For All Vehicle Claims
 

25 Years Young

To those sending congratulatory messages, and even a rather nice bottle of whisky (sorry – without the ‘e’ – I have a preference for Islay products) …


Thank you. The emails, phone calls and messages via LinkedIn following CMA’s (and thereby my) 25th anniversary are very much appreciated.

28 years ‘in insurance’ of which the past 25 have been with CMA.

Watching imposters and impersonators come and go, we have provided a steady, reliable source of claims handling to our clients, many I now consider friends. From the outset, I had a preference for vehicles. Aside of my early lack of technical knowledge in Property Claims (a pre-CMA client not being impressed with my ‘no TV Licence’ comments when an insured claimed burglary of a television), vehicles are associated with much more legislation, data, are in plain sight and high-value items.

As theft figures reduced in or about the year 2000, so did the number of Stolen Vehicle Squad officers … in some cases complete departments vanished. Whilst attempts to have the importance of vehicles to a criminal was emphasised with phrases such as ‘vehicle enabled crime’, there never appeared to be any joined-up thinking associated with the issue. I find this bizarre, disappointing; a valuable asset with a unique identifier, the subject of disparate systems and multiple interested parties working in isolation; police, finance and insurance.

Collisions outnumbering thefts, often not requiring a report to the authorities, provide a needle-in-a-haystack facility for the dishonest with multiple revenue streams.

Fraud was downgraded … sure, it is a crime but a priority or performance indicator? Unlikely. As recent statistics show, many appear willing to ‘give it a go’ because they can walk away at any time or, if rumbled, are unlikely to be pursued. Think again these days!

I doubt I will spend the next 25 years at CMA, a gradual relaxation of my duties has begun but handling and reviewing claims; how could I stop? Each is a fascinating story and the environment is one in which you never stop learning.

As for the future, who knows. Possibly the police will privatise the reporting of stolen vehicles (go the way of fraud) thereby facilitating a national approach to the problem, standardised questioning, reports and exchanges of information. We seem to have gone full circle with crime reports containing little more detail than appeared on a 1980’s crime-sheet ‘parked, unattended unable to assist re suspects’. Data exchange harks back to the ‘them and us’ days of the 70’s.

I doubt I will see the Government profit from selling criminal conviction data; pop in a pertinent date and be provided all the unspent convictions associated with a person … but is this not ‘prevention’ and a practice (seen with motoring convictions) that embraces my favoured approach – deterrent?

There are in excess of 11 million* people with convictions, which suggests ‘dishonest’ conduct at least once. Any effort to encourage truthful responses and thereby ensure an insurer can make an informed decision about risk & reward, could benefit all.

For now, I will content myself with telematics, dashcams, mobile phones, autonomous vehicles and … the mess Highways England are making of their new pricing process. Plenty to keep me occupied!

Happy Birthday to CMA!

*Source – ABI 07/2019