Cila and the ABI have drafted a new claims code which will standardise the way in which loss adjusters deal with insurers.

The first draft of the code addresses a range of issues affecting loss adjusters including:

  • Training and compliance
  • Claims handling procedures
  • File management
  • Complaints
  • Business continuity for loss adjusters and
  • Surge plans (standard instructions to deal with large amounts of claims).
  • Norwich Union (NU) director of claims public affairs David Hooker, who chairs the Cila/ABI working party said: "The first draft looks sensible and pragmatic - we would expect to have a final draft in a month's time."

    The working party's steering committee will meet over the next two to three weeks to finalise details of the claims code.

    "We don't expect to make wholesale changes to the first draft," Hooker said.

    Cila deputy president Andy King said: "Most loss adjusters should meet a lot of the requirements set out in the claims code already. It's a case of making sure the measures are documented properly as the FSA wants to see evidence of these procedures."

    But Loss Recovery Group (LRG) managing director Malcolm Harvey said the new claims code offered no guidance for loss adjusters working for insureds, such as LRG.

    "Nobody is looking at the questions facing loss adjusters working directly for policyholders," he said.

    Hooker said loss adjusters working directly for policyholders fell outside the remit of the ABI/Cila working party.

    "Public loss assessors are outside the scope of the claims code being drafted by the ABI and Cila," he said.

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