MOVES & VIEWS (September 01, 2008)

1 Aon’s Ontario claims group has made a variety of new staff appointments. Eugene Savaia [1a] has been appointed senior claims consultant. Savaia has more than 26 years worth of insurance claims experience, most recently with Zurich North America Canada. He has resolved major industrial/ commercial property losses, as well has gained casualty experience as a mould technical specialist. Deanna Scott [1b] has been appointed senior claims analyst. She has 10 years of experience at Aon, and will assume responsibility for claims handling and advocacy on the accounts handled by the recently-retired Don Roach. Scott will continue to act as liaison for clients with a focus in the GRS accounts, including the Social Housing and Conservation Authority programs. Mark MacDonald [1c] has been appointed as a claims advocate. Prior to joining Aon, he gained extensive working knowledge of automobile, liability and property claims. In addition, he gained in-depth experience in accident benefits claims including large losses, special investigation claims and catastrophic claims. Adam Furfuro [1d] was appointed claims analyst. He joined Aon in 2005 as part of the Wilfred Laurier University co-op program.

2 Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. appointed a new leadership team for its ClaimsAlert contact centre. Roland Giguere has joined Crawford as assistant vice president, ClaimsAlert. Giguere brings with him extensive experience in optimizing human resource management, technological innovation and business line development. He will develop and execute strategic initiatives focused on revenue growth, new business development and customer service. Andrea Zimny will assume the role of director of operations. Zimny has worked in a number of different positions with Crawford, most recently as manager of ClaimsAlert, and was instrumental in the division’s recent expansion in Ontario and Quebec. She will be responsible for both the Waterloo and Montreal centres. Jordan Whaley will assume the role of national manager, telephone adjusting claims. Whaley is an alumnus of the ClaimsAlert telephone unit and most recently was the group’s manager. She will continue the process of streamlining and improving the management of telephone claims with Crawford’s key partnership customers.

3 Neil Morrison [3a] has been appointed as CEO of Hub Ontario in addition to his current role as CEO of HKMB Hub International Limited. Dennis Pauls, [3b] who is currently the CEO of Hub Ontario, will become CEO of Hub Midwest West (Chicago). Both appointments are effective Oct. 1. Hub Ontario and HKMB Hub will remain as separate legal entities. However, collaboration of their respective executive teams is anticipated under Morrison’s leadership, the company notes in a release.

4 Alan Gallagher has joined Winmar Ottawa’s team as a manager/estimator. Gallagher is a chartered insurance professional with the Insurance Institute of Canada and the past president of the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association, a Winmar release says. “Since 1989, Alan’s diverse background as an insurance broker, claims adjuster and independent adjuster arms him with the common sense and skills necessary to ensure good communications between insurers, insureds and everyone in between in the related service industry,” the release says.

5 Carstar Automotive Canada has created two new regional director positions aimed to help the company develop three distinct regions of operation within Canada. Bob Gagnon will assume the role of regional director of eastern Canada (Quebec and the Maritimes). He has 25 years of experience in senior automotive franchise system management positions. Lloyd Wheeler will take on the position of regional director of western Canada (B. C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). He has 20 years of experience in senior automotive retail, franchise and service positions. Currently the Ontario region is managed by Larry Jefferies, executive vice president, but a regional director will be added in 2009.

6 XL Insurance has launched an aviation insurance team for the Canadian market. Tony Trost [6], Canadian aviation manager, will report to Rod Mearing, XL Insurance’s international aviation manager. Mearing will lead the new team. Before joining XL Insurance, Trost served as senior vice president of the Canadian aviation practice with Marsh Canada Limited. “With Tony’s team in Toronto, our clients now have an alternative to the London Market, on which they previously relied for their aviation coverages,” Peter Bilsby, chief aviation underwriter, said. “Local underwriting capabilities also offer XL Insurance the opportunity to see our clients’ operations first-hand. This enables us to be more discerning and more efficient in the underwriting process.” The new Canadian team also includes Jim Hyatt, assistant vice president and aviation class underwriter.

7 PPG Automotive Refinish has launched the CertifiedFirst Network monthly Webinars series to help collision centre owners successfully market their centers to consumers. Industry specialists will run the Webinars, each of which will run for approximately 45 minutes. The Webinars will be followed by 15-minute question-and-answer sessions.

8 FirstOnSite Restoration left the Disaster Kleenup Canada organization effective Aug. 31, 2008. In January 2007, TorQuest Partners Inc. announced the creation of a limited partnership that now operates under the name of FirstOnSite Restoration LP. The partnership is primarily comprised of a number of DKC Members. As FirstOnSite developed its business model, it became evident it was not compatible with that of Disaster Kleenup’s, and so the two parties have mutually agreed to a separation.

9 Ontario native Richard Scott, a professional golfer sponsored by the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO), recently boasted his most impressive performance of the season at the Jane Rogers Championship in Mississauga. With three Canadian Men’s Amateur Titles under his belt, Scott, 24, is considered to be among the most promising young golfers in Canada. Aspiring to a spot on the PGA Tour, Scott has been sponsored by the insurance brokers since he turned professional in early 2007. Scott has earned three Top-10 finishes on the Canadian Tour so far this year, including tying for fifth spot at the Canadian Tour Players Cup in Winnipeg. He tied for fifth again at the TELUS Edmonton Open in July. “We’re proud that Richard is sporting the IBAO logo once again this season,” said IBAO CEO Randy Carroll. “And we look forward to having him join the broker community in September at some local golf events with which IBAO is involved.”