Customers First

The phrase, “the customer is always right,” may never have been truer for independent loss adjusters than it is today.

One top-of-mind issue for adjusters is “enhancing that customer experience and making sure the customer, being the policyholder, basically gets the best possible claims experience,” says Albert Poon, president of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association (CIAA).

Consumers today are more knowledgeable and more demanding, making adjuster education, expertise and efficiency all the more important, says Poon, chief operating officer (COO) for Cunningham Lindsey Canada.

And, increasingly, delivery on expectations must be done more and more quickly. The consumer has expectations that the fulfillment of that experience “will come basically 24/7/365,” he says.

Having in place a process that promotes immediate mitigation of losses is key, Poon says. “People want it done tomorrow,” he notes.”It’s absolutely an expectation of the consumer that you’re able to answer the questions relative to the different coverages, relative to what’s available under the different coverages, as well as be able to manage expectations of the process,” Poon says. This means ensuring “the communication lines are open so that the consumer, or the policyholder, is well-versed in terms of what that timetable looks like and what the process looks like,” he explains.

“What may have been acceptable in the past with respect to timelines basically have been shortened significantly,” particularly for simpler claims, Poon reports. “In order to manage that, you have to be aware of all the coverages of how to manage that claim within the timelines and within both customers’ expectations.”

That objective can be advanced, Poon says, by ensuring that independent adjusters are up to date with, and knowledgeable about, emerging trends.

“Cyber risk is probably the hottest topic right now,” he says. Learning about it “requires significant investment in education as new products get developed and get brought to market that, ultimately, will require expertise in the management of those types of claims,” he says.

“As you bring new policies and new wordings to market, the challenge is interpretation of those wordings and what the expectation was in terms of the product,” says Poon.

“So it requires significant investment to really understand – different companies will have different interpretations – what is the intent of the policy, and then at the same time, being able to understand what exposures exist in the marketplace.”

With cyber being a moving target, understanding the cost of a “typical” breach is “constantly being challenged,” Poon notes, adding that the realization of what is possible continues to broaden “the risk being underwritten.”

“Everyone’s using smartphones, everyone’s using computers,” he says. Looking forward, the likelihood is that cyber will be “incorporated into a variety of different policies that get underwritten as opposed to just a stand-alone,” he suggests, except perhaps for large commercial entities that have specific special exposures.

Of course, there are other risks about which adjusters must be well-versed. Consider, for example, water.

“All you have to do is look at the Toronto floods and the Alberta floods to say, ‘Wow, the exposures are huge,'” Poon says. “I’m not a weather predictor, but you look at everybody describing these as one in 100-year events. Is that true? If it’s not, then the challenge becomes, from a claims standpoint,” that costs can multiply significantly.

As always, CIAA efforts to help educate, support and promote independent adjusters will continue.

Beyond promotion of independent loss adjusting as a profession – “we would like to see all independent adjusters across Canada” – it will also work to ensure an ongoing dialogue with government and key stakeholders, whether they be in the brokering community, insurance industry or risk management field, says Poon.

Since its 2014-2015 strategic plan was developed, a number of key initiatives have been executed over the course of the year, Poon says, and CIAA will continue working to demonstrate its value and increase awareness of the independent adjuster brand.

SPECIALISTS, GENERALISTS

Beyond dealing with new risks, there are also changes to loss adjusting itself. Loss adjusting as a discipline has certainly changed over the years, with the increase in “specialization, which is good and bad,” Poon says.

“Obviously, you become very well-versed in one line of coverage and you can technically even become an expert in that particular area of insurance. Or you can have a broader scope,” he says.

There is certainly value in having generalists available, he says, citing natural catastrophes as a prime example.

On the property side, there is a huge swing in terms of capacity requirements, Poon suggests. “If you only have specialists, then you cannot then offer what I would consider to be the necessary capacity unless you have people who are versed in multiple lines of coverage.”

Poon’s varied work experience has provided him with a broader view.

The road to what Poon regards as a very rewarding career to date began as a summer work term in an industry he knew nothing about and knew no one in.

His summer job at Home Insurance – mostly making calls related to bodily injury claims and following up with lawyers and doctors for reports – gave way to fall, and as circumstances would have it, the company came calling and asked if he wanted a full-time position.

In 1990, Poon began as a telephone adjuster in property, staying there for about six months before hitting the road as a field property adjuster.

“Obviously, that was a major change with respect to what the role entailed,” he reports. “Dealing with people on the phone and dealing with people in person are very different.”

Poon remained on the insurance company side for about five years before entering the independent adjusting world at Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. as a field adjuster, first in property and later in accident benefits and liability claims, before moving on to account management and then serving as branch manager.

He then detoured to risk management for more than three years, working at Discount Car and Truck Rentals, assisting the company in the development of an insurance program that included a lot of different lines of coverage, he says.

“Going to that side of the business gave me what I would consider to be a much broader spectrum of different business opportunities as well, because they dabbled in a lot of different things beyond just insurance.”

Then it was back to independent adjusting, taking a position with Cunningham Lindsey Canada as vice president of the company’s program division.

Poon has since held operational management positions there and currently serves as COO, he says.

NEW BLOOD

As CIAA works to fulfill its goals, one thing to consider is getting more people interested in the adjusting field.

“I would say that the ability to bring new blood into the profession is more and more challenging” in light of the increasing demands of the job, Poon says. Beyond the work, though, the job requires significant soft skills.

“You are dealing with people who have had a traumatic experience,” like a break-in, flood or car accident, he says. “It’s an absolute requirement of the role that you have the skill to deal with people. You have to demonstrate empathy, you have to make sure you’re there to help,” he says.

For Poon, that is rewarding. “You can feel good about it at the end of the day.”