For quite some time now, Kennedys has been promoting a series of short talks and industry get together in Miami under the aegis of the Miami Insurance Professionals Association. The idea for The Forum came out of one of those presentations, a breakfast discussion on Hurricane Odile claims in Mexico organized by QLDG and Kennedys which sparked an innocent conversation between us about our respective experiences in the region. This led to a three hour discussion about the current status of our industry, the economy and the changing legal and economic environment. By the time we were done we were hungry again, and we had come to the conclusion that there was a need to organize the relevant actors in the market to discuss and share what we believe works and where, as an industry, we could improve.

We sought the advice from Nick Barber at AIG and Richard Shiel at travelers, our industry colleagues organizing the London Power Forum, as to what could make this event worth attending. We had the invaluable help of David Roig, Business Development Director for Latin America at Kennedys, who had previous experience organizing events of this kind.

After planning, executing, checking and rechecking the TO DO list, the 2015 Miami Latin American Claims (re) Insurance Forum has come and gone. Now in the days following its conclusion our team is tabulating the feedback forms and considering all the emails and contacts from participants with their views and expectations for next year. The feedback we have received is fantastic with participants asking when the next Forum will take place. Some even suggesting we hold 2 Forums per year.

Reflecting on The Forum, it is clear that whilst the Latin-American market is relatively young, it is a fast developing market that counts on its ranks with a lot of highly experienced professionals that have decades of experience not only in Latin America but on a worldwide basis. We are proud to see that industry leaders have voted with their feet and attended the Forum. The relevance of the topics and discussions entered into was so high that delegates and presenters continued sharing knowledge experiences even after the scheduled time had lapsed.

During four intensive days, key industry leaders met in Miami for the 2015 Miami Latin American Claims (re) Insurance Forum.

The Claims Forum detailed regional and country specific discussions addressing changing regulations, inflation and monetary exchange controls, recurring contractual and underwriting issues as well as case studies on losses affecting different industries.

The first day was about the recent developments and opportunities in Latin America, like the insurance contract act in Chile and Peru, significant conflictive aspects of international programs and the day concluded with a roundtable regarding how to manage risk manager’s expectations.

The second day focused on Mexico, an update about the insurance contract act update and its adjustment issues, the energy reform in Mexico and finally a roundtable about interesting and practical lessons learned from hurricane Odile.

The third day was about Brazil, the insurance contract act, how to handle multi-claimant liability claims and its D&O aspects, case studies about large property losses and a roundtable about energy losses onshore – o­ffshore.

Finally, during the last day panelist and attendants discussed about exchange controls and inflation issues in claims handling in Argentina as well as difficulties with payment of premium and claims abroad. Venezuela was also a very interesting topic, specially its currency exchange rate issues and its peculiarities of handling large losses.

The claims forum concluded with two roundtables: Perspectives from Latin America on global reinsurance market and Perspectives from the International Market. Reinsurers’ requirements from loss adjusters, and relationship with local cedants in the handling of claims as well as barriers to successful claim resolution.

The panels were staffed by seasoned industry professionals from Europe, the United Kingdom, the USA and most Latin American countries like Daniel Sanders, Global Complex Claim Team at Zurich General Insurance, Gustavo Sarabia, Regional Claims Executive at AIG, Lope García, CCPO Brazil and Latin America at Zurich General Insurance, Edmundo Hernández, Senior Claims Manager Director at Swiss Re, Gabriel Anguiano, Latin America International Market Development at Lloyd’s and head of Lloyd’s Mexico desk, Javier Guardia, Latin America Claims Manager at Liberty International Underwriters, Fulvio Martínez, Regional Claims Manager for Latin America and Caribbean at Scor, John Parvin, Global Head of Catastrophe Claims at Zurich General Insurance, Joseph Mannion, Group Claims Counsel, Senior Vice President at ACE, Jose Mogartoff­, Director of Global Energy Claims – The Americas at Zurich North America, Carlos Davis, Vice President – Claims at Transatlantic Re Latin American and Caribbean Division, Álvaro Trueba, Regional Executive Claims Adjuster, VP at ACE Group, Ricardo McQuattie, Senior Vice President Marine Claims AIG Property & Casualty, Miguel Criscuolo, Latin America Regional Underwriting Manager, Casualty at Starr Companies, Pablo Soto Espinoza, Claims Director at ACE Brazil, Nick Barber, Head of Property & Energy Claims – Europe at AIG Global Investment Group, Michael La-Band, Claims Manager – Property Group at Beazley Group, etc.

Many topics were discussed at length but the subjects that attracted the most interest were the need for better communications (before and after a loss), the need for consistency in underwriting, the expectations from the Latin-American markets of the reinsurance markets and vice versa and contractual issues such as average clauses, claims co-operation and control, declaration of values and first risk policies.

