Dear Member,
Although New Zealand and Australia are quiet at the moment in relation to new claims from Tropical Cyclones, we are still dealing with the aftermath of Cyclones Debbie & Cook, and winter storms. Parts of Asia have just been hit by back to back storms, with Typhoon Hato causing significant damage in Macau and into mainland China with Typhoon Pakhar hitting much of the same areas less than a week later, including Hong Kong. And, of course, in the United States, Hurricane Harvey has hit Texas. The rainfall accumulations in Houston, with a metropolitan population of 6,500,000 people, are staggering. Peak hourly rainfall of 200mm, 24 hour rainfall of 700mm, and total rainfall from the storm at up to 1,250mm. That is the equivalent of a year’s rain for Sydney or Auckland, or half a year’s rain for Singapore, in a matter of days.
The point that I think about is not climate change, but that whatever happens, whatever the cause of it, loss adjusters will be on the scene. Much of the work that is done is the same whether you do it in Auckland, Sydney, Macau or Texas – what is the damage and how much will it cost to fix it?
When I was in London in May I spoke to the President of CILA and one of his concerns was for the on-going need for Chartered Loss Adjusters, and where they come from with all of the pressures that we face. One of the ways that loss adjusting organisations in different countries deal with these pressures now is to fly loss adjusters around the world to assist. Although this always happened in the Caribbean, it seems to be a more common practice in many more places. In New Zealand we have recently had adjusters from South Africa and Canada helping out. With the increasing transfer of loss adjusters comes the question of qualifications from different areas. Is a loss adjuster who qualified in Ireland deserving of being a Chartered Loss Adjuster with AICLA? Is a CILA qualified adjuster as qualified as an AICLA qualified adjuster, and vice versa?
We recently had a conference call with CILA’s CEO and Deputy President and one of the topics was the portability of qualifications between our two institutes. How can we make it easier for the individual to move around the world? Both institutes agreed that thinking each is superior to the other will not benefit the global practice of adjusting, and that a serious objective analysis of our respective education systems would be useful to establish a meaningful and fair portability framework.
This is not a body of work that will be easy or quick, but it is a worthwhile project to work on in the background, and we will keep you updated if this develops.
I am pleased to announce that the 2017 Carey Bird Scholarship has been won by Ms Februzi Nasution from PT Cunningham Lindsey Indonesia. Congratulations to all applicants who applied for the scholarship. The submission required members to explain how Utmost Good Faith applies today in insurance and in claims in their particular jurisdiction. Ms Nasution has elected to attend the ACC18 in Bali to receive her certificate. We thank Marsh FACS for their continued co-sponsorship of the scholarship.
Finally, it is only a few weeks until the AICLA / ANZIIF Sydney Claims Convention. We have a high number of registrations, which is very pleasing for all of the work put in by the convention organising committee. There is still time for you to register if you have not done so, and also for you to encourage new or junior members of your staff to attend the Trainee Adjusters Workshop on the day before (20 September).
