Cunningham Lindsey Canada mobilizes international team to Australia to assist residents affected by catastrophes

Cunningham Lindsey Canada, an independent claims adjusting service company, said on Tuesday that it has deployed five adjusters to Australia to join a team working on the thousands of claims that followed severe storms in early May.

The adjusters will remain in Australia for six to eight weeks; another two adjusters have been requested and will leave as soon as possible, Cunningham Lindsey Canada said in a press release.

The catastrophe adjusters will assist local field adjusters on their caseloads, handle customer calls, provide reports and written communications and follow up with builders, among other items. “The goal is to get the claims processed quickly so the thousands of people affected can get their life back to normal,” the release said.

New Zealand has also requested assistance from the catastrophe team.

On June 2, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) reported that insurance losses from the severe storms that struck the eastern part of the continent in April and May had passed AUD$1.55 billion. As of June 1, the council’s members companies had received 119,935 claims following the storms that struck widespread areas of New South Wales over several days in April. The ICA said at the time that insurance losses were AUD$801.7.

Insurers also handled 15,239 claims related to the hailstorm that struck Sydney on April 25, with losses of AUD $389.8 million. The storms that rolled across South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales between April 30 and May 4 caused AUD$360.2 million in losses as of June 1, with 27,825 claims received.

Related: Insurance losses from Australia storms pass AUD$1.55 billion

“We are proud to be able to bring our Canadian expertise to assist the thousands of people affected by this catastrophe,” said Rob Seal, president and CEO of Cunningham Lindsey Canada, in the release. “Living in Canada, we are accustomed to the catastrophic effects some storms can cause.”

In addition to field and desktop adjusting services, Cunningham Lindsey Canada’s catastrophe response plan consists of a range of services from business units that “have significant experience in catastrophe and major loss quantification,” including:

• Fixed rate room restoration, flood mitigation and general restoration services, provided by Oriel Property Services;

• Sergon, consisting of building consultants, has a thorough understanding of the issues and costs escalation elements that affects claims. Sergon prepares causation reports, Scope of Works and Quantity Surveying Valuations combined with project management expertise to assist in major property claims;

• Forensic Advisory Services provides forensic accountants to deal with business interruption, stock and financial claims; all significant factors with the ongoing power disruptions in this event.

Related: Insurance Council of Australia has received more than 19,500 claims following storm

Cunningham Lindsey provides a wide range of claims adjusting and claims management services throughout Canada, including commercial property and liability, personal lines, transportation fleet, accident benefits, third party administration and environmental assessment and remediation. Its global operating platform consists of over 7,000 employees in more than 65 countries.