Loving your Loss Adjuster!

Transcription

1 Loving your Loss Adjuster! Finnish Risk Management Association Helsinki 13 th September 2007.

2 Introduction Me Niall Pritchard. Irish born and educated. Loss Adjuster since I left school 15 years ago. Loss Adjuster since I left school 37 years ago. Fellow of Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters. Member of GAB Robins Global Claims Team. Handling international property damage losses from Ireland, since Introduced to Nordic market 2 years ago.

3 Today s talk. That mysterious relationship between The Insurer The Policyholder The Broker and the Loss Adjuster. The ultimate ménage a quatre. Some of the secrets. Why it can go wrong? Questions and Answers.

4 The Insurer Comes in many guises and can be Primary insurer Captive or otherwise Leader of Facultative placement. Large EML s tend to be written with London Market support. Excess insurer Over self insured retention Over captive Reinsurer All the insurer interests are different but usually only one loss adjuster. Primary insurer frequently provides risk engineering services for a fee.

5 The Policyholder Usually a large multinational company with a Global Insurance Programme. Used to be written with local cover either aligned with or reinsured by Global DIC/DIV cover. Now tend to be written on Freedom of Services/Europolicy basis. Property Damage and BI on Commercial All Risks basis. Local deductible funded by SBU or LBU. May have own Risk Manager or may buy risk management services from Broker. May have own Insurance Manager but will nearly always buy insurance based risk protection via a broker.

6 The Broker. The guy in the middle! Relationship with policyholder who pays for him. Ongoing relationship with insurers with whom business is placed. Likely to have influenced any loss adjuster nomination. Probably faces triennial Tender. May also be Reinsurance broker. Risk management service provider. Loss is a mixed blessing Reminds policyholder that happens. Improved and continuing sales opportunity. Hopes cover was all that is needed. Moment of truth

7 The Eternal Triangle. INSURER LOSS ADJUSTER. POLICYHOLDER BROKER

8 How does it work in theory? The insurer appoints the loss adjuster who has usually been nominated by the policyholder/broker. The loss adjuster investigates, reports on, evaluates, more reports on, negotiates and settles the claim. All this is done in a vacuum, as if the only stakeholder was the insurer. I don t think so!

9 How does it work in practice? The loss adjuster is the new middle man. He helps the policyholder develop a loss management plan for both MD and BI. He reports to the insurer/s on the exposure estimate (reserve) and identifies the upside and downside risks. Encourages the policyholder to take all reasonable efforts to contain the loss and the insurer to support a particular strategy to resolve the claim. Introduces commercial thinking, if it is beneficial. Maintains a close liaison with the broker. Facilitates a settlement which is premised on The lowest presentation of loss (because of successful loss management) A flexible and commercial interpretation of the available covers to achieve best results. Keeping the communication lines fully open at all times. Earliest practical close off of risk.

10 What is a best result? For an insurer The lowest cost exit from the claim. Clarifies their net liability as quickly as possible. Which fosters a long term stable relationship with the policyholder. Allows the broker to be confident in the insurer as a claims manager. For the policyholder A settlement which provides effectively for their financial losses. Which is least damaging in terms of their claims experience. Which gives them certainty in the shortest possible time. For the broker Makes their client happy. Enhances their future sales opportunities.

11 What s different about International Claims? The loss has happened outside home territory Some local cultural differences, maybe. Communication lines are immediately stretched. The diverse cultures and practices of different insurance markets come into play. The Loss Adjuster has more roles than ever. Investigator, Policy Interpreter, Loss Manager, Appraiser, Reporter, Coordinator and communications hub.

12 Management and Communication. Local investigation and assessment undertaken by Loss Adjusters local team. Managing adjuster who enjoys confidence of Market, deals with High level loss detail Market reporting Policyholder support. Broker liaison. Delivering the Best Result Two essential s A strategy to achieve closure Good communications on all levels.

13 Some Golden Rules. Stretched communication lines from the beginning, so Claim management must be proactive and not reactive. Mutual No Surprises agreement with policyholders local team, must not be broken. Momentum must not be lost. Commitments must not be broken. Confidence derived from initial contacts and discussions must not be undermined. Leading Office must partner and communicate with coinsurers. Their views have to be listened to and concerns dealt with After, During and Before. No Surprises rule also applies.

14 Important Lessons Whether you are insurer, broker or policyholder, consider the other parties interests. Be open and positive. Try and develop a strategy which best aligns the various interests. Don t give the other guy Any Surprises Any Surprises. You too, can learn to love your Loss Adjuster!!

15 Questions