IICP’s International President, Dr Allan Manning, spoke consecutively at the AFMA Insurance Conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne yesterday Thursday 10th February.

In Dr Manning’s presentation, entitled “Claims Preparation – The Best Kept Secret in Insurance”, Allan sought to raise the awareness, understanding and importance of having experts assist clients following a claim. After discussing his career and motivations behind the establishment of LMI Group, he emphasised why a major claim is a real crisis or threat to clients. “For many SME businesses, the business is their sole source of income, all their investments, the mortgage over their home and their superannuation”.
 
Allan made the point that the present circumstances are quite unprecedented; “It is the first time in my career that the Insurance Council of Australia have 8 current CAT codes running at the same time”, he said, “not forgetting the claims coming out of New Zealand”.
 
When dealing with a client whose business has been affected by a catastrophic loss, Allan emphasised the importance of showing empathy, first and foremost. He pointed out that in most cases a crisis can provide both an opportunity and a threat; where a business strategically manages the crisis this minimises the threat and maximises the opportunities. With reference to several claim examples handled by members, Allan illustrated how decisions made too early and without the right advice can cause real problems with the claim, but how development of a business recovery plan and managing claims proactively can achieve extremely positive outcomes. It is in these areas that a specialist claims preparer can really assist, not only in quantifying the loss, but managing the process to mitigate the loss and keep recovery on track.