Last year we increased substantially the numbers of those requested to submit their CPD records. As our members have high professional standards to most this was a welcome demonstration of the commitment they have to maintaining the gold standard qualification in Claims. Indeed at Warwick House we never fail to be impressed at the diverse areas of study, relevant to the Loss Adjusting profession that is undertaken. Regrettably there were a small number who were not able to submit the records. These members were reported to the Membership Committee and in most cases plans were effected to remedy the situation although those that simply could not comply saw their qualification status change from Fellow to Associate.

Like all professional bodies we are keen to demonstrate the skill, dedication and attention to ongoing learning and we will be looking to enhance our CPD process and procedures, both in terms of assisting our members to achieve the high standard of ongoing learning their clients expect and in terms of the recording of CPD. Watch this space!

As we approach the calendar year end it strikes me how quickly the Presidential year flies by. I have now completed my first quarter as President! Since last writing to you there have been developments in several of the key areas.

We have held our first meeting of the new junior forum. The enthusiasm of the group was fantastic and it was wonderful to see young professionals from all different companies sitting and talking about how we can improve our industry and encourage more youngsters to join. The group quickly found themselves a new title and henceforth they will be known as “Future Focus”. Andrew Considine was elected as Chairman and I wish him the very best for the year ahead.

I’m pleased to report that our strategy document is now complete and will be given to Council at the January meeting. Now the hard work begins in ensuring that we achieve our goals.

On the examination front Jackie Chadwick has worked miracles in arranging a vast number of ACS reviews and as a consequence we have an extra 11 qualified Associates in the last quarter of the year. The Certificate has taken off and over 100 papers have now been sat. The Diploma is now “good to go” and will be launched in January.

Congratulations to Malcolm on reaching 100 followers on twitter, this has seen a significant increase in the last few weeks and if you are not yet following us then please sign up (@TheCILA or via the link on the home page).

The social highlight of the last couple of months was an invitation to the Belfast luncheon. This is an event hosted by the Adjusters in Belfast to which the President and Executive Director are invited. The welcome and hospitality was fantastic and I had a great time. There were, I think 60 or so Adjusters at the lunch, they clearly enjoyed the opportunity to see each other at this annual event and I was left wondering why other areas don’t adopt a similar occasion. Many thanks to Steven Wallace for organising the occasion.

May I wish all the members a happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

I have completed my first month as President and it has been a fairly hectic time, the Presidency starts in the middle of the technical conference and I enjoyed the opportunity to address the attendees on day 2. I thought the Conference went well but that there were some things that we can improve on and we will start the planning for next year shortly. The annual lunch took place on the 14th September and, as best as I can judge, everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves. It was lovely to see so many old friends. I was very grateful to Geoff Miller who was our main speaker and was simply excellent. The Warwick House team have received lots of positive feedback about his speech in particular and the lunch as a whole. I also enjoyed being able to make the presentation to Gerry Loughney to recognise his contribution to the Institute and the Industry, long may it continue.

I’ve met with both the Post Mag and Insurance Day and have a meeting with Insurance Times planned in a couple of weeks. The Post Mag made a bit of a feature on my hopes and wishes for the year. I thought there were a few too many photos but I was pleased with the content. There have been a couple of other PR issues including an interesting article on loss adjusters doing desk top investigations which provoked a letter from a senior member who clearly thought we should not be offering such a service. I think my view is that where Insurers are only willing to pay for a desk top investigation then we would be foolish not to offer this as part of a range of services. Like many Loss Adjusters I believe more can be achieved by visiting a policyholder (indeed one Lloyds Claims Director told me he wondered if I could do anything that did not involve getting into a car first!) but if that is not what our customers want then we would be wrong not to use our skills to handle claims from the desk. As ever he who pays the piper choses the tune.

I’m very keen on the work we are doing with the younger members. In the first week of my Presidency we invited younger members to volunteer to assist with a young members forum, we had 26 responses which is excellent and now we need to ensure we move this project forward.

I’ve had a meeting with the representatives of the Claimant SIG, they are very keen to ensure their group get a fair representation within the Institute. There are some very good adjusters working directly for policyholders and the work they do can only enhance the image of the Chartered Adjuster. If any of the more traditional adjusters are uncertain of the role played then they should spend some time discussing this with members of the SIG. I suspect we would all rather have a Chartered Adjuster on the “other side” as opposed to some of the Assessors we have seen in the past.

