MESSAGE From the President (February 01, 2008)

Another successful seminar jointly hosted by the Ontario chapters of the Canadian Insurance Claims Managers’ Association and the Canadian Independent Adjusters’ Association was held in Toronto Jan. 29. This year’s theme was “The Future of Claims Service” and the discussions, both formal and informal, were very interesting and thought provoking. One thing is for certain: We are, sooner than had been predicted, headed for a significant shortage of trained loss adjusters and this is going to cost our industry significantly. One way the independent adjuster can ensure survival is through continuous education and professional development.

Active participation in professional associations such as CIAA and engaging in professional development and ongoing education are vital components of being a professional. I often compare a professional career to a bank account — you can’t just keep taking out, you have to put something back in or you’ll be bankrupt in no time.

Education comes in many forms beyond the standard textbook and classroom. One of the greatest things about loss adjusting is the constant education we get in the field with the many different types of losses and the different people we encounter everyday. While education and experience are linked, they are not the same thing. This is the difference between 25 years of experience and one year of experience 25 times. It is not sufficient to take the necessary Institute courses to get a desired level of licence and then sit back and coast on that limited knowledge the rest of your career. Not if you want to be a real professional and to be taken seriously by your peers. It is important to get a proper foundation on which to build a professional career, but the education does not end there.

Mentorship is a critical element of education. We must avail ourselves of the experience of those adjusters we have with us who have been adjusting for many years and will soon retire. A huge part of the product delivery vehicle of our industry will be lost if we do not harness the experience of our skilled adjusters before they leave. We need them now to help build the next wave of professional loss adjusters. With adjusters squeezed so tight on margins, the financial resources are not there and have not been there for the last 10 years to allow most independent adjusting firms to conduct detailed education programs and mentorship. Without adequate rates many independent adjusting firms can’t afford to have those older experienced adjusters take time from their day to spend time with a junior, to share knowledge and experience; they are needed in the field working on files to generate the revenue necessary to keep the lights on. Every manager hit with budget cuts knows that when funding is reduced, education and training are usually the first things to get squeezed. When the market price is suppressed, money is tight — and it has been that way for a decade in this country. We need to properly price our product to allow for education and mentoring. Insurers need this service and the extra cost they pay today will be a solid investment to ensure a reliable well trained adjuster force tomorrow. They may think they can’t afford it or do not want to spend the money now for this but reality is they cannot afford not to do it.

The CIAA is firmly committed to and deeply believes in the value of education and ongoing professional development. We applaud those jurisdictions that have implemented mandatory continuing education requirements for licencing — something we hope to see clear across Canada in the near future. Local regions of CIAA participate in or host education seminars: not just for CIAA members but also for the benefit of all participants in the larger claims community. The magazine you are holding now, the official journal of the CIAA, contains articles on many interesting and topical issues of the day. Just because you may not be involved in a case involving the subject matter of these articles does not mean you should skip them. Many people from many aspects of the claims business put in a lot of time to prepare these articles and while one may not deal with an issue concerning anything you are working on today, most cover issues that extend beyond the article’s main subject and serve to provide insight to some of the complex issues facing today’s claim professional. We are grateful for the effort of all contributors to Claims Canada, for those who support the magazine through advertising and for those who support our association and members every day. ^•