We are able to consider an enquiry or complaint about the professional conduct of a CILA member. We are not in a position to progress claims or consider complaints about speed of service. We recommend that you contact your appointed loss adjusting company and explain your concerns. Alternatively, you may wish to contact your insurance company.
Professional Conduct
All members of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA) are expected to behave in accordance with the CILA Guide to Professional Conduct.
If you have questions or concerns about the conduct of a loss adjuster, you may find it useful to read our answers to frequently asked questions.
We are only able to consider an enquiry or complaint about the professional conduct of a CILA member. We are not in a position to consider or resolve disputes about policy cover, method of settlement or amount of settlement in relation to your claim. We recommend that you contact your appointed loss adjusting company and explain your concerns. You also have the option of discussing the matter with your insurance company. If you are still unhappy (having made a formal complaint to your insurance company), you may wish to approach the Financial Ombudsman Service or seek legal advice.
Loss adjusters adopt different approaches depending on the nature of the claim and what they have been employed to do. There is therefore no set procedure that all loss adjusters will follow in each and every claim.
Members of the CILA are expected to behave in accordance with the CILA Guide to Professional Conduct. This guide describes the professional and ethical standards that should be adopted by members, it does not specify claims handling procedures.
Insurance companies that do business in the UK are regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A regulated insurance company must ensure that any supplier they appoint in relation to a claim, such as a loss adjuster, adheres to the rules set out by the FCA. Loss adjusters may also be appointed by policyholders and in this instance the loss adjuster will be directly subject to regulation.
All regulated firms must follow the rules set out in the FCA Handbook, which includes rules about claims handling.
The CILA is a membership organisation for individuals and so we are able to consider complaints about the professional conduct of individual members. We are not in a position to consider complaints about loss adjusting companies or loss adjusters who are not members.
If you are unhappy with the service you have received from a loss adjusting company, we recommend that you contact the company and explain your concerns. Loss adjusting companies have a dedicated customer service team. Alternatively, you may wish to contact your insurance company.
Individuals who have obtained qualifications through the CILA may display the following letters after their name when corresponding with you, either Cert CILA, Dip CILA, Adv Dip CILA, ACILA, MCILA or FCILA. The presence of these letters would indicate that the individual is a member of the CILA.
If your loss adjuster does not display any of the above letters after their name when corresponding with you, you will need to ask the individual to confirm whether they are a member of a professional body such as the CILA.
Our Guide to Professional Conduct describes the professional and ethical standards we expect from our members and includes ethics and core principles, conflicts of interests between parties, beneficial interests, technical expertise, compliance, complaints and institute representation.
If you consider that a member of the CILA has not behaved in accordance with our Guide to Professional Conduct, you may make a complaint to us. Our compaints procedure requires you to exhaust the complaints procedure of the individual's employer. In addition, we cannot become involved in disputes about policy cover or the amount payable.
If you are seeking to overturn a decision about policy cover or the amount to be paid you should take your issue to either the loss adjusting company or the insurer concerned. It is not within our remit to have influence on such matters.
Your complaint will be investigated by our Professional Conduct Committee. We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days and you will receive a first response within thirty days. If further investigation and/or referral to the CILA’s Council is necessary, we will notify you of the anticipated time scale.
Our disciplinary powers include reprimand, suspension from membership, expulsion from membership or fines. Please note the CILA is not in a position to alter the outcome of your claim, for example, the method or amount of settlement or make any awards for compensation.