Anyway, month one is complete and eleven more to go. So far it has been very enjoyable and I thank you all for your support.

The Conference attendees

The Qualified Adjusters at the Conference

Toplis and Harding

I have been reminded that it was, of course, crocodile rather than aligator which was on the menu in Nairobi. Delicious!

There has been a good level of SIG activity over recent months and I have attended as many as has been possible. I should also mention what was, I am advised, an excellent “Question Time” style panel event organised by Construction Energy & Engineering SIG and chaired by Rick Hartley, which I was unable to attend due to other Institute commitments.

On the subject of the SIGs I am delighted to report a steady increase in membership to these key groups with around 70% of qualified members now aligned with at least one SIG. This is good progress but still falls short of the target – I see no real reason why all members should not sign up to at least one SIG. There will be more news on the SIGs and the outcome of a recent review very soon now so watch this space.

We have also taken the plunge into the world of social networking with a Twitter account - @TheCILA – so if you are a Twitterer then sign up and follow. It’s a good way of keeping abreast of our news and I shall monitor the progress we make with interest.

By way of a flavour of my activity since the last blog here is a list of events and functions I have attended since returning from Malaysia mid-April;

April
• International Federation of Adjusting Associations AGM, London
• House of Lords Dinner, Insurance Institute of London
• (No invitation received relative to the Royal Wedding on 29 April)

May
• FUEDI General Assembly, Versailles
• BIBA Chairman’s Dinner, Exhibition & Conference, Manchester
• Claims Club Awards Dinner, London
• Meeting of Southern Area members, Odiham
• Insurance Times Awards Dinner, London

June
• AIRMIC Exhibition & Conference, Bournemouth
• Synergy & Counter Fraud SIG event with Data Commissioner, London
• Meeting of Northern Area members & Liability SIG event, Manchester
• ALARM Awards Dinner, Telford
• Property SIG event at the Willis Building, London
• CILA Conference, Kenya – more on this later

There has, in addition been the general routine activity and the weekly meetings with our Executive Director and my Deputy in Warwick House.

And so to Kenya.

Following initial discussions between my Deputy, Simon Burley and David Russell of Toplis & Harding in Nairobi, an inaugural CILA Conference in Kenya was arranged for June and both Simon and I attended to deliver presentations along with local adjusters, lawyers and representatives from the Insurance Regulatory Authority in Kenya.

The trip started very well with a free upgrade at Heathrow to Business Class Presidential status clearly recognised !

On the evening before the conference we were able to meet local CILA members informally and I was particularly impressed with their enthusiasm for the Institute and their commitment to professionalism and technical excellence. There is a fantastic hunger for learning and formal qualifications here – and speaking of hunger, I should tell you about the range of foods (meat) on offer at the restaurant we attended, Carnivore. This President ate camel (which was tough and may well have walked from Cairo), alligator (my Deputy confessed to a pathological fear of these beasts) and parts of an ox that I would prefer not to catalogue. Carnivore is great fun and a great experience, provided you are not vegetarian, and I recommend it if you find yourself in Nairobi at dinner time.

At the conference I was delighted to see such an excellent turnout from CILA members and other adjusters who have yet to sign up with us but also local insurers and brokers. Representatives from the College of Insurance in Nairobi also attended.

All of the presentations delivered on the day were well researched, well delivered and very well received. Equally importantly, this proved to be an excellent opportunity for me to meet local members and also for local members to network with each other, local insurers and brokers.
The conference was a great success and I see this as the first step for CILA in recruiting additional members in this region and enabling CILA to further support adjusters in East Africa. I was reminded on more than one occasion that this was the first official visit to Kenya by a serving President of this Institute.

That it was such a success was not an accident and I should like to recognise a few significant contributions;

Mention must first go to David’s excellent personal assistant, Aseline Onyango, who co-ordinated the whole event with precision subsequently demonstrating no little promise as a photographer and we hope to display a selection of the many pictures taken on the website shortly. My thanks to you, Aseline, for all your excellent work both before and during the conference.

Thanks also to David Russell for taking the lead in the strategic organisation of the conference including the venue, the programme, the speakers and for his generous chaperoning of Simon and me during our brief stay in Nairobi.

