Location: Canada

Melissa Joynt joins as Canadian Head of Forensic Advisory Services

TORONTO, ON – 26 AUGUST 2015 – Cunningham Lindsey Canada Claims Services Ltd. (“Cunningham Lindsey Canada”) announced today the addition of Melissa Joynt, CPA, CA as the Canadian Head of Forensic Advisory Services (FAS), an independent division that specializes in the quantification of business interruption and financial losses incident to insurance claims.

Melissa will lead the division’s team of professionals as they expand Cunningham Lindsey’s Forensic Advisory Services (FAS) Team into Canada. Melissa will also work closely with Cunningham Lindsey’s Major and Complex (MCL) team and other adjusters in the industry on catastrophe and major loss quantification.

Melissa brings 15 years of forensic accounting experience to Cunningham Lindsey. She has conducted and managed forensic investigations involving the quantification of Accident Benefits, Business Interruption and Personal Injury claims for insurers, defense and plaintiff counsels. Melissa has also prepared personal, corporate and trust income tax returns, and audited, reviewed and compiled financial statements for a variety of clients. Melissa brings a wealth of expertise in dispute response, relationship management and leadership.

Melissa has authored articles and conducted seminars related to forensic investigation and quantifying insurance losses. She has been qualified and testified as an expert witness in Superior Court and with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) in personal injury matters, income replacement benefits and financial dependency matters.

FAS Canada operations will build on our existing offices in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. In addition, Melissa’s appointment will assist our London market clients who have an increasing need for on-the-ground forensic advisory services following loss events in Canada. Our Forensic Advisory specialists across the world regularly partner with insurers, re-insurers and captives to assist in settling insurance claims. We provide forensic expertise to quantify business interruption and other financial impacts of complex losses. Our experts are also engaged by the legal profession to assist in a wide range of contentious matters and disputes.

Michael Alwyn, Vice President, Major Complex Loss said, “Melissa is well known and respected in the Canadian insurance marketplace. Having started her career as an adjuster, she is in tune with what is expected by the client and Melissa is focused on meeting the needs of our clients. Her years of experience as a financial analyst and her previous management roles make her a natural leader. We are excited and glad to have Melissa as our leader of FAS Canada. She will be working with our domestic and international FAS offices to ensure that we will have the right specialist, either locally or elsewhere in the world, on any assignment requiring financial expertise.”

“I am excited to have such a key role in the development of the Forensic Advisory Services team within Canada” said Joynt. “Working with our clients, to provide the expertise in the investigation, documentation gathering and/or quantification of the various types of economic losses in a manner that is understandable and reasonable, is paramount in our role as forensic accountants. I look forward to being that resource for knowledge and information, for past clients, and forging new relationships that exemplify FAS.”

About Cunningham Lindsey

Cunningham Lindsey is a leading independent claims adjusting service company, providing a wide range of claims adjusting and claims management services throughout Canada including commercial property and liability, personal lines, transportation fleet, accident benefits, third party administration and environmental assessment and remediation. Our global operating platform consists of over 7000 employees in more than 65 countries, including leading positions in most major economies across five continents. Forensic Advisory Services (FAS), a division of Cunningham Lindsey, is not a CPA firm and does not offer public accounting services. Further information can be sourced from www.cunninghamlindsey.com orwww.forensicadvisoryservices.com.

Rebuilding a community icon

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In July 2012, lightening struck Egypt Hall, causing a fire which devastated the community building at the heart of the small hamlet of Georgina on the southern shores of Lake Simcoe. The hall was owned by the town and served as a focal point and venue for gatherings and parties. Cunningham Lindsey’s executive general agent Rick Bahen was immediately called in to advise the insured on the loss.

  • The Challenge:

    A review of the original building plans revealed that the building – constructed by a team of volunteers in 1989 – failed to meet current building standards. The Hall Board and Community members wanted their new hall to have all the character and amenities of the original building but were aware that as a public space, it was critical the new structure met modern building codes.

  • The Solution:

    Contractors and tradesmen involved in the rebuild were all local to the area and understood the importance of retaining the integrity of the original hall in their rebuild. This included sourcing bricks that were identical to those used on the first structure. Eighteen months after the fire the new hall was complete, stronger and more resilient, but with the same character of the first Egypt Hall.

Water and mould threaten new construction

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A water leak in a building in its final phase of construction led to the discovery of mould growth in summer 2014. The discovery threatened to postpone completion of the high rise, which was 90% finished and due to be handed over to its new management company.

 

  • The Challenge

    One suggestion involved the removal of all floors and plasterboard on the floors that had been affected by the water intrusion. Such action would come at a considerable business interruption cost for the developer.

