On the Leading Edge

For Jeff Edge, the decision to launch his own independent adjusting business was a long time coming. After working at Crawford & Company (Canada) for 21 years, he took the leap of faith. And he hasn’t looked back.

“We had wanted to start a business and we looked at a few ventures,” he recalls. “But then I thought, ‘why don’t I do something I know I’m good at? Why reinvent the wheel?’ A light bulb went off. It has worked out exceptionally well.”

In October 2011, Leading Edge Claims Services Inc. (www.leadingedgecs.ca) opened its doors – initially a home based business near Fonthill, Ontario – close to St. Catharines and right in the heart of the Niagara fruit and wine belt. It was a lean firm initially, with Jeff’s wife and business partner, Michelle, running the office and assisting with day-to-day operations. Jeff continues to be the lead adjuster on claims.

In July 2013, Leading Edge brought in another adjuster, Bob McCord, formerly a staff adjuster with a large national insurer, to help manage the flow of files and to begin expansion.

Jeff notes that like many others he “fell into” the world of adjusting when he went to pick up his wife after his last exam one day in 1990. She worked for Adjusters Canada at the time. He was graduating from Hamilton’s Mohawk College from the Business Marketing Program.

“Her boss asked me if I ever thought of insurance adjusting as a line of work,” he remembers. “And I said no, I didn’t want to sell insurance, I didn’t even know what an adjuster was. He explained what a claims adjuster did and asked me if I wanted to shadow him for a day. I finally agreed reluctantly – but when I actually saw what adjusters do – on the road investigating incidents, interviewing people, inspecting damages – I was hooked. I knew that I didn’t want to be behind a desk all day.”

His career at Crawford & Company included work experience in several branch locations in southwestern Ontario. He quickly grasped the essentials of adjusting and in 1993 was made a branch manager of a small branch in his hometown. Seeking to further expand his experience and skills he moved his young family to the Niagara area in 1999 and a short time later advanced into the role of general adjuster and then senior general adjuster with the company’s Global Technical Services division.

“I was very fortunate to be mentored by more senior adjusters, many of whom are widely respected in the industry” Jeff says. “They generously gave their time and expertise in helping me with my training.”

In his last years with the firm, Jeff observes that he returned the favour and helped to mentor several young adjusters – something that he truly enjoyed. Now with Bob McCord joining his company, he says he can continue this track record and help provide more training and mentoring.

“I think Bob has made the transition very well. I have only ever been an Independent Adjuster but I can appreciate that it can be quite an adjustment going from a staff adjuster to an independent,” Jeff notes. “The timing couldn’t have been better.”

Specifically, Bob joined Leading Edge Claims Services shortly after heavy rainstorms hit Toronto July 8 and caused massive flooding. On July 19, a rainstorm dumped excessive rainfall on parts of the Niagara region, with 106 mm of rain falling in 12 hours (59 mm in one hour) in downtown St. Catharines and Niagara Falls.

“Many businesses were inundated, home basements were backing up with water and sumps couldn’t keep up or failed, ” Jeff observes. “The ground was saturated; we had people with water in their backyards that was pouring in through windows and doors. People who never had a problem with their roofs or walls before started to experience leaking.”

The flooding in both Niagara and the GTA led to a busy period of claims investigation and settlement, according to Jeff. “Like many others, we really had to step it up during the summer and fall, and we have stayed busy right up to, and following, the ice storm,” he says. “It has been an interesting year. Weather-related claims in the past several years have actually been quite calm. 2013 certainly changed that around.”

Although based in the Niagara Region, Leading Edge Claims Services handles claims throughout the Golden Horseshoe and often further throughout southern Ontario. “Our customers often ask us to travel outside of Niagara for them as they know what level of service and expertise that they can expect from us in certain situations in other areas,” he says.

As part of Jeff’s contributions to the insurance industry, he gives presentations on various claims issues to the local chapters of the Insurance Institute of Ontario, the OIAA and Brokers Associations. Recently, he delivered a presentation to local brokers on the impact of weather-related claims over the last eight months, including the challenge of continuing to provide superior customer service with such volumes of claims. “When attendees saw the amount of damage and the state of some of these risks, it was a real eye opener,” he observes.

Leading Edge Claims Services is a proud member of the CIAA and the OIAA. Jeff has served on the executive for the OIAA Niagara Chapter and is currently the chapter delegate. “This is an important position to me as it allows me to support continual training, learning and networking within our chapter and our industry as a whole,” he says.

Jeff has also recently agreed to become an instructor for the Insurance Institute and is in the process of becoming an Insurance Ambassador for the Institute as well.

Aside from property claims, Jeff notes that Leading Edge Claims Services offers adjusting services for casualty and auto (non A/B) insurance work. Areas of specialization for the firm reflect his technical focus – including large and complex/questionable losses, environmental losses, marine and agriculture/viniculture. “However we service our customers on all levels of claims, from the straightforward to the not so straightforward.”

“With Bob’s help, I am freed up somewhat in order to spend the time needed on the more complex losses – those cases where examiners look at something and say: ‘What are we going to do with this?'” Jeff comments. “I can take on a challenging situation, trudge through and get it resolved for both sides. When a customer has a claim that has gone off the rails, and down the embankment, or the potential to do so, it usually makes its way to me.”

This problem-solving mindset, coupled with strict attention to detail, represents a good quality for independent adjusters.

“I am very methodical in what I do; we have had numerous successful loss investigations where the legitimacy of the claim has been in question and where the result has been positive for the insurer,” Jeff says “That means going back and looking at the facts, perhaps from a different perspective. I am very particular in my statements, investigations, putting things in order and not overlooking any details or information.” He plans to instill this approach in current and future adjusters in the firm.

The work of an adjuster involves not just claims resolution, but also risk assessment and verification of hidden or previously unknown hazards, according to Jeff.

“We are investigating claims, but we are also helping that insurer identify and assess the risk, ” he notes. “There are numerous occasions when I have been handling a claim, look through the application and find there are things that don’t jibe with what the insurer knew of that risk. For my customers, that is golden. When you go out and bring back information about the risk in addition to the claim investigation, they are very appreciative of that.”

This level of service, expertise and attention to detail is appreciated by his loyal and growing client base, which includes mutual insurance companies to national and international insurers and third party administrators.

“My philosophy is that insurers will always need claims to be investigated thoroughly,” Jeff explains. “S
ome claims may require that attention more than others, but the skill of an independent adjuster on the scene of the loss is not a commodity. Some claims examiners don’t have the opportunity to be on the road, or to deal with insureds and claimants face-to-face. We are their eyes and ears, they require that level of knowledge, know-how and professionalism from us – and that’s what we deliver.”

He says he understands the need for scale and efficiency in claims management, driven by large insurance companies. The challenge comes about when that model is applied across the board.

“I have heard it called ‘hamburger adjusting,’ and maybe there is a place for that in certain areas,” Jeff notes “But I think that the larger portion of claims require one-on-one attention for each individual claim situation. I believe that wholeheartedly.”

When Jeff talks about his firm’s business model, he is under no illusions about its strengths.

“There may be many ways of fulfilling the role of a claims adjuster,” he concludes. “But ours seems to work really well for the customers we serve and who hire us. That is the business model that works for us.”