Miller Fisher will be dropped from the loss adjuster panel of insurer Pearl, writes Amanda Swinburn.
Pearl's general insurance portfolio was taken over by Churchill in June. Churchill confirmed that it planned to absorb all of Pearl's loss adjusting business into its own panel, which was reviewed last year.
A Churchill spokeswoman said: “Miller Fisher is not on our panel and we have written to them to let them know that all Pearl's loss adjusting will be done by our own panel by the New Year.”
GAB Robins, Ellis May, Ashworth Mairs and Capita McLaren are Churchill's preferred loss adjusters.
Under a five-year deal, Churchill will underwrite Pearl's home, motor and commercial policies and pay commission to Pearl's parent company, Australian insurer AMP.
This is the latest in a series of blows for Miller Fisher. Last year it was dropped from AXA's loss adjusting panel and in June it was dumped by Norwich Union.
But Miller Fisher chief executive Bev Fitzgerald said the company had a number of new initiatives under way.
“We are always looking for new panel appointment, but we have also been looking at other areas of business.
“We recently launched a Lloyd's unit, which has been very successful, and we are concentrating on construction adjusting and have just renewed a contract for UN work,” he said.
He added Miller Fisher was also setting up a new third-party claims administration business.
“We will continue to give the Pearl business a first-class service,” Fitzgerald said.
Miller Fisher delayed its interim results by two weeks recently and then posted a pre-tax loss of £660,000, an improvement on last year's loss of £1.5m.
