Location: United States

Common Pitfalls of Leakage Audits

According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, average indemnity is on the rise over the last several years.

The greatest causes of indemnity leakage are often not what one would think.  Audits without a root cause analysis of deficiencies are likely to cause a claims leader to look in the wrong direction for the keys to improving outcomes.

Pitfall #1-Typical best practice audits are not likely to improve outcomes and effectively control leakage.

Pitfall #2– Best practice audits can report high scores on claims with poor outcomes. The audit questions in an outcome based audit must generate a score that is reflective of the outcome and not just service level compliance.

Pitfall #3-Evolving external factors are not typically considered in best practice audits, so your current best practices and processes may be insufficient to control leakage in today’s environment.

Vale Consulting Services can assist you in analyzing and controlling leakage on property, casualty, worker’s compensation, and litigation management. Please contact us for further information at  [email protected].

Download the VCS Common Pitfalls of Leakage Audits brochure

John Johnson named Vice President Commercial Lines and High Net Worth Personal Lines U.S.

John Johnson has been appointed Vice President, Commercial Lines and High Net Worth Personal Lines U.S.  In this role, John will focus on continued growth of the middle market segment of the Commercial Lines, and strategic initiatives focused on specialized practice groups servicing the High Net Worth Personal Lines in the U.S. as well as diversified services including FAS Global, Oriel and Sergon.

During his 35 years in the industry, John has served in numerous senior loss adjusting roles handling complex claims across the U.S. and managing third-part administration (TPA) projects for clients in catastrophe events. Most recently, John served as AVP of Commercial Lines U.S. and National General Adjuster assisting in the growth of Commercial Lines and developing customized practice groups to service the High Net Worth Personal Lines business.

“John is an excellent leader and mentor of adjusters of all levels across the U.S. business. His technical expertise allows him to translate client needs into quality deliverables, and strengthens our ability to maximize overall service offerings to our clients,” said Jim Buckley, President and Chief Operating Officer, Cunningham Lindsey U.S.  “I have worked with John for over 20 years and I have tremendous respect for his work ethic and his infectious spirit of collaboration with laser focus on implementing and affecting resolve on varying initiatives. He is a key addition to our expanded leadership team.”

Cunningham Lindsey Group announces two executive appointments

Tampa, Florida (August 1, 2016) – Cunningham Lindsey, a leading global loss adjusting and risk management services company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Harry Patel to Global Chief Operating Officer (COO), and David Repinski to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Americas. These appointments are effective August 1, 2016.

As Global COO, Harry will oversee all global operations, professional services and strategy across the 60+ countries serviced by Cunningham Lindsey.

As CEO of Cunningham Lindsey Americas, David Repinski will focus on clients, long-term growth initiatives and the expansion of subsidiaries FAS Global, EFI Global, inTrust, Vale Training, Oriel, and Sergon specifically across the territories of US, Canada, and Latin America.

Jane Tutoki, Global Chief Executive Officer of Cunningham Lindsey said “These appointments are driven by our desire to grow the business by providing first rate service to our clients, who are increasingly looking for smart solutions in loss adjusting and other risk services. Harry has spent almost two decades at Cunningham Lindsey, creating services which have grown into global businesses. He will bring a client focused approach to the role of COO, helping us to deliver effective and cost efficient solutions.” Jane adds, “David’s long and distinguished career in the industry will continue to be of great benefit to us as we develop our offer to clients in the Americas. Both David and Harry know every segment of the business and with their keen ability to anticipate industry changes, they are exactly what we need to continue our momentum forward as the number one choice in loss adjusting, claims management and risk solutions.”

Prior to this appointment, Harry held other executive roles within the organization including CEO of Cunningham Lindsey Americas Region and CEO of Cunningham Lindsey Australia. Harry has more than 18 years in the industry with expertise in strategic selling, building organization capability and process reengineering.  Harry will continue to be based in Tampa, Florida.

David previously served as President and Chief Client Officer of Cunningham Lindsey Americas, and in several prior leadership roles before rejoining the organization in 2015. His career spans more than two decades across multiple aspects of the claims industry, including market diversification, strategic planning, and sales leadership. David will continue to be based in Dallas, Texas.

Doug Fraley appointed U.S. Director of Flood Services

Cunningham Lindsey is pleased to announce the addition of Doug Fraley as Director of Flood Services in the USA. Doug, a specialized expert, will be instrumental in the evolution of our flood services strategy.

Doug is a proven executive with over 30 years of experience in the insurance services industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Montana Western. Fraley has demonstrated strong leadership in his numerous executive roles including CEO, COO and Vice President of Marketing and Sales for large third-party administrators (TPAs) and underwriters. In his new role, Doug will expand the focus on flood services to ensure our service delivery meets the needs of TPAs and Write-Your-Own (WYO) carriers.

