Message From the President

Since last reporting to the membership, I have been very active in representing you, our members, at various levels. As an advisory member of the National Insurance Conference of Canada, I have participated on their committee in preparation for the 2012 conference. This high level conference is scheduled for Sept. 30, 2012 to Oct. 2, 2012 in Quebec City. Last year, past presidents Mary Charman and Patti Kernaghan represented CIAA at the conference. They were very impressed with the high caliber of the participants, from insurance company CEO’s to vice presidents of national claims departments. I look forward to attending this year to represent CIAA and its membership.

In October, I attended the CICMA/CIAA joint seminar in Edmonton, Alta. It was very well attended by both company claims staff and CIAA members. The speakers were very informative on issues from accident benefits legislative changes to new court judgments affecting the insurance industry. Some of their papers are posted on the CIAA website for members review. Thanks to Delores Thorbourne, Bea Boutcher and their team for putting in the time and effort to make this event a success.

In November, as an individual member of the International Institute of Loss Adjusters (IILA), my wife, Liz Wyman and I travelled to Queenstown, New Zealand to the annual IILA conference. Although, not a CIAA sponsored trip, I did take the opportunity to discuss with other loss adjusters from around the world, the challenges and future of independent adjusters on a global perspective. Some interesting trends parallel those found in Canada. This includes an aging work force within the independent adjusting ranks, resulting from difficulties in recruiting younger professionals to enter the profession of independent insurance adjuster.

We, as a profession, must do a better job in attracting young, bright, energetic individuals to our profession. Our partnership with the Insurance Institute of Canada (IIC) towards the ambassador program is one avenue that our members can participate towards attracting young people to our profession. If you want to help, let Richard Swierczynski know of your interest and he will facilitate your involvement with the IIC.

The National Advisory Committee met in late November, chaired by Patti Kernaghan, to discuss issues within the industry affecting our membership. Focus was on education and the continued preparation of our new Chartered Loss Adjuster (CLA) designation. CIAA has formed a core group of senior adjusters who are actively working on the preparation of the course material for the education component and exam component of this undertaking. This designation will only be available to CIAA members. It is CIAA’s intention to market this designation as the “must have” in the independent adjusting profession. We stay focused on rolling this out by year’s end.

In our January quarterly teleconference with the regional presidents across the country, it appears, on the anecdotal evidence, that claim assignment volumes in Newfoundland show increases, while business is stable in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick/PEI. No storm activity is reported. Ontario is quiet this year with no further weather events since the fall. Manitoba has had a quiet winter, however the work generated by the CIAA contract with the Government of Manitoba for flood assessment has certainly helped. Saskatchewan reports good claims volume with an emphasis on oil and gas, and IA firms are hiring. Alberta is quiet in the urban centers, but has seen some increased activity in smaller centers, such as Lethbridge due to weather events. British Columbia is stable with normal winter claims volumes reported.

Keep safe and healthy. Look after yourself. Be careful out there!