Message From the President (April 01, 2011)

Hopefully, with this being the April/May issue, ice scrapers, shovels and snow blowers have been replaced by the first signs of tulips, lawn furniture and barbecues!

Your executive is hard at work ensuring your association is representing and protecting your best interests while continuing to raise our profile and differentiate you as a professional member of CIAA. I am pleased to provide the following update.

Following CIAA’s strategic planning exercise it became clear that education and professional status were to be key areas of focus for the association. Professional designations are one of the most important services an association can provide its members and stakeholders told us that when engaging the services of an independent adjuster, they would place increased value on an adjuster that has established and proven competence in their particular discipline.  

CIAA’s existing accreditation program, which includes Fellow of the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association (FCIAA) and Chartered Loss Adjuster (CLA), identifies experienced and accomplished loss adjusting professionals in our industry. The current examination program (now FCLA) was developed to depict successful candidates as independent adjuster veterans with outstanding competence, knowledge and skill. Upon approval by the membership at our AGM last August, all holders of the CLA designation are now recognized under the newly created FCLA designation.  

In keeping with our clearly defined mandate to provide leadership for Canada’s independent adjusters through advocacy, education and recognized professional standards, we are excited with the prospect of adding a third credentialing program, affording CIAA members further opportunity to raise their professional status and respond to the identified need for specific recognition of a highly qualified independent loss adjuster.

The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, as evidenced by the recent devastation in Australia and Japan, are becoming more and more the norm. The term “if” has been replaced by “when” as disaster losses are now measured in the billions of dollars and continues to rise steadily. CIAA’s National Insurance Industry Advisory Board identified catastrophe preparedness as a “hot” p&c core issue and CIAA is currently developing a strategy to assist insurers’ with a CIAA catastrophe response. The strategy includes, with the support of our key industry stakeholders, achieving an effective common licensing application that supports seamless mobility of adjusters when a disaster occurs which in turn will better support consumer protection and boost the publics’ confidence in the Canadian insurance marketplace.

We are pleased to be setting CIAA and its membership apart by working cooperatively with key industry stakeholders toward the development of solutions to common industry issues.

Stay tuned for further updates on these initiatives and all the work underway by your national and regional executive members.