Moves & Views (January 01, 2009)

1 Peter Blodgett is now president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO). Blodgett is the owner of Darling Insurance, which has three Ontario locations in Peterborough, Omemee and Bobcaygeon. He recently opened a new brokerage, Beyond Insurance, in Whitby, Ontario. “We are extremely proud to have him on board,” said IBAO CEO Randy Carroll. “With his continued dedication to serving the interests of independent insurance brokers across Ontario, we know IBAO will continue to succeed and be recognized as a symbol of excellence within the insurance in dustry.”

2 The William H. Mc- Gannon Foundation has awarded the John Faulds Memorial Award to Jean-Francois Haeck. The award, which includes a Cdn$5,000 scholarship, is not given on an annual basis. It is reserved for worthy students studying risk management at the post-graduate level. Haeck, a Montreal native, is currently pursuing a Masters of Science in Management and Regulation of Risk degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. “I chose to study risk management in London to learn the world-leading best risk management practices, which I plan on applying when I return to Canada,” Haeck says. He adds he is humbled to receive the award. “The Risk and Insurance Management Society makes clear that more risk management professionals are required and I feel responsible for contributing to the profession’s success in Canada.”

3 Auto insurance rate regulators across the country have established the Canadian Auto Insurance Rate Regulators (CARR) Association. “Our vision is to be a recognized inter-jurisdictional Canadian association for automobile insurance rate regulators working together to improve rate regulation processes,” said association chairman Harry Gough [3], currently the vice chair of the Alberta Auto Insurance Rate Board. The CARR Association was formally established at the 2008 Canadian Automobile Insurance Rate Regulators (CARR) Conference, held in Banff, Alberta in late 2008. “The conference had been the product of a common desire among automobile insurance rate regulators to have a forum where they could discuss topics of concern and share expertise exclusive to automobile insurance rate regulators,” according to a release issued by the CARR Conference. Apart from naming Gough as chairman, the CARR Association named Paul D’Astous as its vice chair. D’Astous is currently chairman and CEO of the New Brunswick Insurance Board. Six other representatives from across Canada were given positions on the CARR Association’s board.

4 Norm Angrove is the new senior manager of value added programs for PPG Automotive Refinish’s business in the United States and Canada. He will be responsible for marketing the CertifiedFirst and MVP programs in North America, leading the strategic direction of CertifiedFirst in North America and heading the Platinum jobber program and marketing communications in Canada. He has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, including expertise in OEM parts marketing, automotive PBE distribution, collision centre marketing programs, collision repair banner networks and collision centre consolidation.

5 The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) and The Co-operators have unveiled a third “safer living” home built in Canada. It replaces a home that was previously destroyed by fire in Fort Erie (Ridgeway), Ontario. The new home is built to “better-than-building- code” standards under the ICLR’s ‘Designed… for safer living’ program. The program is a first-of-its-kind partnership that seeks to raise awareness of the need for safer living standards in an era of climate change. Like the first, prototype home built in West Point, Prince Edward Island, the house in Fort Erie is specially engineered to withstand high winds, rain and severe winter weather.

6 Canadian Claims Services Inc. (CCS), a new full-service, independent adjusting company, is planning to launch in Alberta in early 2009. CCS will be providing adjusting services through a network of small-to medium-sized adjusting firms, according to a company release. The firms will work under agreement with CCS “to provide consistent quality and above-average products to clients,” the release notes. David Riddell, president of CCS, was most recently with CGI Group. He brings 20 years of claims and claims management experience to the organization.

7 Carstar Automotive Canada has launched Carstar Express, aimed at consumer’s “minor” repair needs (i. e. repairs completed in less than an hour). Carstar operations manager P. J. Wardell says that although Carstar Express will repair small damage that can sometimes happen to a vehicle, the focus will be on the ‘Core Four’ of repair services. “The Core Four are those repairs for the most common damages that frequently happen to a vehicle,” said Wardell. “These include things like paintless dent repair (PDR) that can result from door dings, paint/bumper scuff repair, windshield chip/crack repair and exterior and interior detailing.”

8 Cunningham Lindsey Canada has opened a new Toronto North location in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Dave Lyon will manage the office staffed by Rick Bahen, Ross Arthur, Nick Tucci, Fop Riethoff, Dale Reid and senior adjusters Pamela Allen and Fred Scott.

9 Catlin Canada has announced two appointments to its Calgary office. Greg Joyce [9a] will be product manager of energy and John Alford [9b] will be energy and property underwriter. Both join Catlin Canada from GCAN Canada, where they established a domestic oil and gas portfolio. Joyce was previously the manager of GCAN’s Calgary office.

10 Gino Fiorucci is now the new CEO of ISB Canada. “2009 will be an exciting year for ISB Canada,” says founder and chairman Darrell Parsons. “With Mr. Fiorucci, we get a seasoned executive with proven business leadership talent, a street-smart understanding of today’s most pressing human resources and security challenges and an impressive track record in building profitability for a range of Canadian companies. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the team.”

11KMC on Demand eLearning services is now available through Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.’s educational services catalogues. In addition to the classroom courses provided by Crawford Educational Services, KMC (Knowledge Management Center – www.kmcondemand.com) offers claims professionals a full stream of quality online training at basic, intermediate and advanced levels, according to a Crawford release Additionally, KMC on Demand offers a full suite of tools, resources, links and research designed to improve efficiency through on-the- job training. The current KMC on Demand curriculum includes technical property courses, adjuster skill and knowledge courses as well as basic legal concept courses on contract and tort law.