And to the local members, it was a delight to meet you all – my thanks for your hospitality.

Malcolm Hyde and I recently spoke at the International Claims Convention in Kuala Lumpur organised by the Malaysian Insurance Institute (MII). Billed as ‘world renowned industry experts in raising the human capital development of the insurance sector’, we were under no pressure to impress!

At the end of the first day we also took part in a “Question Time” style panel debate with Malcolm moderating and me as one of the four panel speakers. Paul May was also speaking at the conference so the institute was very well represented.

We participated in a press conference about the event with the China Daily Post, and claims management was a key topic of discussion. This presented another excellent profile raising opportunity but it was also really encouraging to see the industry there positively engaging with its media to drive education of the general public. It has set me thinking of how as an Institute we should perhaps do more with the national media either ourselves or jointly with other professional bodies such as the CII and ABI. Another thing to add to my ‘to do’ list before the end of August!

One of the key objectives of my presidency is to raise the profile and improve the reputation of the Institute and see the CILA recognised as the pre-eminent claims institute worldwide. Taking part in this conference gave us an outstanding opportunity to talk about how claims professionals can gain competitive advantage through professional qualifications - and of course promote our own qualifications as well as raise greater awareness of the CILA to drive new membership from the region.

South East Asia represents an incredibly important region for the CILA. Not only does it have thriving economies but it is also exposed to catastrophic natural events, which require skilled claims expertise to manage and so I believe that there is a significant pool of potential members to recruit from the region.

To further support our profile raising activity, we also took the opportunity to enhance our relationship with the MII itself. It was a valuable exercise for both parties as we discussed our educational objectives, our learning materials and the qualifications we each offer. As a result, the MII and the CILA have agreed to recognise each others’ qualifications as well as explore further commercial opportunities.

Meeting fellow professionals overseas is a valuable exercise. Not only does it help raise the profile of the CILA, but it also helps us improve our understanding of how we need to adapt our proposition in different regions. For example, one of the key takeaways for us from our meeting with the MII was the requirement to allow our material to be localised for overseas students - after all, it’s highly unlikely that a claims manager in Kuala Lumpur is going to be faced with escape of water claims resulting from freezing weather conditions!

Coincidentally, whilst in KL we were also able to have dinner with Ian Lavin, President of the Australian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters (AICLA), Tony Libke, their Administrator and Geoffrey Tan, Chairman of their International Division. Ian, Tony and Geoffrey were on a tour of the region and it was interesting to learn how AICLA has developed in recent years. We have agreed to keep in contact to explore possible areas of mutual benefit.

This experience reinforced what we learned during our recent trip to Ireland. If the CILA is serious about extending its presence globally and being perceived worldwide as offering ‘gold standard’ qualifications, we will need to work closely with international markets and this trip has helped us take a big step forward in this regard.

I realised this week that I’m almost six months through my Presidency of the CILA. While the time has flown by I took stock this week of what my initial hopes and objectives were when I took up the post in September and how far along we are to achieving them, and I was pleasantly surprised to realise that we have already achieved so much.

We announced just this week the launch of two new entry level examinations leading to qualifications that will make both the loss adjusting profession and the benefits of CILA membership more accessible around the world. As I said back in September, I want to see the CILA recognised as the pre-eminent claims institute worldwide and I firmly believe that education and globally recognised professional qualifications are the key to seeing that become a reality.

Loss adjusters and claims professionals worldwide are operating in a changing and increasingly competitive landscape as margins and budgets are eye wateringly squeezed. As professionals we must strive to evidence our value. Our new entry level qualifications provide the underpinning to the foundations and future strength of our industry and reflect the changing times we live in.

The new examinations will lead to a Certificate (Cert CILA), providing a broad introduction to insurance and claims, and to a Diploma (Dip CILA) qualification at BTECH Level 3. Both new qualifications will provide a stepping stone to the gold standard ACILA qualification and successful candidates will be able to use the designatory letters Cert CILA and Dip CILA. The qualifications are also fully portable and recognised all over the world which offers members the opportunity to spread their horizons outside the UK and still have their experience and skills recognised.

We know that the CILA Associate level examinations set the bar extremely high, and rightly so, but this has meant that new talent at entry level wasn’t being rewarded through recognised professional claims qualifications. Our Cert CILA and Dip CILA qualifications offer all claims handlers a means of evidencing their achievement at all levels which we hope will continue to attract new blood to the profession and support employers’ own professional development programmes.

