So we might be a little biased about the success of our conference, which took place last month, but choosing to have this year's 10th annual ACE America's Claim Event in New Orleans was a decision not lightly made. Discussions around the Claims and The National Underwriter Company offices focused mainly on matters of the city. In what condition was it? Could the city handle a major conference? Would it be safe?
While it is clear that New Orleans is not 100 percent recovered in many areas — and won't be before the hurricanes begin swirling again in the Gulf — the condition of the downtown area, French Quarter, and Bourbon Street quashed all questions and provided an appropriate backdrop to a conference meant for adjusters and related professionals. These are the people who know firsthand the effects of a catastrophe and the intrinsic difficulties involved in the recovery because they are often first responders to devastated areas.
Notable keynote presentations came from Louisiana's Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and International Insurance Institute's president and CEO Carl Van. Landrieu spoke on the importance of communication before, during, and after an event such as a hurricane. He said that very few communities are prepared to handle such overwhelming circumstances, describing the immediate rescue effort to two hearing impaired, blind-folded persons trying to find each other in an area seven times the size of Manhattan.
Landrieu also was incredulous at the idea that New Orleans should not be rebuilt, stressing the financial importance of the city's location for the rest of the country. He said that the port is responsible for receiving about 25 percent of the nation's imported goods, energy supplies, and seafood.
Former claim adjuster and author Carl Van related his own personal experience with the claim-adjusting process following his own Katrina loss and said changes in adjuster attitudes are important in order to avoid having the industry painted as being unempathic and unhelpful. He put the cost of bad attitudes at $5 billion for carriers and reinforced the notion that claim adjusters should not concentrate on finding ways to deny claims, but rather focus on the actual coverage.
Van also identified five steps for adjusters to employ in order to better handle their claimants, especially when a claim is denied. He said adjusters should acknowledge that the claim is important, have empathy for the insured's situation, give insureds permission to feel the way that they do in order to reduce anxiety, stress their experience in the adjusting field, and make a promise to do whatever they can for insureds.
Next year's ACE conference already is being planned for June 25-27, 2007, in Las Vegas, Nev. The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is expected to host the conference.
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