Cunningham Lindsey New Zealand awarded Professional Services Firm of the Year

Cunningham Lindsey was named the Professional Services Firm of the Year at the annual New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards. Winners were announced at the Insurance Awards gala dinner on Thursday, November 16, acknowledging the industry’s achievements and celebrating success. Cunningham Lindsey faced stiff competition from four other finalists in the category.

This accomplishment demonstrates the outstanding work achieved in 2016/2017 by Cunningham Lindsey New Zealand. A true testament to the strong commitment to service excellence, particularly in a year with a number of sizable insured events: The Kaikoura Earthquake, Edgecumbe flood and the Tasman Tempest.

Cunningham Lindsey was recognized for the innovative way they address industry issues, designing bespoke programs to meet clients’ needs following a natural disaster. “‘Helping New Zealanders every day’ is our mantra and the judging panel cited our robust quality review process as a means to achieve this goal,” said Chief Executive Officer, Darryl Cowan. “The forward-thinking mindset of the business was acknowledged, particularly in relation to cyber claims where Cunningham Lindsey is leading the industry response.”

MCL Global ramps up with three new experts

The New Zealand MCL Global team continues to expand, recently adding Chartered Loss Adjuster, Chris Hayes, Chartered Loss Adjuster/Surveyor, Alisdair McCulloch and Cyber & Liability Adjuster, Frankie Noble.

Chris Hayes, ACII ACILA (UK), joined Cunningham Lindsey in 2011 to work on Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquake claims before becoming a part of our MCL Global team in Auckland in 2017. Chris in commercial underwriting for eight years before migrating to loss adjusting in 1991. Over the years he has handled large and complex losses across the traditional classes of business that have included property, business interruption, contractors’ all risks, liability and professional indemnity claims.

Alisdair McCulloch, ACII ACILA (UK), began his career in insurance as a commercial underwriter before becoming a property adjuster in the UK in 1990. He was quickly promoted to branch and regional management roles; and spent almost 10 years as a marine surveyor and manager of a marine team in the North of England. Alisdair joined Cunningham Lindsey New Zealand in 2013, handling major commercial claims arising from the Canterbury earthquakes and other catastrophes.

Frankie Noble, LLB, joined the MCL Global Auckland team in early 2017 as part of our protégé programme, after completing a Bachelor of Laws. Frankie has just been admitted to the bar as a Barrister & Solicitor. Working closely with Head of MCL Global, Steve Kay, on cyber and liability claims and Stuart Main on liability claims, Frankie has developed a comprehensive understanding of cyber and liability claims and has responded to multiple cyber breaches and liability claims undertaking cause enquiries, incident response and subrogation.

Jillian Oughton and Rebecca Soffe join FAS Global

The New Zealand FAS Global team is pleased to announce two new Financial Adjusters – Jillian Oughton and Rebecca Soffe.

Jillian Oughton, C.A., BCom, GradDipComm, rejoined FAS Global in 2017 having previously worked for Cunningham Lindsey following the Canterbury earthquakes. Jillian is experienced in commercial accounting and in public practice accounting, specifically business advisory services. Within these roles, Jillian gained valuable exposure to a large variety of industries and brings this experience into her role within FAS Global. Jillian specialises in business interruption, loss of rents, complex business interruption and rural interruption claims.

Rebecca Soffe, BMS, joined FAS Global in 2017 as part of our protégé programme, after completing a Bachelor of Business Management, majoring in Accounting and Finance. Rebecca has gained valuable industry experience by working closely with the FAS Global team and Head of FAS Global NZ, Jake Carter. Rebecca handles financial lines claims including business interruption, loss of rent and complex stock losses.

Jake Carter appointed Head of FAS Global, New Zealand

Jake Carter has been appointed Head of FAS Global, New Zealand. Jake previously led a team of financial lines adjusters at our Brisbane office. He has now joined our Auckland Head Office and is excited to be leading a team of ten FAS Global adjusters across New Zealand.

Jake is a Chartered Accountant specialising in many aspects of commercial insurance including business interruption, loss of profits, commercial disputes, cyber, contingency, stock loss and fidelity. He has handled claims arising from a multitude of industries such as hospitality, manufacturing, health, food, agricultural and professional services.

Jake has experience responding to various catastrophes in Australia and the UK and provides specialist advice on all matters of insurance and litigation support services.

Cunningham Lindsey ready to respond to Cyclone Winston

A Category 5 Cyclone tore through Fiji over the weekend with the death toll rising to 18. Winds from Cyclone Winston reached 177mph, making it the strongest storm in the southern hemisphere since records started. We have experienced adjusters from our New Zealand offices who will be on the ground shortly to respond to any loss that you or your clients may have.

Should you require any further information on how we may be of assistance to you and your clients then please contact Darryl Cowan, Leon Briggs or Ben Price.

The FAS Focus – Edition 2

Welcome to the second edition of FAS Focus, providing insights and analysis into the world of forensic accounting and business valuation. In this edition, we cover business valuation and insurance related topics. We also introduce four experts who have recently joined FAS.

In the first article, Domenic Quartullo, a valuations partner from our Sydney office, highlights that a profitable small business may not necessarily be valuable if it is heavily reliant on its owners’ continued participation. He explores the distinction between business and personal factors in understanding the drivers of a business and their likely effect on value.

Kimberley Daley, head of FAS Australia, then reflects on how business interruption policies and Insurers responded to the insurance related aspects following the Lindt Cafe terrorist event, referred to in the Australian media as “the Sydney Siege”.

Finally, we introduce four new experts who have recently joined FAS, and who bring a broad range of skills and experience to the team.

Click here to download The FAS Focus – Edition 2

The FAS Focus – Edition 1

Welcome to the first edition of the FAS Focus. As FAS expands around the globe, we are merging our client updates and newsletters into one international update, the “FAS Focus”. The FAS Focus will provide an insight into the fascinating world of forensic accounting and feature analysis on topical issues and insights from case studies. Our experts will cover topics from across our practice areas which include insurance, dispute resolution, financial investigations, business valuation and corporate advisory.

Click here to download The FAS Focus – Edition 1

 

Rebuilding Christchurch


Overview
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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.

New Team of Engineering Technical Specialists Join Major & Complex Loss Australia

MCL welcomes 4 new Specialist Engineering Adjusters to Brisbane and Melbourne.

We are delighted to announce the addition of a brand new team of engineering technical specialists, further enhancing the strength of the MCL Engineering Team. Now based in 4 major locations across Australia, our engineering team provide specialist electrical electronic and mechanical engineering services throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

The engineering team is led by Alan Page, a qualified electrician, electrical engineer and loss adjuster with over 32 years experience in both mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines. Alan has extensive experience in steel manufacturing, mining and quarrying, heavy industry engineering and manufacturing, power generation and distribution, agriculture and forestry engineering, potable water and waste water treatment plants, and electrical engineering design and electrical installations inspections. Highly experienced in commanding large value claims, Alan is a well-regarded technical expert having acted as the specialist adjuster for engineering claims on a number of major loss adjusting teams handling claims up to $30m in value.

The team also includes:

Barry Nye – Senior Adjuster – Brisbane

John Derbyshire – Loss Adjuster – Brisbane

Fi Page – Claims Assistant – Brisbane

Glen Crawford – Senior Adjuster – Melbourne

For more information, please contact Alan at:

E. [email protected]

M. +61 411 878 140