McLarens boosts major loss practice with two new senior hires

Global insurance services provider McLarens has expanded its major loss practice with the appointment of Simon Shaw and Martin Allan to two new senior management positions.

The appointments aim to strengthen the loss adjuster’s complex and major loss capability at a regional level.

Shaw, the firm’s new head of major loss for London and the South East, and Allan, head of major loss for Scotland, will report to executive director Neil Baldwin, who takes the executive lead on technical and compliance matters.

The new hires will also work alongside Gareth Bowers, head of major loss in the Midlands, Southwest and Wales, Darren Anderton, head of major loss in the North, and William Wilson, head of major loss in Ireland.

The practice heads take responsibility for coordinating commercial property and business interruption-related major and complex loss activity in their individual regions.

As a whole, the team leads their own portfolio of losses while also managing ring-fenced teams that focus on controlling quality assurance and supporting further strategic growth.

Driving performance forward

Baldwin said: “We’ve made a strategic decision to expand our major loss proposition over the past two years and we’re seeing continued growth and market demand as a direct result.

“Our adjusters are of the highest quality and our strong leadership team continue to drive our performance further forward, with the customer at the heart of all that we do.

“Simon and Martin are both excellent technical adjusters, with significant experience of managing and growing teams across the world and they will complement our existing major loss practice very well.”

Shaw is an experienced major loss specialist with over 30 years of industry experience, including responding to high profile terrorism incidents.

He began his loss adjusting career in the UK before moving abroad to hold several senior positions in Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines, working across a range of different sectors including power, manufacturing, hotel and leisure and commercial property.

Allan, on the other hand, is an internal hire - previously he was head of operations in the North at McLarens UK and Ireland.

He has over 35 years of experience working across commercial property claims of all classes, both domestic and international.

Allan has held senior management positions at McLarens since 2019. His expertise includes acting on multimillion-pound fire and flood losses, as well as handling catastrophe duties across the globe.

Steven Wallace, McLarens managing director of UK and Ireland, added: “This is about building strength at a senior management level.

“Complex, technical loss adjusting has always been central to what we do and by having such strong adjusting talent at the heart of our major loss operations, we are underlining the importance and value we place on our practitioner-led approach.”