“Doug’s vast understanding of the needs and expectations of TPAs and WYOs is a tremendous asset to Cunningham Lindsey,” says David Repinski, President & Chief Client Officer, Cunningham Lindsey Americas. “The addition of Doug strengthens our leadership position and reinforces our ongoing commitment to flood services through proven experts who will optimize our performance in the flood claims market.”

Vale launches Vale Consulting Services

Vale Training, a Cunningham Lindsey Company and an independent division specializing in training for adjusters and appraisers in the insurance claims industry, announced today the launch of Vale Consulting Services to provide seasoned executives as claims consultants to advise insurers, brokers, and third party administrators (TPAs) in best practices and processes to address evolving claims challenges.

Vale Consulting Services (VCS) currently specializes in providing leakage analysis for property, casualty, worker’s compensation and litigation management. The analysis is performed by seasoned claims executives averaging 30 years’ experience in claims management. VCS consultants effectively identify the difference in actual payment on a claim versus what should have been paid if all best practices had been followed. VCS consultants go beyond a simple file audit to deliver a thorough analysis of processes and practices that identifies the root causes of the variance and leakage, and provides a strategic plan with constructive recommendations that will ensure fair indemnification, and minimize variance and leakage.

John Fleming, Vice President and Director of Vale Consulting Services, comments “Over the last several years, we have continued to see data indicating that carriers are experiencing a significant rise in indemnity payments for reasons that we have found ultimately lead back to a need for an evolving best practice philosophy across the claims process.” John adds, “Just as the claims industry is ever-changing, so are we, and providing consulting services isn’t new for us. We’ve just expanded, created a dedicated practice to provide consulting services with a team of seasoned professionals who can navigate these modern day challenges of an evolving claims world.”

Cunningham Lindsey expands global offering of financial forensic advisory services

FAS Global expands global footprint to maximize service delivery to clients with complex losses

In a move that reflects the growth in demand for global forensic analysis, Cunningham Lindsey has expanded FAS Global, an independent division providing financial forensics and investigation services for a diverse range of industries, across a global footprint of offices located in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Specializing in the quantification of business interruption and financial losses incident to insurance claims, FAS Global will work closely with Cunningham Lindsey’s Major and Complex Loss (MCL) team in order to offer a worldwide, seamless service that delivers better outcomes for insurers and policy holders, particularly in the areas of catastrophe and major loss quantification. FAS Global experts also work with the legal profession to assist in a wide range of contentious matters and disputes, and provide expert witness testimony.

Mark Thompson, head of FAS Global and located in the UK, said, “Business today is more inter-connected and global than ever before. The result is increasingly complex loss scenarios that may not have been envisaged when policy wordings were written or placed – often in parts of the world and circumstances that are very challenging. To unravel the story and to get under the skin of the financial aspects of a complex loss requires global reach, specialized forensic accounting skills and expertise in economic loss analysis and quantification.”

David Repinski, President and Chief Client Officer of Cunningham Lindsey Americas, adds, “We are very excited with the growth and development of this service offering. Our forensic analysts are available to assist clients with their growing claim complexities on losses that we’re adjusting as well as a stand-alone service basis.”

FAS Global’s clients include: insurers; lawyers; and public entities; and the range of services offered includes: analysis of financial aspects of insurance claims (business interruption and stock losses), expert witness work; business valuations; dispute resolution and fraud investigation.

New additions to Major & Complex Loss division strengthen team along Western U.S.

Dallas, Texas – Cunningham Lindsey, a leading global loss adjusting and claims management company, announced today the addition of several new team members to the Major and Complex Loss (MCL) division of the organization.

Jim Whipple joins the team as Vice President, Senior Executive General Adjuster and is based in Southern California. Jim brings more than 30 years of claims management experience, including extensive experience handling complex multi-million dollar losses. Jim also develops and teaches continuing education classes to individuals in the insurance industry on a variety of topics on loss adjusting and claims management.

Jerald (Jerry) Griffin joins as Executive General Adjuster based in Northern California. During his 30 years in the industry, Jerry has served in several senior loss adjusting and management roles and handled large losses in all aspects of the insurance business.

Also based in Southern California, Cory Robbins joins the MCL team as a Protégé General Adjuster. Cory has a Business degree from Bethany College and was previously a Senior Property Adjuster where he gained experience handling significant losses.

“We believe our continued success depends on the diverse skills and expertise that adjusters like Jim, Jerry and Cory bring to Cunningham Lindsey,” said David Repinski, President and Chief Client Officer of Cunningham Lindsey, Americas. “Together, these gentlemen bring unique backgrounds and perspectives that strengthen our growing MCL division and enhance our ability to serve our clients with expanded expertise along the West coast. We are proud to have them on board.”

