Message from the President

I was in New Brunswick to visit our Maritime membership in May. The educational day included an excellent presentation by Charles Foster and his colleagues of Foster & Company. It was great to see New Brunswick/PEI CIAA Regional President Luc Aucoin and Nova Scotia President Grant King. In addition to being industry leaders, I count them amongst my friends. At these events I am often asked to say a few remarks. Those that know me well, know I am rarely lost for words, but this particular morning I was ready to impress! I was fresh out of the public speaking course at the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association provincial conference. I was prepared to connect to my audience: I was going to use my hands, I wasn’t going to hold eye contact with some poor attendee to the point of being mistaken for a serial killer, I was going to deliver a compelling message of member benefit and the importance of education. But an hour before arriving, I saw an article about the driverless car by Google and threw my notes out.

The article got me thinking: Do adjusters do enough to keep pace with the advancing technology at the same pace as other professions? For those that haven’t heard of the Google navigated driverless car, it was first revealed in 2010. The technology has now advanced to the point of reliability that three states have passed legislation approving their operation. Five manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, Audi and Volkswagen will have a driverless car in production in five years.

With the flick of a switch, the car takes over and miraculously responds to rapidly changing traffic conditions. Ironically, the first driverless car crash occurred in August 2011 when it was in manual mode with the human in control at the time of the crash. I asked the group to reflect on the societal and technological changes involving many of us. For example, I recall the choice of smoking or non-smoking on a flight, and the miracle of my first cell phone, which was half the size of my head. I realize that as an adjuster, I had best be open to change and continue to try and advance my craft, or I expect I will be replaced by a smarter, younger version of me.

The driverless car speech posed the question as to how would this affect our industry? The car’s safety systems are said to be foolproof. It easily responds to the car that cuts in front of it by gradually slowing to a safe distance. It responds with robotic efficiency when faced with a hazard in its path. If collisions are reduced by two-thirds or half, what effect can we expect in the claims industry. If the car operates like my laptop or iPhone, I am sure those driver-related collisions would be replaced by the inevitable computer crash or freeze up. How will the auto policy respond to “no one” driving? Statutory regulations in place will have to provide some protection against manufacturers who will rapidly become a target for litigation for every routine collision.

Keeping up with technology is a costly venture. Knowing where to invest financial resources is a challenge for our national members as well as small member firms. No one wants to get stuck with the proverbial Beta VCR. We can always improve systems and look for efficiencies, but fundamentally we are in a customer service industry, which should never seek to eliminate the personal contact for an app or process.

At the CIAA National convention in September 2013, at the Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, the keynote speaker will be Jeff Mowat, who will focus on the customer service aspect of our business while the education program will address the technical side. The balanced approach is not unlike my personal approach to the advancing technology. Embrace it, utilize it, but in harmony with customer service. Honestly, I can’t wait until the day when I can snooze on the way to the office or tell Siri where my appointment is and let her do the driving.