Presidents report

President's Report | Operations Report

It is with great pleasure I submit my report for the 2006/7 Presidency. Since having the honour and privilege of being elected President, I have travelled widely and met with members and key stake holders in China (twice), Hong Kong, Malaysia and New Zealand along with Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney within Australia.

I have been very fortunate in that I have had a very sound foundation on which to build AICLA during the first year of my presidency. The former incumbents of this office are acknowledged and applauded.

Some of the objectives I wanted to achieve during my presidency included the continued promotion of the professionalism of AICLA members and to form closer relationships with allied industry bodies in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Setting Standards

For AICLA to have an effective voice with government and industry bodies on issues such as substitution, code of practice, the latest Insurance Contracts Act revision to name but a few, we must demonstrate that the key differentiator between AICLA and others is our education and professionalism bound by a Charter of Objects and Professional Conduct. The need to increase minimum standards for membership of AICLA was therefore paramount. To that end, in May 2007 I was delighted when the Board of AICLA voted in favour of lifting the minimum standard for membership of our Institute. The proposed increase in minimum standards will require new applicants to successfully complete four subjects within a three year period of joining AICLA. The new minimum standards will also mean some changes to classes of membership which have been communicated to members.

While I encourage ordinary members to complete the required subjects to become an affiliate and ultimately advance to associate level, no existing member will lose their present status or in any way be disadvantaged by the proposed changes.

Industry Liaison

One of the tenants of our discussions with the Insurance Council of Australia was that AICLA wanted to be involved in the early stages of any changes or improvements to claims related processes. In other words we are a valued partner to the insurance industry.\ I was delighted that we were involved at an early stage in the new Catastrophe Co-Ordination Plan, which replaced the Insurance Disaster Response Organisation (IDRO). The Insurance Council adopted all seven recommendations made by AICLA for improvements/modifications to the plan.

The new Catastrophe Co–Ordination Plan became the framework for the insurance industry’s response to the Newcastle storms in June 2007. Secretary Tony Libke and I sat on the response panel with the Insurance Council’s, Mr Karl Sullivan and other industry representatives – NIBA and the IOS to name but two. As far as I am concerned the plan worked very well and when the Insurance Industry via the Insurance Council wanted communication with adjusters, we were able to “reach back” and provide appropriate and relevant assistance.

The Insurance Council advises there were some 80,000 claims recorded as a result of this event with an estimated pay out now in excess of AUD1.0 billion dollars. The adjusting communities’ response to this event has been exemplary, a fact acknowledged by the Insurance Council.

Asia and New Zealand

As mentioned earlier I visited China on two separate occasions. The first trip to China was in November 2006 where I was invited to present a paper on the “Analysis of Claims Practices in Australia”. China itself has an interesting insurance market. In premium income terms, the Chinese and Australian insurance markets are, at present, not dissimilar. Given the sheer size of the population and industry, it is inevitable that the Chinese market will expand significantly with predictions that it will be the single largest insurance market in the world by 2040.

The second trip to China was in June 2007, where International Development Director, Mr Ian McWalter and I met with the Chinese Insurance Regulators, the CIRC. The meeting explored ways in which we may be able to assist the CIRC in building the foundations for the development of the loss adjusting profession in China such as a Code of Conduct for members, minimum standards, hierarchy of membership and continuing professional development. Our discussions and liaison continue in conjunction of course with our training partner, ANZIIF.

Tony and I travelled to New Zealand in August 2007 and held very positive and productive discussions with the Earthquake Commission of New Zealand (EQC) and the Insurance Council of New Zealand. The New Zealand members held a very successful claims conference in the beautiful city of Tauranga.

Claims Convention

Another highlight for me this year has been the Claims Convention held in August 2007. For the first time AICLA partnered with ANZIIF to hold one claims convention. Themed “Claims Excellence Out of Catastrophe” we were fortunate to attract speakers of the calibre of General Peter Cosgrove (he assisted far north Queensland following the effects of Cyclone Larry), Mr Karl Sullivan from the Insurance Council of Australia plus many others. I was particularly pleased to see over half of the attendees consisted of claims managers, claims officers, brokers and reinsurers. Apart from providing the obvious networking opportunities, a convention such as this enables us to promote the professionalism of loss adjusters. Meetings and Consultation Throughout my first term as President I have had the pleasure of engaging in discussions with members generally and the CEO’s of the major adjusting firms across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Typically the larger firms employ over 50% of our members and a process of listening and effective dialogue ensured that collectively we continue to promote the interests of loss adjusters.

Of course there have been ongoing meetings, discussions and dialogue with our industry partners in particular ANZIIF and NIBA.

Education

An important initiative during the year was the launch of on–line CPD for members. This initiative will give the members access to loss adjusting specific training material via the internet.

The aging demographic of adjusters continues to be a concern. I am encouraged however that in 2006 there were over 300 enrolments in the Diploma of Financial Services (Loss Adjusting), and enrolments so far in 2007 are again up significantly. In that regard I would like to acknowledge institute members who achieved academic prizes during the year:

Loss Adjusters Diploma Prize | David Breen - Indonesia
Charles Buchanan Prize | David Breen - Indonesia
Syd McDonald Young Adjuster Prize | David Breen - Indonesia
Brian Geraghty Prize | Angela Lissett - Queensland
Ted Cooper Prize | Joel Thornton - Western Australia

Acknowledgements

This past year I have endeavoured to build on the hard work and successes of my predecessors.

The support, commitment and enthusiasm of others is vital for any President to succeed. I would like to pay a special thank you to the Education Director, Mr Leo Fluitsma who was at the forefront in the minimum standards debate, International Director, Mr Ian McWalter who provided invaluable guidance on the Asian markets in particular, and Mr Tony Libke – Secretary for his guidance and support.

It would be remiss not to mention and acknowledge Mr James Ong the International Division Director who retired earlier this year. James was the driving force behind what is now a very successful international division. I would also like to thank the Board for their input and support on key strategic initiatives.

I look forward to seeing the continuing development of our fine profession through the second year of my presidency.

Stephen Thorpe