Location: United States

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.

Cunningham Lindsey creates Miami Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean

Cunningham Lindsey has announced the creation of a new hub, based in Miami, from which it plans to expand the support it can offer clients across Central and South America and the Caribbean. Led by Peter Ravey, a Major and Complex Loss Adjuster and Miami Hub Director for Latin America and Caribbean at Cunningham Lindsey, the hub will offer loss adjusting, audit & review and training services to insurers and reinsurers across all classes of casualty, property and special risks business in the region.

Peter Ravey, said: “Miami has become a significant hub for insurance and reinsurance business in Latin America and the Caribbean as a result of its accessibility, and now provides a critical mass of insurance, reinsurance and broking firms, ranking alongside Bermuda, the Dubai or Singapore markets. It is no surprise therefore that a number of international re/insurers and local insurers have set up operations and strengthened their offering here in Miami in the past 12 months.

“Given its proximity to the growth markets of Central and South America, where premiums have increased significantly over the last decade, and are set to rise yet further, having a depth of resource based here in Miami means that we are better able to both support our clients’ growth and their product line diversification.

“Having worked alongside companies across the region since 1984, we are able to offer a rare combination of both a strong regional knowledge and the ability to deliver global expertise from elsewhere in the group. We will provide both a high quality claims management, as well as creating the platform to meet new needs with additional services such as forensic accounting, environmental support and third party administration.”

The Miami-hub will focus on property business (including business interruption, power generation, machinery breakdown, onshore energy and mining) as well as casualty business including general third party liability, hotel and resorts’ liability, products, product contamination and related product recall, pollution and employers’ liability.

About Cunningham Lindsey

Cunningham Lindsey is the global market leader in claims handling, domestic and commercial loss adjusting, catastrophe or major loss claims handling and claim management assistance. The firm’s operating platform includes 6,000 employees operating across 60 countries.

CEO Jane Tutoki awarded TBBJ Businesswoman of the Year – Financial Services

Cunningham Lindsey Group CEO, Jane Tutoki was awarded 2015 Tampa Bay Business Journal Businesswoman of the Year in the Financial Services category. The prestigious award was presented at a gala on Friday, August 28th. Jane was selected from six finalists in the Financial Services category and acknowledged for successfully leading Tampa Bay’s eighth largest privately held company and expanding Cunningham Lindsey globally. Read more about the event. 

David Repinski shares his views on the lessons we learned after Katrina

In the August issue of POST magazine, President and Chief Client Officer – Americas Region, David Repinski discusses what the insurance industry learned from the Hurricane Katrina disaster in August 2005. Ten years later it is still considered the most costly disaster in the history of insurance.

David shares his views on the impact Katrina had on the reputation of the claims industry, what businesses and consumers learned from the many issues that were raised, and the importance of education and preparedness for future events. Read the full ‘POST’ article by Katie Marriner.

Cunningham Lindsey Announces Three Senior Appointments in its Miami Office

 

Cunningham Lindsey has announced three senior appointments to further enhance its service in Latin America and the Caribbean. Laura de Sordi has been appointed Strategic Business Development Leader for the region; Kevin Innes becomes Senior Adjuster/Caribbean Operations Manager and Rafael Calzadilla, Lawyer/Senior Adjuster.  All three will be based in the new hub office in Miami, from where they will service clients in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Peter Ravey, a Major a Complex Loss Adjuster and Director of Cunningham Lindsey Miami Hub for Latin America & Caribbean said: “Miami is becoming increasingly important as a center in servicing the rapidly growing markets in Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean. With premium increases rising between 2007-2014 on average by 18% in Brazil, 14% in Chile, 15% in Colombia and 10% in Mexico , it is no surprise that more and more of our clients are focusing activity in the region and we recognize the need to be operating right alongside them.

