Harmonizing Adjusters’ Lives

In tune with his personal mantra, the incoming president of the Canadian Independent Adjusters Association (CIAA), Miles Barber, has harmonized his love for his community with his professional career, and plans to orchestrate a similar, professional arrangement in CIAA’s strategic plan.

Born and bred in Winnipeg, Barber believes his well-rounded, eclectic approach to life and work is still being nurtured by the area’s strong, community-focused work ethic.

“If you have success in your profession, family life and health, then it’s your responsibility to give back to your community and your profession,” Barber says. “It’s not only important on a professional level, but also at a personal level…

“That’s why I stayed in Winnipeg. I love Winnipeg. It’s a great community and it’s provided me with a great career.”

Barber’s successful career made his decision to stay in Winnipeg, where his “heart is,” relatively simple. Within a few days of graduating from the University of Manitoba in ’85 with an honours bachelor of commerce degree, he secured his first job as a trainee at a local adjusters firm.

Barber’s fingerprints soon began to show up on virtually every aspect of the profession. He currently chairs both the Administrative Council and the Adjusters Council of the Insurance Council of Manitoba. He has also previously served as president of the CIAA’s Manitoba chapter.

Based in part on his experience with the Insurance Council of Manitoba, Barber is a valuable asset to the CIAA. As Barber explains, he offers an “immense understanding” of how the regulators look at the insurance industry as a whole, not only in the adjusting segment. “There’s a better understanding from our standpoint now at CIAA as to the regulators’ expectations – their goals and objectives as regulators – and how we as adjusters can help them achieve those [goals] and therefore better align ourselves.”

Regulators are focused on the protection of the public, Barber notes, adding that national harmonization of independent adjuster licensing is a key factor in protecting insurance consumers.

HARMONY ON THE HORIZON

Heading into its annual general meeting last September, the CIAA developed a strategic plan. Not surprisingly, the key priority moving forward is the issue of harmonizing independent adjusters nationwide.

“Harmonization with respect to independent adjuster licensing is the first and foremost of priorities that I have set in my sights for the coming year,” Barber says, adding the benefits of harmonization are bountiful for regulators, adjusters, consumers and the insurance industry alike.

Currently, individual provinces have different licensing requirements for independent adjusters. Barber believes this complicates and impedes claim response time, because adjusters and regulators alike have difficulty determining which license level an adjuster should fall under when working in different provincial jurisdictions – especially in provinces where step-licensing regimes exist. License harmonization will eradicate this problem, Barber says, because it will result in consistency across the jurisdictional board.

“It (harmonization) also allows for faster response times to catastrophic events, because if you have the portability – the harmonized license in place – it’s very easy for the regulator in the jurisdiction where the catastrophe has happened to place and license adjusters that are coming in to work,” he says.

From the regulators’ perspective, Barber says, harmonization will lead to a better ability to trace licensed adjusters across jurisdictions, which will allow regulators to better control and monitor unlicensed adjusting activity.

“We want to keep regulators attuned to the fact that there is unlicensed adjusting activity going on out there.” Barber says. “Unlicensed adjusting hurts the general insurance industry and the public as a whole because, while from an insurer’s standpoint there may be cost savings on the adjusting file, this may be overshadowed by an increased payout in the indemnity side of a file if there has not been a proper field investigation.”

Excess indemnity payouts resulting from the errors of unlicensed adjusters will ultimately hurt the work of licensed independent adjusters, Barber says. Such a scenario also causes policyholders to pay increased premiums.

“We all participate in the insurance pool through our premium dollars,” Barber says. “So from time to time, when an uninsured loss is paid mistakenly (by an unlicensed adjuster) or where there’s an overpayment made on a covered loss, that affects the insurance pool as a whole.”

Under the umbrella of the CIAA, Barber believes, independent adjusters offer value to consumers because their job to negotiate, investigate and settle a claim, and their work is licensed, monitored and traceable.

IMPROVING RELATIONS WITH REGULATORS

Barber believes the CIAA will establish itself in the foreseeable future as the “leading organization in our side of the profession.” Such status would ultimately improve relations between government and the adjusters, he says. “We’re the go-to organization, we’re out front, we take professionalism seriously, we take education seriously and we interact well with the regulators, be it a superintendent or an insurance council.”

In pursuit of harmonization, the CIAA has already participated with the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organi-zation (CISRO) to make presentations to each of the individual provincial regulators. In its next move, the CIAA will present its harmonization proposal to the regulators on a national level.

“Our approach is going to be to take our proposal for harmonization to the regulators as a whole on a broad spectrum basis,” Barber says. “It’s got to be a symbiotic relationship. We (the CIAA and Canadian insurance regulators) have got to work with each other, so it’s good to have a working relationship and a fluid relationship with the regulator.”

Ramping up relations with provincial-level regulators is another aspect of the CIAA’s strategic plan. Barber notes that, based on established lines of communication with provincial emergency management organizations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, B.C., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, provincial disaster assistance programs are often put into place. These programs typically require local CIAA provincial executives to deal “up front” with both insured and uninsured provincial claims.

“So with the central CIAA network, a pool of Canadian adjusters is available,” Barber says, explaining that government programs can, as a result of good communication and harmonized licensing, rely on a quick and sufficient adjuster response. “Whether it’s pulling adjusters from small partnerships, national firms or ‘Mom n’ Pop’ shops, that availability is there – it’s teamwork.”

Barber says the CIAA actively promotes members to author articles for industry publications because “we want our members to be more visible.”

“We want to assist some of the provincial executives and have our members provide leadership roles in organizing and providing industry seminars, educational forums, and potentially hold joint seminars with the insurance institutes of Canada and their local chapters,” Barber says, stressing the CIAA’s promotion of continuing education.

EDUCATION STANDARDS

Continuing education is an “important benchmark,” Barber says, helping the association’s members to keep up to date with industry products, techniques and industry developments. “This dovetails with licensing and harmonization, because many of the licenses require continuing education as a component,” Barber explains.

The Insurance Council of Manitoba, for example, requires independent adjusters to meet a minimum of eight credit hours of education each year in order to maintain their license. Other provinces have different time requirements. So how, Barber asks, could a regulator in Alberta certify an
d license a Manitoba adjuster if the required continuing education hours are different between provinces?

“We would like to see a set continuing education prerequisite across the board,” Barber says, explaining this consistent requirement would only be determined upon consultation with CIAA members. Over the next few months, the CIAA will be approaching members to achieve a consensus on an appropriate amount of continuing education hours.

“We’re looking at mutual recognition of continuing education hours across the jurisdictions by the regulators, and perhaps a standardized level that’s recognized as appropriate for continuing education,” Barber says. “Once we’ve reached a comfortable level that we think reflects professional dedication to the industry, we will take a proposal to the regulators.”