Meet the President

After two years of serving as president of the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers Association (CICMA), Rick Yates wants to be able to look back and say, “I made a difference.”

Yates, senior manager of national claims with TD Insurance, would like nothing more than to end his two-year tenure as president by knowing he, and his executive, were able to execute the changes necessary to bring the CICMA to new levels of membership and value.

“I believe that the CICMA is in a transition phase as we work to grow our membership and find ways to reach our future leaders of claims and provide them with information, training and networking,” Yates says.

He’s placed a “fairly lofty goal” on himself for his two-year term: To increase the traffic to the CICMA web site, making it the go-to site for all claims managers across Canada. “In doing so, I believe we can restore the value proposition that the CICMA brings to all claims organizations, as well as to our young claims managers who embrace technology,” Yates says. “The CICMA offers access to information, training and networking for all our members. The growth of our web site also provides a great tool to help us grow and communicate with all claims professionals and executives across the country within the next two years.”

In keeping with the theme of communication, Yates is looking to reintroduce the Insight Claims newsletter on a quarterly basis as a means to inform claims managers of current issues affecting all regions. And finally, he would like to see the CICMA embrace a new vision to help provide joint soft-skills training to members — to fill the gap between the Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) programs and the in-house training that claims managers require.

“We absolutely need to provide additional benefits to our members by leveraging the use of the web to provide information and opportunities to our membership,” Yates says. “Training is an area that we can work collaboratively with other associations to provide valued training to our members.”

Yates and the executive are already well on their way to accomplishing these goals. A feature has been added onto the web site where minutes from meetings and events can be posted, visitors can email members or contact the executive, book meetings and pay for membership.

Two new roles have been created on the executive for communications and training, both with a two-year term as a means to help execute any plans. The executive intends to send out a survey to members to determine what they would like to see from the association as a means to determine next steps.

“I believe the CICMA has a purpose to provide communication, networking, training and access to information to all our members to help keep them up to speed in our changing industry,” Yates says.

By being a part of the executive, Yates is able to help foster and accomplish this purpose. To date, he has held the position of membership, secretary, treasure and vice-president. But his proudest accomplishment is being the organizer of the annual charity golf tournament. The tournament raises funds for Camp Oochigeas — a camp for children living with cancer. This year’s tournament raised $26,000 — a significant increase over the first tournament held three years ago, which raised an impressive $15,000.

“Our annual golf tournament is the event of the calendar for the claims management,” Yates says. “We’ve been able to improve it each and every year with the great support of the golf committee and the executive.”

Working together and supporting each other is also why the Canadian Independent Claims Managers Association/ Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association (CIAA) Ontario Chapters’ Annual Joint Conference is a key industry event. “The CICMA/CIAA Joint committee meetings allow us to work together and develop opportunities that will benefit both organizations,” Yates says. “The joining of resources allows us to develop programs that bring value to both groups. We are both working towards common goals for the betterment of all our members.”

The conference serves not only as a great networking opportunity, but is also an educational event that provides up-to-the-minute information pertinent to all claims personnel, Yates adds.

Currently, Yates and the executive, are working with both the CIAA and the Canadian Defense Lawyers (CDL) to brainstorm educational programs that can be jointly offered to members, ideally at a reduced cost. The goal is to educate all members on the issues of today that are affecting day-to-day claims decisions.

“The better educated and informed our members are, the better the results for all our clients,” Yates says. “At the end of the day, our goal is to provide access to information and all solutions for our members. A relationship with the CIAA, OIAA (Ontario Insurance Adjuster’s Association) and CDL helps all our members.”