75 adjusters ready to respond to Houston Floods!

Over the past few days storms in the Houston, TX area dumped an estimated 240 billion gallons of rain, causing extensive damage. This could be the most significant flood event since Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Cunningham Lindsey is ready to respond with our roster of over 75 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Authorized Adjusters. Contact Michael Bruce, Director of Flood Operations for more information on how we can help. Call 940-535-8741 or email [email protected]

CEO Jane Tutoki to Speak at the 2016 CLM Annual Conference

Jane Tutoki, Chief Executive Officer, Cunningham Lindsey will speak at the CLM Annual Conference, which will be held at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, April 6-8.  Her session is titled, “PREMIER PANEL 1 – From the Top: CEOs’ Industry Perspective,”  Thursday, April 7th at 8:30 am.

Jane is the CEO for Cunningham Lindsey.  Previous positions include Global Head of Claims Operations at AIG, Xchanging’s Global Head of Claims and Chief Claims Officer at Zurich Financial Services.

Prior to joining Zurich North America Commercial in August 2007, Jane worked in Switzerland as the global chief claims officer for Zurich Financial Services. Jane joined Zurich from the Farmers Insurance Exchanges where she served two years as Vice President of Auto Claims and in 2003 became Vice President of Specialty Claims. Prior to joining Farmers, Jane was the Vice President of Commercial Claims operations for The Hartford Insurance Company.

Jane began her affiliation with the insurance industry as a trial lawyer performing defense work for numerous insurance companies, then becoming in-house counsel for the Continental/CNA insurance company before joining The Hartford in 1993.

In September 2009, Jane was honored with the Insurance Networking News’ Women in Insurance Leadership award. She is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC), a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and is a past member of the Board of Director’s of Electricidad de Caracas (EDC), a Venezuelan electric company.

Jane holds a law degree (Juris Doctor) from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree in management from Seton Hill College. She is admitted to practice law before the Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania, New York and the U.S. Supreme Court.

About the CLM:

The Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) promotes and furthers the highest standards of claims and litigation management and brings together the thought leaders in both industries. CLM’s Members and Fellows include risk and litigation managers, insurance and claims professionals, corporate counsel, outside counsel and third party vendors. The CLM sponsors educational programs, provides resources and fosters communication among all in the industry. To learn more about the CLM, please visit www.theclm.org.

Contact:

Susan Wisbey-Smith, Chief Communications Manager
Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
[email protected]

Amy O’Rorke to Speak at the 2016 CLM Annual Conference

Amy O’Rorke, Executive General Adjuster, Cunningham Lindsey will speak at the CLM Annual Conference, which will be held at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek April 6-8.  Her session is titled, “Insurance Coverage – Complex Builder’s Risk Claims,”  on April 7th at 2:00 pm.

Amy O’Rorke is an Executive General Adjuster with the Major & Complex Loss team, a division of Cunningham Lindsey, with over 20 years of experience adjusting claims.  Amy specializes in commercial property claims and is well versed in handling losses for a multitude of industries and disciplines including Boiler & Machinery, Builder’s Risk, Power & Energy, Equipment/Plant, Business Interruption, Catastrophe, Extra Expense, Hospitality (Hotel) Losses, Industrial & Manufacturing, Mold & Asbestos, Subrogation, Residential and Commercial Property & Liability Losses and Condominium/Condominium Association.

In her insurance career, Amy has been primarily involved in national & international accounts while acting as a liaison between insured parties, insurance companies, corporate risk managers, insurance brokers and agents.  Licensed in various states, Amy has earned the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Claims (AIC), Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Senior Claim Law Associate (SCLA) designations.  She is also a Green Risk Professional (GRP).

Amy has a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Illinois University’s College of Business.  Before becoming an independent adjuster she worked as a multi-line staff adjuster for American Modern Insurance Group handling territories in the Midwest and on the west coast.  She has presented at PLRB/LIRB national and regional conferences, instructed for the Insurance Journal’s Academy of Insurance and co-authored the article entitled IAs and Conflicts of Interest which was published in the May 2011 issue of Claims Magazine.

About the CLM:

The Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) promotes and furthers the highest standards of claims and litigation management and brings together the thought leaders in both industries. CLM’s Members and Fellows include risk and litigation managers, insurance and claims professionals, corporate counsel, outside counsel and third party vendors. The CLM sponsors educational programs, provides resources and fosters communication among all in the industry. To learn more about the CLM, please visit www.theclm.org.

Contact:

Susan Wisbey-Smith, Chief Communications Manager
Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
[email protected]