ACE Ltd. continues to announce appointments to future leadership teams that will be established in the wake of the company’s $28 billion acquisition of rival insurer
Chubb.
The latest announcement came Tuesday as ACE shared two key appointments for its North America Insurance claims division: Jeffrey J. Miller and Douglas Poetzsch as executive vice presidents and senior claims officers.
Miller, currently worldwide third party claim manager and senior claim legal officer for Chubb, will oversee the new company’s casualty, workers’ compensation and accident and health claims division. From ACE, Poetzsch will head property and professional liability claims. He is currently executive vice president and head of North American claims for ACE.
According to the announcement, Miller and Poetzsch will be responsible for executing the company’s overall claims strategy for the claims division’s six major business units: National Accounts, Middle Market, Small Commercial, Personal Insurance, Wholesale/Excess and Surplus Lines, and Agriculture.
They will establish claims processes and protocols required to serve insureds as well as affiliated agents and brokers.
Both men will report to Frank Lattal, chief claims officer for ACE Group, and Dino E. Robusto, who will work as executive vices president of Chubb Group and co-president of the North American Insurance division.
Under their leadership, the North American claims organization will be organized by major product line with four divisions, called Technical Practice Towers: property, casualty, professional liability, workers compensation and accident and health. The executives leading each tower will be responsible for claims adjudication within their tower, including claims quality, execution of company’s claims strategy, establishing best practices and claim outcomes.
Each executive will also be responsible for managing and developing the technical tower claims staff in collaboration with senior claims officers and regional claim managers.
The claims organization will also be organized regionally, with Chubb’s David McKeon serving as senior vice president and leader of the regional claims management field organization. He will be responsible for aligning the claims organization with the business plans and objectives of the company’s regional executive officers and regional chief operating officers, as well as managing the company’s claims relationships with local agents, brokers and customers.
His appointment, as well as that of Chubb’s Miller is expected to be particularly welcome to agents and brokers, who have expressed concern over the potential loss of Chubb’s distinctive agent culture and reportedly attentive claims department.
