I’ve seen a marked increase in the scale and complexity of losses in the region, with two of the main drivers being the development of huge projects and the regional concentration of high tech industry. For example, Taiwan has a substantial semiconductor industry in an area prone to typhoons and earthquakes. These exposures lead to highly complex losses and require specialist loss adjusters with specific industry knowledge.
We are working to grow Crawford’s large and complex loss team in Asia with a focus on strengthening technical expertise, raising customer service standards and developing our capacity to ensure we can scale up our services when natural catastrophes strike.
As we build, our focus will not be on training insurance people to become experts in areas like renewable energy or high-tech. Instead, we’ll be teaching the insurance side of the business to selected experts in relevant fields, such as engineers or designers. They can then speak with clients on a peer-to-peer level about technical issues, leading to better understanding of the loss and elevating our customer service.
So when we scale up in response to a large loss event, the focus will be on deploying regional resources with the technical knowledge to provide the right guidance to employees on the ground, and to ensure as far as possible that our people visiting loss sites speak the local language.
The increased size and complexity of major losses has led to reinsurers and brokers becoming more involved in the claims process, requiring adjusters to engage with larger claims panels.
It’s important for all parties involved in the claim to have a thorough understanding of the complexity not only of the risk, but also the loss scenario and how losses can flow from an event, how they can be mitigated and how reinstatement will take place.
Brokers who are prepared to act as risk partners to their clients can play an important role in scenario planning, walking clients through the maximum foreseeable loss and how it would play out. Some brokers are already doing a great job of this – but given our vast experience of managing losses, I’d encourage yet more brokers to reach out to us for assistance in this process.
Together, we can work to create a culture where we exceed client expectations on every claim.