“We are delighted that Laura, Kevin and Rafael have joined our new Miami hub office, and their depth of expertise, insight and breadth of knowledge will mean that we can support both our clients’ growth and their product line diversification. Our offer combines a strong regional and deep technical knowledge to provide a high quality claims management service. We are also laying the foundations for the provision of additional services such as forensic accounting, environmental support and third party administration as the market evolves.”

Laura de Sordi will be responsible for further enhancing relationships with existing clients, assisting with complex loss claims settlements, and for developing new business opportunities across the region and globally.  Laura is a qualified Italian Lawyer, and she previously spent 12 years at Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A, based in London, where her responsibilities included: Head of Legal Department for insurance affairs, Head of Group Underwriting Claims Unit and Head of Global Risk Specialty Lines Claims – which incorporated responsibility for aviation, marine, property, engineering and casualty claims in Latin America and Spain.

Kevin Innes previously worked at McLarens Global for 15 years, where he was Regional Manager, Caribbean (Global Shareholder) Global Management Team and Director of Regional Catastrophe Operations. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge on all areas of the claims process, and in particular, loss analysis, loss management, operations, adjusting, claims administration, finance, risk evaluation and marketing.

Rafael Calzadilla, has 16 years’ experience of reinsurance underwriting, broking and claims handling in Latin America and the Caribbean.  His experience spans the management and administration of facultative reinsurance for casualty and property portfolios, reinsurance broking and placing programmes to liability, property and marine claims handling and risk management services for clients based across the region.  He is also a bilingual attorney registered to practice law in Venezuela, and he can advise on proceedings and regional regulatory rules and on the scope and limits of coverage for liability and property policies, in addition to training clients on various aspects of third party liability.

 

About Cunningham Lindsey

Cunningham Lindsey is the global market leader in claims handling, domestic and commercial loss adjusting, catastrophe or major loss claims handling and claim management assistance. The firm’s operating platform includes over 5,000 employees operating across 60 countries.

Cunningham Lindsey Announces New U.S. Hires

Additions strengthen team across major service lines in the U.S.

Dallas, Texas – Cunningham Lindsey, a leading global loss adjusting and risk management services company, announced today the addition of several new team members to the organization.

Cunningham Lindsey announces the addition of Cullen Sophy as Senior Vice President and Head of Specialty Services. Cullen will lead Specialty Services division which comprises of Cunningham Lindsey’s Forensic Advisory Services (FAS) and Major and Complex Loss (MCL) Unit. Cullen will look to expand and strengthen the company’s US Major and Complex Loss Group and work with the international MCL Team to service clients globally on multi-national exposures and complex losses. Cullen has more than 23 years of experience in several areas across the insurance industry, including global risk management, claims and litigation management, and adjusting in self-insured entities and captive programs. Cullen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management and Organization Leadership from George Fox University and is a licensed adjuster in 25 states.

Cunningham Lindsey also announces two new members to its Major and Complex Loss (MCL) Group. Neil Schwartz joins as Executive General Adjuster and will be based in Pasadena, California. Neil has more than 28 years of adjusting experience and has worked losses ranging from catastrophes such as Hurricane Sandy and Wilma to significant property damage resulting from fire and earthquakes. Martin Vose joins as Executive General Adjuster and is based in Cunningham Lindsey’s newest office in Oregon. Martin brings 15 years of adjusting experience in areas such as property, marine and transit, construction defect, and product liability.

Cunningham Lindsey has also expanded its Forensic Advisory Services (FAS) division with the hire of John Harter, CPA. John has more than 16 years of accounting experience and will provide forensic accounting and business interruption analysis in relation to insurance claims. John is based in Georgia and holds a Masters of Accounting from Kennesaw State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

 

About Cunningham Lindsey

Cunningham Lindsey is the global market leader in claims handling, domestic and commercial loss adjusting, catastrophe or major loss claims handling and wider risk solutions. The firm’s operating platform includes over 5,000 employees operating across 60 countries. Further information can be sourced from www.cunninghamlindsey.com.