Claims are no longer restricted to the realm of independent loss adjusting firms. To correctly represent all claims professionals we need to be more inclusive and accessible. Anyone working in claims can now register to become a member of the CILA for an annual fee of £30 and sit the new examinations. This move is a significant step forward in the evolution of the Institute, making the benefits of membership accessible to as many claims and loss adjusting professionals as possible at all levels and in all industry sectors.

I’m expecting to be able to announce some further significant developments over the coming weeks. It’s an exciting time in the future of our Institute and for our members and I’m proud to be President of such a forward looking first class Institution.

I pen this latest blog from the comfort of my study at home on the afternoon of Christmas Eve so by the time it is posted and you read it we shall all, hopefully, have enjoyed a peaceful and restful Christmas break.

Do you remember the time before the snow arrived? It seems to have been with us for so long now and the sustained low temperature means it is lingering with little thaw. My last blog related to much sunnier climes in Singapore but that seems a long way off now.

In late November I attended the FUEDI plenary meeting in Paris and under the excellent chairmanship of current FUEDI President, Yves Legoux, we managed to negotiate a very full agenda with simultaneous bi-lingual translations into French and English. Nevertheless the meeting still over ran by almost 90 minutes. A great deal of good work for CILA and the UK adjusting profession is done in this arena by Kieran Rigby and Angus Tucker and our own Graham Cave is also retained on behalf of FUEDI themselves to assist with marketing and development so my thanks to these chaps for their efforts on our behalf.

A major element of this meeting related to establishing common standards for professional qualifications in the various territories and we are getting good input here from Malcolm Hyde, our Executive Director, who has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share regarding training and examinations.

The first Friday in December was to see Malcolm Hyde and me in Dublin as guests of the Insurance Institute of Dublin for their Annual Dinner. This is probably my first snow story of the season. My flight out on Thursday was cancelled because Gatwick Airport was snow bound and closed. The re-booked flight for Friday afternoon was also cancelled so we had no alternative but to send our apologies. We then learned that due to the atrocious weather in Dublin, the dinner itself was cancelled so the snow triumphed again. It was with a strange sense of satisfaction that when, out of curiosity, I checked the flight I had booked from Dublin back to Gatwick on Saturday morning that it too had been cancelled.

On 16 December I was in Belfast for the annual event, the President’s Lunch, which was this year held at the magnificent Merchant Hotel. I was actually in Belfast for a few days before the lunch so stayed here too and I can recommend the establishment as very comfortable indeed. It was great to see such a good turnout in Belfast with around 50 members attending and I was very impressed with the camaraderie and general good spirits among adjusters from the different companies. I was left with the impression that there is a great deal of mutual respect and friendship in this community.

The Belfast lunch was a speaking engagement for me and I was delighted to be able to recognise the achievements of two of our younger members, Kerry Archer from Crawford & Company and Peter Burnett of Halifax who have each completed the CILA associateship examinations and qualified this last year.

Well done Peter and Kerry. I wish you both long and successful careers.

A taxi collected me from the hotel at 4.15pm for a 5.30 flight from Belfast City Airport to Gatwick. The weather was bitterly cold and the skies were heavy with snow which had been forecast to arrive in Belfast late that afternoon. The flight was delayed about 30 minutes and I began to wonder if my stay in Belfast might be extended due to bad weather but we boarded the plane just after 6pm. When we landed at Gatwick about an hour later heavy snow was falling and the next morning the news reports detailed the heaviest snow falls in Northern Ireland for 20 years. More work for my friends in Northern Ireland, I am sure.

Just last week saw the occasion of the CILA secretariat’s Christmas Lunch. What a disaster. We waited and waited for service and when the food eventually arrived it was not to the standard that the President expects! I am launching a campaign for future Christmas lunches to which I am invited to be in the first 10 days of December or deferred until, January.

By contrast, my very good friend and ex Chairman of GAB Robins, Peter Gregg, has recently had what one might term a milestone birthday and to mark the occasion he kindly invited me to join him and two other friends and ex colleagues to lunch at the Belvedere in Holland Park. We had a truly excellent meal and a very enjoyable couple of hours. My thanks and congratulations, Peter (I wonder if he will ever read this).

