an array of challenges in the year ahead, concedes new Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association (OIAA) president Christina Welton. Greater regulatory scrutiny on licensing, a pending court case that could introduce more liability for claims professionals, and the ever present carrier cost squeeze will continue to make life interesting for the industry. Welton, though, believes adjusters will roll with the punches. “Sure, these are issues we have to address,” she says with a confident smile, “but they are just another set of hurdles we’ll overcome.”

Christina Welton is not intimidated by the challenge of leading one of Canada’s largest claims associations. Her calm demeanour, as new Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association (OIAA) president, is not betrayed by the burden of her office. Welton admits she has worked alongside the masters, past OIAA presidents, and has learned from their experiences. The new president has worked with five past OIAA presidents, including her current partner at Szypka, Welton & Company, George Szypka. “I really picked up a lot of knowledge from working with these people. I also picked up their excitement, the electricity and the purpose their roles offered them. I wanted to be a part of it.”

Her career, and her network, have set Welton on the path towards OIAA presidency. She has held posts in every aspect of the profession. She has served as an inhouse telephone adjuster, as a claims professional walking the beat for an insurer, and as an independent, handling claims for other firms, and now, for her own.

Enforcement background

Welton initially was on the path towards following her father into a career in law enforcement. At age seven, her family moved from an East Ontario dairy farm to the town of Lindsay, where Welton’s father became an Ontario Provincial Police officer. She enrolled and graduated with a degree in law enforcement and security at Georgian College. “I wanted to be a police officer. And then I moved to Toronto and met a friend who was working as a telephone adjuster. She simply loved the work and convinced me to try it out.”

Welton joined her friend at Liberty Mutual’s claims department, and while she has since discovered that her friend received a recruitment bonus for every new employee she recruited, Welton does not regret the subterfuge. “I just loved the work. There is a common personality necessary for handling claims. You have to be a people’s person. As a result, everybody working claims at Liberty Mutual shared a real commonality.”

After a year at Liberty, Welton had found her career. “I started meeting people in other companies and realized the growth potential of this market. I was offered a position at Sun Alliance Insurance that would open up new doors.” The job, which she took in 1977, began as inhouse work, but expanded towards outside claims adjusting — and Welton soon had a Toronto beat. In between, she managed to carve out a year to fulfill a dream and travel around Europe. She says her trip gave her a whole new independence and sharpened skills that would serve her professional life. “Europe gave me a better appreciation of different cultures and an extremely huge appreciation for my home country. Having explored cultures makes you receptive to new cultures.” This skill would serve her well in the ethnically diverse Toronto market.

Welton joined the independents soon after returning to Sun Alliance, joining S.B. Sobel & Associates in the early eighties. There she began her tenure as an independent working alongside company president Steve Sobel, himself a former OIAA president. In 1985, Welton moved on to Harris, Harding & Bickers, becoming the first female adjuster to work for the firm. Finally, in 1987, she went into partnership with adjusters Roy Martin and George Szypka, forming Martin, Szypka, Welton Insurance Adjusters. Martin, also a former OIAA president, was bought out by his two partners, creating Szypka, Welton & Company Insurance Adjusters in 1987.

Szypka, Welton & Company is currently experiencing many of the pressures felt by smaller operations. The firm is a member of Ward Interspect Ltd., a network of independently owned adjusters. Ward North America, an adjuster consolidator purchased the network in 1998. And so the pull between remaining an independent and joining a network is on the forefront each day. “That’s the big question. Do you remain independent or do you allow your business to be bought out? In the case of Ward Interspect Ltd., most of the major companies have remained independently owned affiliates,” she remarks.

Targets abound

Despite Welton’s assertion the industry can handle its challenges, there are clearly plenty of them down the turnpike. Ongoing is the question faced by the small operators — feeling the squeeze by insurers seeking lower costs and wider geographic reach — whether to join a network.

Currently on deck though is a Supreme Court case, Spiers v. Zurich, in which the insured plaintiff has named the independent and company as liable co-defendants. If the case rules against adjuster, the resulting precedent could have large-scale ramifications for all adjusters. “Already our fees are reduced because of tighter budgets and lower profit margins. A small independent having to regularly defend themselves, regardless of liability, could put them right out of business.”

Another issue that could splinter membership is the regulatory drive in Alberta and other provinces to reconfigure licensing requirements so that all inhouse adjusters are individually licensed. Currently, inhouse adjusters are not licensed, while independents have to be. The affect of such change could see more business outsourced. OIAA, which represents both independent and inhouse adjusters, has a variety of views on the issue. “We are setting up a subcommittee to provide regulatory input. We are pleased to represent both sides of the debate, who can share their concerns without adopting an adversarial position.” While the regulatory change would not occur in Ontario for a number of years, the current legislative environment has seen changes in one jurisdiction mirrored in others.

On the homefront, Welton hopes to further unify adjusters across Ontario who have not been as active in the association as the OIAA would hope. “We’ve been trying to stimulate growth in membership. People have not joined because they do not realize the benefits of OIAA membership. We provide a networking opportunity that is invaluable considering the adjusting profession is not that big an industry.”

Welton blames the introduction of no-fault insurance in the early 1990s for part of the membership lapse. “No fault insurance put everything on hold. The independents lost marketshare to the inhouse operations as insurers were training new people to adjust no-fault claims. As a result, there was something of a hiring freeze in the industry.” She says the thirty-something demographic was not brought into the adjusting ranks, leaving a vacuum between the older set and the newly recruited twenty-something telephone adjusters. “As a result, you see plenty of young people telephone adjusting, but there are not many of them walking the streets,” she explains.

Out of Town focus

The OIAA is currently targeting focus on its Out of Town meeting, to be held for the first time ever in Toronto on February 10-12. While the February 11 schedule includes educational functions, the conference is a networking vehicle for adjusters to meet one another and their support service providers, Welton maintains. “We’re really focusing on a casual setting this year. All of the educational events will be held in the exhibition hall so that there is maximum interaction between members, exhibitors and partners.”

Keeping with the networking and social mood of the event, Welton adds, the final Out of Town meeting day will feature a slow-pitch baseball tournament, to be held at SkyDome, with each OIAA chapter fielding a team.