Time to Regroup

Albert Poon, CIP, most recently CIAA’s 1st vice president, has assumed the role of CIAA national president. In line with the CIAA succession plan, Poon takes on duties as president with the resignation of David Porter, formerly vice president, Western region for Granite Claims Solutions.

Porter, who took over as president of the CIAA at the association’s Annual General Meeting and Conference August 21-24 in Quebec City, resigned effective September 19, 2014. Since taking the reign as CIAA president, Granite Claims Solutions was acquired by SCM Insurance Services and Porter is no longer with the firm. According to the association’s constitution, Executive Members must be employed by a CIAA member firm.

With Poon’s appointment as president, the CIAA has made it clear that its “services and commitment to membership continues without interruption.”

But it is not necessarily business as usual, according to Poon, who is director of operations at Cunningham Lindsey Canada Claims Services Ltd

“My term as president of the association got accelerated by one year, but the main consequence (of the SCM acquisition) is the fact that we stand to lose 300 members from CIAA,” he says. “This is a critical year from the standpoint of demonstrating the value our organization brings not just to the membership, but to the insurance industry as whole.”

Poon fully acknowledges that the loss of Granite Claims Solutions as a member will have a significant impact on the association. “There are budgetary issues, but the reality is that Granite Claims was very active in our membership – from past presidents to involvement in committees,” he says. “We need to understand the impact, and then move forward. This is a reality that we have to address.”

Moving forward for Poon means sharpening the focus of CIAA on achieving its strategic objectives. He says there is a pressing need to develop a “strategic mandate that demonstrates the value of CIAA.” This includes raising awareness around the role and brand of independent adjusters and delivering on results that mean something to the day-to-day operations of member firms.

“As a volunteer group we have not been as successful as we would have liked in meeting a lot of our strategic initiatives,” he notes. “It’s a fair question that I have heard from members and non-members: if we are unable to meet our strategic objectives, then what is the value of the organization?”

A key part of the CIAA strategic mandate will be increasing awareness around the professional independent adjuster brand.

“We want to increase the profile of the association and our members, ” Poon explains. “How do we do that? A lot of the discussion has been around the CIP and how good of a job the Insurance Institute of Canada has done in increasing awareness of the designation and the professionalism around it. We need to learn from that exercise.”

He notes that this does not necessarily involve reinventing the wheel, but some major fine-tuning through marketing and branding initiatives.

Another important prong in CIAA’s strategic mandate will be enhancing partnerships with parallel associations in the insurance industry, according to Poon.

“Our mandate must encompass all stakeholders – the membership we serve, but also the broader insurance industry,” he says. “That involves brokers, insurers, the risk management community, government, among others. All of these groups are also our stakeholders and have an interest in our mandate.”

Poon notes that closer affiliations can be made with other associations serving the industry. “We can strengthen strategic partnerships that would be aligned with our vision and find some common ground amongst other industry groups and organizations,” he says.

The association itself has to step up to the plate and deliver results in other key areas, such as education/designations and harmonized licensing, Poon notes.

“The CIAA has been actively involved in developing educational programs and lending itself to a CLA designation, which is on the cusp of being finalized. In terms of harmonization, we have reached agreement with the Canadian Insurance Services Regulatory Organization (CISRO) for an expedited licensing process in times of urgency which is a step in the right direction towards full licensing harmonization,” he observes.

“I think the message is that it’s time for CIAA to deliver on its strategic objectives,” Poon adds.

During a challenging time of adversity, in Poon the CIAA has found a solid representative who is calm, measured and inclusive. He also possesses a broad perspective on the multi-faceted property and casualty insurance industry, with a diverse legacy of work experience.

Starting out in the insurance industry with Home Insurance in 1990 as a telephone adjuster, Poon quickly advanced into the role of field adjuster in his five years with the company (later bought by AXA, then Intact Financial). He then moved to Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc., where he spent 10 years, including a stint leading the firm’s risk management services division.

From there, Poon delved more directly into the risk management profession, setting up a self-insurance and claims administration program for Discount Car and Truck Rental. After four years, he joined Cunningham Lindsey, where he now oversees all operations for the large, national adjusting firm.

Poon also has a good vantage point from which to observe trends in the broader insurance industry and loss adjusting. One development is the tendency for insurers to more carefully monitor capacity and response to catastrophes, particularly in the wake of natural disasters in 2013.

“Capacity is now process-driven,” Poon comments. “In the past, there was more of an expertise model, whereby insurance companies really wanted adjusters to go in, conduct a thorough investigation, take time to evaluate, negotiate and settle. Now, it is more aligned with dealing with capacity issues and making sure they manage caseloads for insurers.”

Independent adjusting firms have responded with a wide variety of strategies -developing greater efficiency and compliance to meet insurer real-time scorecards/metrics, diversification into complementary fields, niche or specialty lines focus for some companies and the pursuit of self-retention clients.

Just as individual firms have responded quickly to changing market realities, Poon says the CIAA will also have to adapt in reaching out to all independent adjusting companies. He thinks it’s time for a fresh start and a new conversation that will guide the short and long-term priorities of the independent adjusting profession.

“I am more interested in engaging in a dialogue with all adjusting firms about where we can take CIAA,” remarks Poon, who adds he will be setting up meetings with senior leaders of adjusting companies to discuss this vision. “I hope they see existing or potential value and they want to participate in shaping our profession as part of the insurance industry. That is our goal.”

Poon says dealing with adversity is nothing new for independent adjusters, who have to handle and cope with stressful situations such as natural catastrophes, major losses and the serious after-effects on individual people and communities.

“As much as there are challenges, there are also opportunities. We have to face those challenges head-on and make sure the industry understands the value that independent adjusters bring to the table,” Poon concludes.

“The question today is: what does that next chapter look like for the independent adjusting profession?”