Crawford boosts expertise in complex property claims management

Crawford boosts expertise in complex property claims management | Insurance Business Australia

Insurance News

Seasoned head takes new role after rejoining company last year

Insurance News

By
Roxanne Libatique

Crawford & Company (Crawford) has enhanced its capabilities in managing major and complex property claims with the appointment of Matt Donnelly as head of global technical services (GTS) for Australia.

Donnelly (pictured), who has three decades of experience in the insurance industry, rejoined Crawford in September to oversee the GTS teams in Victoria and Tasmania. Prior to his return, he spent seven years as a general manager at two construction firms serving the insurance industry. Donnelly’s previous tenure at Crawford spanned over 12 years, from 2004 to 2016, as a loss adjuster.

Commenting on the changes at Crawford since his return, Donnelly said: “We have some very sharp operators across not only global technical services, but also in areas like liability loss adjusting, as well as within our forensic accounting team. Crawford is fortunate to have a number of highly experienced industry veterans who are totally committed to mentoring more junior colleagues which supports the overall customer experience that we deliver.”

Crawford GTS Australia’s new head

Craig McLeod, who leads the specialty loss adjusting unit for Crawford Australia, noted Donnelly’s positive influence on company culture in Victoria. The unit handles claims in sectors such as construction, energy, and marine, as well as commercial and liability claims.

“Having Matt now lead our GTS teams nationally is a strategic decision to increase the consistency of service across national borders. We have highly competent and technical people who know their craft and appointing Matt in this role is about ensuring that the experience for a client feels the same whether that client is in Queensland or Perth,” he said.

Commenting on his new role, Donnelly emphasised the importance of personal interaction in managing large and complex claims.

“I’m a big advocate of human touch; what I mean by that is that there are always nuances when we are dealing with these large and complex claims and the policyholders rely on us to guide them through the process. They will have a better experience and our clients, whether it’s an insurer or a broker, are going to receive higher customer satisfaction scores if we have engaged with the policyholder with empathy and respect,” he said. “What we do is about more than just going through the motions of a claim and reporting back to the insurer; we are people interacting with people and the quality of those interactions are paramount. This is what my leadership of GTS in Australia stands for.”