The right adjuster FOR THE JOB

National harmonization of the licensing and regulation of the adjusting profession has become a hot topic for regulators and the insurance industry in Canada. Alberta’s recent Insurance Act rewrite included a step-licensing structure as well as a provision for mandatory continuing education. The profession hopes to see similar developments across the country. Incoming Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association (CIAA) president David Buzzeo — who has spent more than ten years in the fight for harmonization — could be the man to make it happen.

Incoming Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association (CIAA) president David Buzzeo has very good timing. In September, he will take over the reigns of the CIAA, which is currently prioritizing harmonization, an issue Buzzeo has fought a hard battle for over the past decade. With the Alberta Insurance Act rewrite passed, Atlantic harmonization underway, and the Quebec Insurance Act being revised, not to mention murmurs that other provinces will soon follow, Buzzeo is even more bullish on pressing harmonized licensing of adjusters across the provinces. He, and the CIAA, want one definition of adjusting, with common licensing requirements coast to coast.

Buzzeo is a veteran of regulatory battles. In 1988, he was named CIAA adjuster of the year for the work he did developing a step-licensing program in Alberta. He is frank about his harmonization ambitions and states nationwide licensing to be a top-level priority. “It is of immense importance to have a nationwide definition and license for adjusters. The license could be portable from province to province. At the moment, an adjuster in Ontario might not necessarily be able to adjust a claim in Saskatchewan. With many of today’s claims being nationwide, it is imperative that an adjuster in Ontario be able to adjust all of the companies risk, from the Maritimes to British Columbia,” he explains. With experience on all sides of adjusting — both as an in-house and independent — and having won step licensing battles in Alberta, Buzzeo seems well equipped to take the battle to the national level.

25-year veteran

Buzzeo graduated in 1971 from the University of Alberta with a science degree. After graduating, he took what he refers to as an “off year”, working as a field officer for the Alberta department of transport.

In 1972, he decided to join the adjuster ranks with Co-operators General Insurance Company in Edmonton. “Basically, adjusting struck me as an interesting and exciting thing to become involved in,” he says. He stayed with Co-operators where he was encouraged to continue his insurance education. Looking to gain more experience in property and commercial insurance, he became an in-house adjuster with the now-defunct Canadian Indemnity Company (CIC) in 1974. After a two year tenure at CIC he joined fellow adjuster Murray Everett and started an independent firm in 1977, a firm that would become Buzzeo & Associates. Today, he is president of the firm which employs twelve adjusters in Edmonton with a satellite office in Calgary.

The problem solving investigative nature of adjusting was the original draw, but Buzzeo says working with insureds has kept his interest over the past two and a half decades. “The job has variety, no two claims are ever the same. And although sometimes people don’t appreciate what you are doing, you really are helping people. That’s what keeps me doing it.”

New challenges

As president-elect of CIAA, Buzzeo can look forward to a whole new series of challenges, in what looks to be a pivotal set of years for the profession. Aside from harmonized legislation and regulation, Buzzeo says there are plenty of priorities to keep him and his association busy in the year ahead:

The CIAA is close to finalizing the creation of its CLA exam, a testing prerequisite for the adjuster CLA designation. “We’re aiming to have the designation become the highest distinction of the adjusting practitioner.” The designation will add further credibility and profile to the profession, he adds.

Canadian adjusters are working closely with other nations’ adjusting ranks to bring all of the world associations under one international umbrella, a world congress of loss adjusting. The move will help to build professional standards worldwide, and assist the growing list of adjusters who are handling international claims. “It’s not unusual, for example, for us to do a business interruption claim with the policy written in England with British wording,” he says. The umbrella organization will help adjusters communicate internationally to assist one another on such claims.

The association is looking to improve and reformat its handbook, the Claims Directory. Buzzeo attributes much of the early progress to current outgoing president Russ Malkoskie, “he began changing the directory into more of a claims manual. We hope to continue this initiative in the year head to make our manual much more comprehensive. A learning resource of sorts.”

Before the end of his term, Buzzeo hopes to have jumpstarted the industry’s move onto the Internet by endeavoring to create a CIAA web site. “We’ve got the domain name set aside and we’re in the process of selecting a firm to do the construction,” he reports.

Some of the ongoing prevalent issues remain the same, Buzzeo adds. Consolidation continues to play a role in the evolution of Canada’s adjusters. But the main consolidating players have changed from a year ago. “In the second tier of adjusters, the consolidation is still happening. The regional players are being eaten up. Higher up, I think the wind is out of the sales. There have not been top tier mergers since Crawford and Adjusters Canada.” He reasons many small adjusters are selling their operations to the bigger firms, most because of retirement. “It’s difficult to attract young people into the small firms, as they perceive the future of these small adjusters to be uncertain,” he explains.

Buzzeo is not implying young people are not joining the industry, just that they are hesitant to join the smaller firms. In fact, he praises the profession, particularly the Insurance Institute of Canada, for having created a network with community colleges to train and attract young people to the profession.

Harmonization soon

These issues aside, Buzzeo makes no secret that his priority is to see adjuster licensing and standards harmonized across the nation. And unlike the rest of the insurance industry — which is skeptical regulation will be harmonized — he is confident standardization is an eventuality. “We have to understand that it is good that regulators are taking a long time to harmonize insurance policies. These initiatives are not undertaken often, and as a result, they have to take the time and get it right the first time. If regulators move too quickly, they can take a flavour of the month issue and make decisions based on those buzz issues, decisions that will box in the profession and the industry,” he argues.

Harmonization of adjuster standards will be a part of the nationwide overhaul of insurance regulations, he contends. “We are still just a part of the big picture, that’s why this process will take so long. But from what I’ve seen, I sincerely believe we’re headed down the right path.”