David Ede

David Ede’s career at Davies Chartered Loss Adjusters goes back a long way. During the nearly 40 years he has spent at the company he has seen it grow from a fledgling business employing a handful of people to a major adjusting company, with offices from Aberdeen in Scotland down to Liskeard in Cornwall. Unlike many in the profession, who found their way into adjusting via various other specialisations, David has worked in Insurance from the very beginning of his career. Starting out in the Pearl, he first became involved in claims work when working in the overseas claims department at the Guardian Royal Exchange. Finding the work interesting, he answered an advert in Post magazine for a position as a trainee loss adjuster with Hart and Company, and successful in his application, he spent 3 or 4 years with them learning the basics of the profession. “It was then that I made a lot of progress with CILA exams, that sort of thing – in those days it was mostly done in evening classes”, he says. However, unable to see a route forward in his current position, he again answered an advert in the press, this time placed by Edwin Davies, the founder of Davies. This led to a position with the then tiny company. “It was quite a jump to make from what was quite a big firm. I was only about the 3rd or 4th employee.” It was at Davies that he was to remain for the rest of his career, progressing through CILA qualification, to becoming partner in the 1970s, and finally taking over as senior partner in the 1980s. He says that things have changed a great deal during his time with the company. “By current standards the methods of handling claims back then were very unsophisticated, they were very basic. Huge changes have taken place… life has become more technical. And of course the range of services provided by adjusters or by the insurance world generally has increased hugely. If you go back 10 or 20 years, the thought of organising replacement of goods or organising building repairs and having them carried out without even going to the insurer, that was virtually unheard of.”

When I ask him what it is about loss adjusting that interests him, he stresses that it gives you an insight into a wide range of situations, in both the domestic and commercial realms. “You’re privileged in that you see all sorts of different houses and different domestic properties, from relatively poor to perhaps very very rich.” In the commercial field too, loss adjusting provides an opportunity to explore and understand the workings of a wide range of businesses, an opportunity that would be hard to find in most careers. “You’re quite privileged in that sense, particularly if you’re dealing with business interruption losses, to be able to ask about other people’s businesses, and try and understand how they operate, why they operate, what services they provide… and of course as you move on in your career and deal with larger losses you get to meet and deal with senior people both in those companies and indeed in insurance.”

However, when asked about the highlights in his career, it is his work at the head of Davies that stands out for him. “I was quite heavily involved in some of the bomb claims that came out of the IRA in the 90s. We dealt with one or two very large claims. But the highlights for me really have been the development and growth of the Davies Group. When I joined it was 2 men and a dog really. Now it employs 500 plus people, with offices all over the country. So, in a sense I suppose that would be the highlight of my career, that we have been able to grow the business, in a period when most independent firms either merged or ceased to operate many years ago.”

David has a number of opinions on the challenges that the industry faces. In particular he sees a need for adjusters and insurers to work together using a collaborative approach, as this is in the interests of the insured. “We forget at our peril that the insured is the ultimate customer, whose interests should be looked after.” He points to the floods last year as evidence that the industry is succeeding in providing a good service to customers. “If you take the floods last year, although there have been difficulties, I think the industry responded hugely well to that, and did a hugely good job… the fact there has been very little criticism of adjusters or insurers I think would support that, because I’m quite sure there would have been criticism if there had been major failings.” However he says that the days of the small adjuster – like Edwin Davies – are largely over, except perhaps in highly specialised areas. In terms of services that the industry provides, he thinks there is still further development to be seen in terms of the repair and replacement of goods. While the carrying out of building repairs for insureds in the domestic field is well established, he believes this may be extended in future into the commercial field as well. “I could see it extending to some extent into the commercial field although there are particular issues there… with a commercial building it frequently won’t be rebuilt as was, unlike a domestic property. But I certainly think here will be further developments in that area.”

Outside loss adjusting, David lists dinghy sailing, motor sport and travelling amongst his interests. “I’m into dinghy sailing. It’s a racing dinghy, a thing called a Laser I sail. I race that, enthusiastically rather than well! Many years ago I used to do motor rally, and production car trials as well. Whether or not time permitting I’ll get back into that, who can say? I also go horse racing, but certainly motor sport is a major interest.”

When I finish our conversation by asking him if there is anyone he particularly admires, or who has been a role model to him, he is doubtful of the usefulness of such a thing, describing himself as someone who believes in ploughing his own furrow. “So I couldn’t really say there’s any particular model I’ve followed. It’s been such a changing world, you can’t look at what somebody did in the past, and say oh well I’ll follow that model, because the world has changed and moved on.”

Rob Didcock
CILA Web Editor