President's blog

Late March was dominated by the run up to my trip to India. The usual attempt to try and tie up as many loose ends on claims as possible proved no less easy than on previous occasions, but that is loss adjusting for you. Luckily, Paula and I flew on Sunday night and we had the weekend for shopping and packing only to find we were, as usual, overweight – I blame Paula’s many shoes!

We neither of us knew what to expect in India and had a fairly busy business schedule, plus just over a week of holiday (paid by us I should explain). Our trip took us to Mumbai (Bombay), Jaipur, Agra, Delhi and Hyderabad. Whilst there I met with representatives of The Insurance Institute of India, The Indian Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Loss Adjusters, The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and a total of 12 practising loss adjusters. I have learned a great deal from this visit and I believe we now have good links with India which over the years will prove valuable to the Institute. I will be reporting in appropriate detail to Council in due course and have many emails and thank you letters to write.

Our first experience of India was the transfer from Mumbai airport to our hotel. The traffic congestion would cause The Mayor of London, Ken Livingston, complete apoplexy. Cars, lorries and taxis fill every available space and roads only suitable for 3 lanes commonly have eight with drivers constantly changing lanes and hooting furiously in an effort to gain an extra yard or two. The taxi driver said that to drive in India you need “a good hooter, good brakes and good luck”. He wasn’t kidding. Added to that all the rickshaws, tuc tucs and pedestrians, made for total road chaos. Luckily our hotel proved a haven of tranquillity with attentive staff everywhere you turned. Even a man to turn on the taps in the washrooms and hand you a towel – very strange for us boys!

It quickly became clear to us that India is a country diverse in culture, religion, language and prosperity. The extremes are there to see wherever you turn and some came as a shock to us. The people however are kind and gentle if at times a little persistent. They also value their links with the UK and many have relatives here or in the USA.

What perhaps amazed me most was the commitment everyone has to education and the benefits it brings to those who succeed. The Insurance Institute of India marks a staggering 1.8 million examination scripts each year. A young man we met was taking his exams to secure a university place in engineering and 900,000 students sat for 3,000 places. Education and qualification becomes all consuming for parents and their children alike. There should be a lesson for us there.

Apart from the people, we found the historic sites of great interest and we have many photos to prove it. The craftsmanship in silk is another subject altogether and we were constantly astounded by the beautiful handicrafts on sale and at a fraction of UK prices.

All in all, our visit to India has given us a taste for the exotic east and we will definitely be returning. However, we will pick October or November to find less hot weather. In Delhi and Hyderabad we experienced temperatures in excess of 40ºC and, to answer the question most frequently asked, no we had no bad food experiences and “Delhi belly” did not hit us, thankfully. I will now return to my CILA duties with renewed energy.

My blog is again overdue - a bit like the No.39 bus. By way of explanation I have to admit that dinner invitations have been rather lacking until very recently. My meeting over dinner with the distinguished Lords and MPs of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance was followed by invitations to the Business Interruption Dinner, the CII Annual Dinner and the CII Croydon Dinner and all within a week!

For urgent business reasons and surrounded by lawyers, accountants, solicitors, and bankers in Reading I was obliged to miss the Annual BI Dinner (many apologies again to Ann Stone). Also on that night a well known past CILA President missed the last of a flight of steps and missed the dinner too, although in dinner jacket and gong he easily won the vote for the best dressed person in the local casualty department. The other two dinners, the first at the elaborate Guildhall, and the second at the Selsdon Park Hotel (famed for usually hosting one of the teams taking part in the FA Cup Final) went off without incident. The Mayor of Croydon was in attendance as a top table guest and I was somewhat alarmed to hear the value of the chain of office which dates from the early 1800’s. With all those insurance people around any loss would be hard to explain away.

Paula and I are now preparing for our trip to India and we have had virtually all injections known to man and woman. I think our only risk not accounted for is swamp fever. Not only that, but daughter Georgina is in the process of buying her first flat. This involves little effort since “Dad that’s your sort of thing, isn’t it – I love you” as she disappears out for the evening. Kids are great aren’t they? She has, however, had sufficient time to list all the items in our home that she thinks we could well do without. Minimalism seems to be in for Paula and I in future.

I am writing this on the train from Bolton on the day after the predicted severe storm which failed to produce much for adjusters! I am now getting back to the CILA response to floods, the Pitt Review. What joy!

