Message From The President (October 01, 2009)

As the 26th president of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association, I am both honoured and humbled at the opportunity to serve our membership across Canada. Honoured to be chosen by my peers for such a prestigious position, and humbled by the wealth of work that has gone before me.

The association’s 25th Annual General meeting and Convention in Montreal was a huge success. Jean Marc Laurin, convention chair, and his committee did an excellent job and must be commended for their hard work and stellar program — in particular Pat Battle for her heroic organizational efforts. For me the most enduring part of the convention and AGM was the distinct feeling of camaraderie amongst us, and the obvious desire to grow and enhance our offerings to the membership. I was overwhelmed with the generous encouragement and offers of support. My husband, Pierre Coupey, and I would like to extend our thanks for the warm welcome we received.

At the AGM it was a pleasure to hear of the many provincial accomplishments and of the many initiatives undertaken by various executive committees. Clearly president Reno Daigle has set the bar high for the coming year. His guiding hand and wisdom has moved the association forward, laying the groundwork for my executive team and me, and for that I am very appreciative.

The National Insurance Conference of Canada has invited the CIAA president to join their advisory committee and to be present at their convention in Ottawa. I will be attending with our first vice president Mary Charman. The NICC is designed to be a forum where senior industry executives meet to discuss the complex issues facing the Canadian property and casualty insurance sector. This will be an excellent opportunity for Mary and me, on behalf of the CIAA, to listen to industry leaders and be heard as the independent adjusting voice in Canada.

The property and casualty industry writes approximately thirty six billion dollars worth of premiums in Canada and employs approximately 110,000 people. There are roughly 2,700 independent adjusters licensed in Canada, which means we are less than 3 per cent of the people working in the industry. We are a community of professionals within the p&c industry. By working together we will strengthen the profession of independent adjusting in Canada. As the association voice for independent adjusters in the Canadian property and casualty insurance market, the CIAA must continually strive to improve. I see this firstly as our opportunity to develop as a professional body and secondly to bring value to our membership and our clients, the companies we collectively service. Through the strong camaraderie in our association, we have that opportunity.

My major initiative this year will be to undertake a Creative Strategic Planning session for the CIAA with the ultimate goal of reassessing the direction of our association. As part of the process, we will look to our stakeholders to help change the focus of the association. Listening carefully to members and stakeholders will help us shape our visions and plans. The Creative Strategic Planning committee mandate will be to lay a foundation of actionable plans for the association with immediate and long-term goals over the next five years. The intention will be to change, grow and bring value to the membership, which in turn will bring value to the claims industry.

I am looking forward to an exciting year with support from all over Canada. I am very pleased to be serving the membership at this time, a time of change and challenge!