The different international insurance markets were represented by Zurich, AIG, Axis Re, ACE, Aspen Re, Assurant, Beazley, Assurant, Catlin Re, Istmo Re, Travelers, Liberty, Lloyd´s, Navigators, QBE, RSA, Starr, Swiss Re, Trans Re, as well as by international and local adjusting firms and experts.

(The full programme is available on https://insuranceprofessionalsmiami.com/2015/03/12/2015-miami-latin-american-claims-re-insurance-forum-june-23th-june-26th-2015)

The topics that arose more interest and debate were cases studies in which the following topics were addressed:

• Changes in regulations and recent developments
• Inflation, hyperinflation and money exchange controls
• Economic activity and outlook for the region
• Expectations from the Latin-American markets of the reinsurance markets and vice versa
• Recurring contractual issues such as average clauses, claims co-operation and control, declaration of values and first risk policies

As moderators of all the sessions, we at Kennedys and QLDG observed very active interaction and open discussion between competitors treating each other as colleagues, which is a good sign of the sense of community and maturity that of the relatively young Latin American claims industry. There was clearly an openness to learn from each other’s mistakes, an admission that as an industry we need to communicate better and more often, and a recurring request that individual underwriters attend next year. The shared impression was that as a market, there is room to improve consistency in underwriting.

Specifically on the communication point, the consensus was that in addition to the reports and emails that already get prepared and circulated, there needs to be actual communication—nothing beats meetings—and common understanding amongst insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and the insured on the following areas.

Before a loss:

• What is covered
• What the underwriter’s intentions were
• Policy’s response to a claim

When placing reinsurance protection:

• Claims cooperation and claims control clauses
• Control expectations – how will it work in practice

After a loss:

With the insured:

• What is covered
• Any problems or concerns with coverage or the loss
• Needs for documentation

With reinsurers:

• Timely sharing of:

o   Loss information

o   Reserves

o   Potential issues

When a loss happens:

• Timely assembly of team to help insured/insurers to determine:
  • mitigation options
  • determination of actual losses suffered
• Act as a partner with the insured
• Adjusting team, remember that this is your client’s client

Our teams at QLDG and Kennedys have been working on this market for three decades and have seen the market develop from a small market to one with an increased level of penetration.

The Forum has proven that there is critical mass at work dealing with Latin American claims, and a desire to work and improve as an industry. We are proud that the market has entrusted us with the mandate to act as a conduit for that to happen, and will try to address the industry´s requirements at The Claims Forum, each year.

Juan López-Santini, partner, QLDG and Alex Guillamont, director, Kennedys Miami.

Juan López Santini

Alex Guillamont

“Many thanks to you, to David and to all of your team for the initiative, hard work and tremendous organization that went into making last week’s event such a great success. It exceeded my expectations and I am already looking forward to next year’s”

Howard Laidlaw ACII FCILA FUEDI-ELAE  | McLarens Regional Director – Latin America

“My attendance at the 2015 Latin American Claims (re) Insurance forum was of great professional interest, as well as a fantastic opportunity to be in direct contact with the Latin American (re) insurance market in the international hub of Miami.”

Pablo González. AXIS Re Europe. Senior Claims Specialist.

“Thanks for making this such a great event and I can only imagine the amount of time this has taken up. I’ve gone through the organising of the Power forum for the last 9 years with Richard Foulger and others and that is only 1 day and I know how tough that is. Thanks for thinking of me and once again great job.”

Nick Barber. Head of Property and Energy Claims. AIG.

“The first Latin American Claims (re) Insurance Forum has proved to be a magnificent opportunity for networking and discussion of matters of substantial emerging interest, currently shaping the (re)insurance reality of  the region. The first forum has managed to attract key influential players of a region with more global appeal than ever. In the light of Miami’s progressing vast exposure upon the region, this event has become a must go since its birth for those occupied in the making of this fascinating realm of the Latin America (re)insurance markets. ”

David Matías  BA (Hons), MA, Cert CII, Dip CILA | McLarens Country Manager – México

“The panelists represented the “cream of the crop” in terms of experience in the LATAM region and the brought diverse experiences from the EU, UK, USA, and LATAM region. 

We found the discussion on claims handling to be most useful, especially given the open, frank, collegial, and often lively and entertaining discussions.  We especially appreciated the participatory nature of the forum wherein attendees were given many opportunities to provide insight and opinions. 

The forum gave us an enriched understanding of our clients’ business environment and was an excellent networking opportunity”. 

Pieter Booth, Principal Scientist at Exponent 

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