They say that Monday 21st January was the most depressing day of 2008. I understand this was partly due to the continuing bad weather, the fact that for most of us our New Year resolutions had long since gone out of the window and the credit card bills for spending over Christmas were arriving. However, there will always be exceptions, i.e. weekend lottery winners who have arrived at work to hand in their notice or who have just received a letter advising them that a long lost maiden aunt has left them a quarter share in a gold mine.

My own New Year resolutions have only partly succeeded. To exercise more is on target but not to get so frustrated with London traffic and people who barge past me to get the one last remaining seat on the train or underground have failed miserably. The only consolation is that so far young people are not yet getting up and offering me a seat due to my apparent ageing appearance!

It is, however, fortunate that Christmas and the New Year in the UK generally passed by peacefully and the hope is it stays that way for the rest of 2008.

I am now under considerable pressure to commit to holidays. I entirely blame my daughter, Georgina, for going to Venice just after New Year with her boyfriend. This has highlighted the fact that Paula and I have not yet done so ourselves. I can almost guarantee that Venice will be part of the 2008 itinerary. In fairness to me though we are planning a trip to India and despite rumours to the contrary this is not a repeat of my early experiences with transcendental meditation and the music of Ravi Shanka.

Between the start of writing this message and today the world stock markets are suffering some degree of uncertainty and whether we are heading for a full scale recession or not seems in doubt. If it does happen all Adjusters know that they are likely to be busier as attempted fraud and arson always seem to increase when this happens. It’s an ill wind.

I realise it is quite some time since I last posted my blog. I did think of suggesting that the disk containing my last comments had been accidentally left at the Home Office who then sent it to Tibet or dropped it behind a radiator – but that would not be true.

Work, home and the CILA have kept me busy one way or another although I often wonder how much I have achieved. I did read in the paper that children cost you the equivalent of the cost of a Ferrari. This is quite clearly untrue as my daughter has cost far more than that! I would have had a fleet of Ferraris by now, less grey hair, a hall uncluttered with endless pairs of shoes but not as much love and joy in household (most of the time). Which only goes to prove that you can’t believe all you read in the papers and perhaps we focus too much on the material side of life.

I imagine you are all getting ready for Christmas. The Edwards household is preparing for 13 for lunch on the day, most of whom seem to have the sole objective of consuming as much food and drink as possible and leaving with a cheery wave and the dreaded words “see you next year”. This, of course, is not true either, which must prove something but I’m not sure what. It will be great to be surrounded by family and friends over the holiday and I can only hope that the phone does not ring with any urgent claims.

On a serious note may I wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and everything of the best for the New Year.

Recently, my life seems to be beset with delays on the railways. In the past few days I have missed more trains than usual – seeing them pulling out of the station just as I arrive. Then, just when I am fortunate to catch a train, the journey is disrupted by slippery rails, or changes to station stops. I think my best was 2½ hours to get from Brentford to Sutton – normal time 1 hour.

Apart from my dislike of all things Network Rail, my life has been generally quiet with only a few public appearances and no major work issues. The weather, however, is singularly depressing and a ghastly foretaste of the winter stretching ahead of us.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when the flooding predicted for 9th November along the East coast failed to materialise to any extent. Having said that, I am sure not half as relieved as the local inhabitants of that area. Whilst I am not totally convinced by all the climate change theories, I am quite certain that as a profession we are seeing more severe weather-related losses than in the past, certainly in the UK.

I began writing this on Tuesday 16th October in the departure lounge of Terminal 1 at Heathrow, waiting for a late night flight to Athens, a change of airline, and then on to Crete. There I would meet up with Paula (wife) and her parents who live on that wonderful island. I should have travelled out early Tuesday morning with Paula but a business meeting, that everyone but I could make, got in the way. As you imagine Paula was not hugely impressed as I only decided to tell her on the Saturday after the CILA lunch. I was careful to ensure all the sharp knives were out of the way until the tension lifted.

Not only had the build-up to the CILA lunch been rather fraught but it was added to by Peter, the decorator, who arrived at the same time (two months late) to start on the hall, stairs and landing and causing the cat to have apoplexy! The washing machine also flooded the kitchen the day before the holiday! Is it me or does this happen to all loss adjusters?

