On The Scene

Carol Messervey, representing the Canadian Independent Adjusters Association’s Nova Scotia region, presents Lindsay Mackenzie of The Economical Insurance Group with the award for best results in Essentials of Loss Adjusting.

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Sean M. Douglas has been appointed as the new regional vice president (British Columbia) with Winmar Franchise Corp. Douglas brings a diverse range of experience and passion to his new role with Winmar Franchise Corp.  His management, administration, adjuster and broker experience over the past 23 years with national insurers, independent adjusting firms and a national brokerage firm will be a great asset to Winmar.

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Winmar Franchise Corp. is pleased to announce the opening of its newest location in Amherst, N.S. Winmar Amherst is located at 26 Industrial Park Drive.

Jonathan MacDonald will lead the team as project manager/estimator. MacDonald has a degree in carpentry, coupled with over eight years of project management and customer service experience in the construction
industry.

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Winmar Franchise Corp. is pleased to announce the opening of its newest location in Victoria, B.C. Winmar Victoria is located at 340 Mary St.

Owner Andrew Edwards has been successfully operating Winmar Vancouver for the past five years and looks forward to operating his second location in Victoria.

Already a leader in the restoration industry, Edwards’ commitment to providing quality and professional customer service will continue with his new location.

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Impact Auto Auctions, a Canadian automotive salvage management company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of KAR Auction Services Inc., has opened a second Calgary-area location in Airdrie, Alta.

The new location, known as Calgary North, doubles Impact’s capacity in the Calgary area. The new site will feature enhanced reconditioning and inspection facilities, as well as indoor auction lanes to support Impact’s Run & Drive service. Assignments from Airdrie north to Red Deer are being directed to this location.

Auction dates are still to be determined, and will be posted on Impact’s website, www.impactauto.ca.

Impact’s Calgary North branch is located at 1621 Veterans Blvd. NE in Airdrie, Alta.

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The International Institute of Loss Adjusters (IILA) had its genesis some 45 years ago, with the meeting of a few senior property adjusters from North and South America. They perceived a need for the exchanging of ideas and information, along with international co-operation, to further individual aspirations in their chosen profession. From such a casual meeting, the Institute has developed into members from 40 countries throughout the world, including those where loss adjusting is in its infancy. By regulation, a maximum of 70 per cent are from North America (including Canada) and the rest are drawn from countries throughout the world. Because the IILA sets high membership standards, it limits participants to a maximum of 200 senior professionals worldwide. It is indeed international. While there is a mid-term meeting held concurrently with an adjusters association conference in the US, annual conventions are held throughout the world. Recently, they have been in Lima, Peru; Nashville, Tennessee; Montréal; Singapore; Queenstown, New Zealand. Forthcoming events are scheduled for Puerto Rico, Boston, Massachusetts, and Istanbul, Turkey. The organization is as fraternal as it is professional. At the annual meeting, although there is a substantial education program, all members derive considerable benefit from personal interaction with their peers from other parts of the world. Because members are from so many countries, it is infrequent indeed that two adjusters practicing in the same area are involved and thus the dissemination of information is generally free and unrestrained. The resultant networking is of great benefit to adjusters from smaller companies developing international contacts. This is particularly important when making recommendations to principals who might be used in other countries or, indeed, direct assignment of work from one adjuster to another. The social calendar is such that the spouses of deceased members maintain spousal membership to continue friendships developed with those from other countries, over the years.
For more information, visit the IILA website at http://www.iila.com.
~ Fred Plant, president of the International Institute of Loss Adjusters. 

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The British Columbia Pond of the Honourable Order of the Blue Goose hosted its annual Christmas luncheon on Dec. 7, 2011. More than 40 members and guests attended the event, held at the festive Vancouver Golf Club. More than 100 children’s gifts were donated to the Salvation Army for their Christmas gift drive thanks to the generosity of members and guests.