Scott Reichelt, president of Crawford & Company’s Asia operations, has highlighted the growing need for specialised expertise in managing large and complex insurance claims across the region.
Factors such as industrial expansion and disaster risks are driving the increasing size and intricacy of losses.
In a company blog post, Reichelt (pictured) noted that infrastructure projects and high-tech industries, particularly in regions vulnerable to natural disasters, are creating significant challenges.
He pointed to Taiwan’s semiconductor sector as an example of an area where high-value claims require adjusters with specialised knowledge of both industry operations and risk management.
“I’ve seen a marked increase in the scale and complexity of losses in the region, with two of the main drivers being the development of huge projects and the regional concentration of high tech industry,” he said, adding that the exposures lead to highly complex losses and require specialist loss adjusters with specific industry knowledge.
Reichelt said Crawford & Company is prioritising the development of its large and complex loss team in Asia to better address these challenges. The firm’s strategy includes strengthening technical capabilities, enhancing service standards, and building scalable resources for catastrophic events.
He explained that instead of training insurance professionals to understand fields such as renewable energy or high-tech, the company is recruiting industry specialists, such as engineers and designers, and teaching them the insurance side of the business. This approach allows adjusters to engage directly with clients on technical issues.
“So, when we scale up in response to a large loss event, the focus will be on deploying regional resources with the technical knowledge to provide the right guidance to employees on the ground, and to ensure as far as possible that our people visiting loss sites speak the local language,” Reichelt said.
Reichelt observed that the increasing complexity of claims has led to greater involvement from brokers and reinsurers in the claims process. Loss adjusters must work closely with these stakeholders to address risk scenarios and restoration planning effectively.
“Brokers who are prepared to act as risk partners to their clients can play an important role in scenario planning, walking clients through the maximum foreseeable loss and how it would play out,” he said.
He suggested that such partnerships can improve outcomes for policyholders and contribute to a claims process that meets client expectations more effectively.