The week in Crete was a significant tonic, as usual, and I have returned to the inevitable pile of post and 300 million e-mails. I thought after the CILA lunch life would be quiet – but far from it. The SIG conference, participation in the Lloyds DR Summit and Benfield Hazard Research Centre seminar on the floods are now imminent, but then I am sure it will quieten down or will it be the run up to Christmas!

I guess by now we are all now finding travelling to work a little more difficult since the schools have gone back. I had hoped to obtain some early respite from this by booking a four day break to Majorca only to have the outbound flight delayed by six and a half hours! I already know what some of you will be saying about my departure at a busy time like this.

Flooding seems to be back on the news agenda again and although I have had no calls for TV appearances, Sky News did send me a CD of three of my interviews. This is now available from my Agent and is being widely circulated in Hollywood! Regrettably, no calls thus far. On a serious note, we are approaching a time when media interest is likely to heighten. It will be 100 days from the Yorkshire floods in early October.

Also on the publicity front, many of you will have seen the smiling face of John Bell in the last two editions of the Post Magazine. Well done to him and the AON marketing team!

Yesterday I had lunch with Stephen Thorpe, the President of the Australasian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters. He is a qualified member of CILA and, as if to prove what a true gentlemen he is, he never mentioned the Rugby once – come to think of it neither did I! We wish him a safe trip back to his family and friends in Adelaide.

Firstly, a warm welcome back to my Deputy, Angus Tucker, who missed the AGM due to long arranged holiday plans. Angus has served the Institute extremely well over many years and I am delighted to have his support.

I am continuing my regular Tuesday visits to Peninsular House and I have not found myself being idle. Take it from me, there is always a great deal to do, despite all the hard work of the Secretariat. Members of our various Committees have been selected and there are some new faces, all of whom are most welcome. Meetings are now being scheduled and the results will be published to all members.

The floods continue to dominate UK adjusting and wherever I have the opportunity, I am saying how well the profession has responded and just how valuable we are to the insurance industry. But we all know there will be a great deal of hard work to do over the next 6-12 months. I suspect we may all become rather more stretched as Hurricane Dean threatens Mexico. Many of our international colleagues will be booking their flights and packing their bags.

I am always happy to hear from members on any subject particularly if you can predict what will happen next! My crystal ball is rather cloudy.

7.00 a.m. Phone call from daughter. Feeling very unwell. Can Mum collect from flat in North London and organise doctor’s appointment?
8.30 a.m. Prepare to leave for station and forget that car left at Brentford office last night. Panic – cadge lift from wife (not amused).
8.50 a.m. Train ten minutes late – typical.
9.35 a.m. Message from CILA. BBC News 24 want a live interview at 2.15 p.m.. More panic.
10.15 a.m. Attend Property Claims Forum. Lots of important claims blokes and good info.
1.35 p.m. Leave PCF meeting by taxi to BBC Millbank. Major road works – panic. Should have left more time.
2.20 p.m. On air with BBC – No tricky questions – seems I did ok.
2.40 p.m. Taxi from BBC to CILA for interview with Post Mag. – about my year ahead. Panic – coffee – relax.
3.30 p.m. Interview with Post Mag – seemed OK but will wait and see what they actually write.
4.30 p.m. Back to Waterloo to Brentford – collect car.
6.00 p.m. St Helier Hospital A&E – daughter looks grim but in good hands.
8.30 p.m. Daughter goes to ward – possible appendicitis operation tomorrow – don’t dare show panic.
10.30 p.m. Home – glass of wine - Phew!

This will be my last blog - our AGM takes place tomorrow. What should I say in this blog? Our Annual Report and the AGM are the appropriate ways in which to make everybody who has helped me in my Presidential term. So perhaps it would be best to look to the future.

I have been asked what I intend to do when I cease being President. Whilst I have kept up my day job, it is still a fair question. The answer is that I want to continue doing one of the best jobs I can imagine doing - handling claims. It is a wonderfully stimulating and diverse job and I would recommend it to anyone. If job satisfaction was the sole criterion the search for the next generation of loss adjusters would be simple.

Why the title? The second major bout of flooding occurred just over a week ago. As a result the work loads for Loss Adjusters are greater than they have ever been. Over that same weekend my employers were engaged on a multi million pound fire claim. Working with a team of colleagues this claim has been added to our bulging portfolio and, along with various flood claims I know what I will be going, at least for the rest of this year, and I hope for the foreseeable future.

It has been a privilege to be President of the CILA and I wish my successor Malcolm Edwards every success and look forward to reading his blogs.