The need to blend several disciplines — such as applying legal knowledge to marine insurance contracts, understanding shipping agreements and insight on physical distribution (land, sea, air and warehousing), to name a few — to become a seasoned marine claims adjuster is what Guerrero enjoyed the most about the industry. (Credit: Jose Guerrero)
As a young man in the Philippines, Jose Guerrero aimed to be a ship chartering broker, serving as the go-between for vessel owners and those who wanted to transport cargo by sea, as well as when boats come up for sale.
However, fate's deck did not shuffle out this hand for him. Guerrero looked at his education and experience and considered how to adapt them to forge his path to success. This background included around six years of ocean deck experience, degrees from the Philippine Maritime Institute and SUNY Maritime College, experience handling shore-side claims for ocean carriers and adjuster training supplemented with a certificate in international traffic management.
With his wealth of experience and passion for sailing, Guerrero entered an employment agency near New York City's Financial District and was referred to the Marine Office of America Corp. (MOAC). The maritime insurer brought him on, and after 18 years, he was named head of claims operations.
"When I was interviewed by (then MOAC) head of claims George Zacharkow, a well-known alumnus of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, with my resume in hand, he said in jest, 'Ah, so you are a sea scout,'" Guerrero recollected. "He gave me that opportunity to work with the company, which he billed as family-conscious."
In addition to MOAC, his career included serving as a senior vice president of Wm. H. McGee & Co., Inc. and vice president of Fireman's Fund McGee Marine Underwriters. He also found the time to write a book on the subject, "Marine Cargo Insurance: Adjusting, Claims Administration, History."
The need to blend several disciplines — such as applying legal knowledge to marine insurance contracts, understanding shipping agreements and insight on physical distribution (land, sea, air and warehousing) — to become a seasoned marine claims adjuster is what Guerrero enjoyed the most about the industry.
"In the end, the above blending gives me the ability to understand the customers and to meet the expectations fully from the mutual agreement," Guerrero explained, continuing: "And as several high-level executives said, marine insurance is the crown jewel (CNA executives made this statement during their Continental Insurance purchase, in which MOAC was a subsidiary). This statement made me feel that marine insurance itself is unique."
While semi-retired, Guerrero keeps his hand in the business as Virtual Claims Services president. The company is working to apply artificial intelligence (AI) to maritime claims with the endgame of a totally autonomous end-to-end process.
"This AI claims system increases the integrity of data since there is no manual keying. It reduces fraud, increases productivity, reduces costs and shortens the claims cycle, which improves customer's experience and the loss reserving cycle," he told PropertyCasualty360.com. "If claims settlement is adjudicated, the cash flow of the claimants will improve. It is expected that claims will be settled for these fast-tracked claims within 30 minutes."
What follows is more from PropertyCasualty360′s conversation with Guerrero.
PC360: Where did you see the biggest changes during your career?
Guerrero: I saw index loss cards being managed by a clerk to record losses, claims systems such as the Wheatley Insurance System (WINS) with black and white non-graphical screens and claim files being moved to different persons for review, authorization, manual check signing and a lot of paper reports being circulated.
In the mid-'90s, I led the transformation internally of our claims systems using Lotus Notes as our tool for workflow, email, review and authorization called CWS, short for Claim Work Station. Before CWS, claim files were handed to a claims clerk to enter data into the WINS. That handoff was eliminated, and the adjuster input data directly to the CWS (a GUI system using a screen scraper, called Flashpoint, as an interface with WINS). This transformation also eliminated the circulation of paper reports/forms.
PC360: Any regrets about things you did not do in the industry or things you wish you'd known sooner?
Guerrero: I miss the periodic claims managers' meeting at the Drug and Chemical Club of New York located on Broadway in downtown Manhattan. We would have our discussion in a conference room overlooking the New York Harbor. There was a lot of exchanging of ideas in the handling of claims. We would sometimes walk to Chinatown because one of the claims managers, Tony, was familiar with Chinatown. I never seemed to find or establish a similar forum in New York City. I regret that I did not keep this up.
PC360: What were some of your greatest challenges, and how did you overcome them?
Guerrero: At first, I was aware that when I was promoted to the eastern regional claims manager, I was the only non-white claims manager. When I was promoted to the head of the claims operations, I became the first non-white head of claims in the last 78 years of MOAC.
I think my focus on work made me less aware of race. I called myself a workaholic. Therefore, I do not have any advice on overcoming race difference issues perceived or not, other than doing the best at work. Working to your fullest extent will consume all your time and energy, and good work will be a leveraging factor on this issue. I am thankful, though, that I did not perceive racial discrimination.
PC360: What have you learned over your years in the industry?
Guerrero: Tons of things; too many to enumerate. If I pick one, it would be that this country is truly a land of opportunity.
PC360: Working in the industry can seem all-consuming at times. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Guerrero: Tai Chi Chuan, bicycling, Zen meditation in New York and Japan, working around our two homes, cooking. And going along with my wife, who likes traveling.
PC360: If you hadn't gone into the insurance industry, where do you think your career path would have taken you?
Guerrero: Filipinos comprise one of the largest (second only to China) groups of the 1.6 million seafarers on board more than 100,000 ships worldwide, about 500,000. I would have worked in some areas, such as ships' crew management or a ship chartering broker. I could also see myself as a meteorologist.
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