  • The Solution

    EFI Global were contacted by the adjuster running the claim to carry out a detailed inspection and clarify the extent of the problem. The team positively identified mould impacts in three of the units and six building hallways. Within two months of EFI Global’s initial inspection, the mould part of the project was completed. Positive results from the post remedial verification inspection and air sampling meant these areas could be handed back to the developer, allowing him to rebuild and deliver the building on time.

Cunningham Lindsey launches Major & Complex Loss Review

Cunningham Lindsey, the market-leading loss adjusting and claims management company, today launched its 2015 Major and Complex Loss Review, which gives a bird’s eye view of a number of case studies ranging from the recent explosions in Tianjin to the theft of rare religious relics.

Neil Gibson, UK Loss Adjusting Services Director, said: “Almost every day we are seeing increasing loss estimates from the explosions in Tianjin – a vivid reminder that many of the losses faced by the insurance industry are catastrophic and complex. Tianjin exemplified many of the trends we have seen in the cases contained in this year’s report. For example, there was a wide spread of claims from contamination to contingent business interruption, the need for local expertise to overcome the access issues and to gather information, and specialist support was required from across our network.”

“Adjusting a major loss demands technical excellence, but this alone is not enough. Firstly the need for in-depth specialist knowledge is reiterated time and again in our case studies. We have cases where the difference between success and failure has rested on having a specific knowledge of how to store cocoa beans, the judicial complexities of France and Belgium or the historic value of a religious relic. Clients are looking for this deep understanding of either an industry or specialist subject.”

“However, expertise is only effective if it is delivered promptly, to the exact point of need. No one knows when disaster might strike, so the ability to scale up and wherever our clients need us is vital. If the right expertise is not available in the region where the loss has occurred, we can put specialists on a plane and get them onsite within hours. When a week of storms turned the Australian state of New South Wales on its head, we had the flexibility and international resources to fly staff from New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and Canada to help with both property and business interruption losses.”

“As these case studies demonstrate, dealing with major and complex losses is the very opposite of a faceless, process-driven approach. The commercial angle to any major loss is a significant and delicate issue, with the policyholder and their insurer often having a differing understanding of the policy wordings or desired outcomes. As this year’s report illustrates, losses vary enormously, by country or by cause – but the key elements of the solution remain constant: the right person, in the right place at the right time.”

You can read the review here: Cunningham Lindsey MCL Review 2015 (003)

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For further press information, please contact
Caroline Wagstaff Tel: +44 (0)7767 794208

Rebuilding Christchurch


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Over 90% of claims from the Christchurch quakes have been settled, but that still leaves a significant number of losses unresolved.

It is over five years since the first serious earthquake occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand, and there have been nearly 14,000 aftershocks. The 6.3M quake on 22 February 2011 killed 185 people, destroyed much of the inner city and rendered several suburbs permanently uninhabitable. Cunningham Lindsey has been involved in approximately 30,000 claims and has surveyed in excess of 60,000 damaged properties.


  • The Challenge:

    Before the earthquakes the Cunningham Lindsey New Zealand company had 185 staff. We lost both Christchurch offices during the earthquakes, but thankfully none of our staff or their families were seriously injured.

  • The Solution:

    At the height of the earthquake response, our numbers swelled to over 550, and many of the additional adjusters came from Cunningham Lindsey in Australia, the UK, South Africa, Canada, Spain and the US. In normal times the New Zealand office has five chartered accountants. At one stage after the earthquakes we had 56 accountants on board to handle nearly 6,000 earthquake business interruption claims, dealing with customers under great stress, many with businesses and homes in ruins.

2015 Australian storms and floods


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A spate of hailstorms and cyclones caused widespread damage throughout New South Wales and Queensland during the early part of 2015, with claims reaching US$1.5bn

We worked closely with insurers and brokers to make sure policyholders received the best possible service.

We quickly mobilised local teams including technical loss adjusters, restorers, building consultants, engineers and forensic accountants to provide immediate assistance, with our 24/7 Customer Services Centre in Wollongong ensuring priority was given to the worst-affected customers.


  • The Challenge:

    After a succession of natural catastrophes, including hail storms, cyclones and floods, the damage ranged from minor water damage of homes through to total commercial building collapse and business interruption. In total, the industry received over 170,000 claims that it needed to assess and process as quickly as possible.

  • The Solution:

    Cunningham Lindsey stepped up its response, establishing Catastrophe Management Offices for each event, setting up Customer Care Teams in Melbourne, Parramatta, Adelaide and Brisbane and bringing in 20 experts from the UK, New Zealand and US, experienced in the complexities of severe storm losses, to support local teams.