On a sad note, a friend and ex colleague, Peter Pavey, passed away in December. Peter spent most of his adjusting career with GAB Robins in Maidstone and Brighton and will be known to many members. Condolences have been sent to his wife Eileen.

So, 2011 beckons and with it comes fresh challenges and new horizons for many of our members. CILA too is looking forward to exciting new developments. We shall shortly be announcing the launch of the new Certificate and Diploma level qualifications and we are in the final contract negotiations regarding accreditation of our chartered status. More news here soon.

I am also committed to a drive to increase the number of members signed up to at least one of our Specialist Interest Groups (SIGs). There are eleven different SIGs to choose from and there is something for everyone. Membership of a SIG will help keep you abreast of technical developments and matters of interest in the subject area and will also give you a platform to contribute should you so wish. Membership of a SIG will also help you accumulate points towards your Continuing Professional Development requirements.

If you haven’t yet signed up for any SIG do check the CILA website and you will find a link on the Home page. If you can’t remember whether you are in one or not then email info@cila.co.uk with a query and we’ll respond to you – or telephone (+44 (0)20 7337 9960) and speak with Elaine or Jackie.

Signing up is easy so do it today!

The International Federation of Adjusting Associations (IFAA) is a worldwide organisation established to promote the role of loss adjusting associations, their members and the member associations on a global basis. The Presidency of the IFAA circulates round the member organisations and currently rests with The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters. Former CILA President, Paul May, is in the second year of his two year term as President of IFAA, a role he has accepted on behalf of CILA.

The IFAA’s 2nd Regional Claims Conference was held in the splendid surroundings of the AXA University Campus in Singapore on Tuesday 9 November with the conference theme being “The Claim Life Cycle” and as the current CILA President, I was invited to attend to present a paper and to sit on a “Question Time” style panel taking issues for debate from the delegates.

When I awoke on the day of my flight to Singapore from Heathrow the radio news was full of reports of a Qantas A380 aircraft which had made an emergency return to and landing at Singapore airport shortly after take off.

I was flying Qantas!

Having checked my travel documents I was mildly relieved to see I was flying on a 747 and there were no delays or problems at the airport.

The conference was a great success with nearly 80 delegates and speakers from around the world including USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The initial key note address was delivered by Pascal Paoli, P&C Director and Executive Officer with AXA, Singapore and the conference format then comprised a series of presentations covering such elements of the claim lifecycle as Initial Response, Recovery Issues, Technical Aspects and, my own contribution, Concluding the Claim.

The presentations were well prepared and delivered and, as is often the case, the sessions really came to life during the question and answer panel sessions which were all lively with passionate opinions being expressed by the many contributors.

With excellent work by Paul who chaired the conference, we finished on time and adjourned to the first floor for cocktails. This represented a great opportunity to network with the delegates and to learn, yet again, what a small world loss adjusting can be with many shared acquaintances and colleagues past and present. It also provided a useful opportunity to speak with Stephen Thorpe, a Past President of the Australian Institute, AICLA, and to compare and contrast our respective institutes current status and development

On a lighter note, having arrived during the weekend I managed to find some time to explore this island country. With a population of around 5 million people including Chinese, Indians, Asians, Malays and Caucasians this is a truly international location. The climate is hot and humid and it can certainly rain as well. I was impressed with the renowned cleanliness of the streets which are virtually litter free. Smoking is banned within 5 metres of most public and commercial building entrances so there are no clusters of people outside office entrances. Instead, the smokers often congregate around purpose made litter bins come ash trays with cigarette butts being deposited therein rather than dropped on the street.

Then there is the modern Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system which is both cheap and efficient. And being fully air conditioned it makes a distinct contrast with the horrors of the London Underground in July and August. Interestingly, tickets for each journey are sold with a refundable deposit of $S1.
The deposit is recovered at the end of each journey by inserting the used ticket back into the ticket vending machine. So no used tickets littering the stations either.

As with many big cities, Singapore has its own distinct districts including Chinatown, Little India and Arab Street. It also has a modern “down town” business district with high rise office blocks and nestling in the middle of these is Lau Pa Sat, an indoor market building dating back to 1894 which is now one of Singapore’s finest hawker centres with food and choices a plenty.

The satay was magnificent.