New key hires for Crawford Australia

With the insurance industry war for talent showing no signs of abating, Crawford Australia has recently come up trumps elevating and enhancing its offering across three key loss adjusting areas.

We have successfully recruited three experienced professionals, across construction, power & energy; large & complex property; and Crawford Forensic Accounting Services.

Stephen Toomer has become head of construction, power & energy, bringing with him over 34 years of adjusting experience.

With a Bachelor of Economics, Toomer has spent his career across four continents including South America, Asia, Europe and Australia. His experience includes nearly two decades working on power and engineering claims associated with hydro, coal, diesel and petrochemical. He's also dealt with major and complex claims involving ports and terminals, infrastructure projects including roads, bridges and tunnels, civil engineering, wind turbines, solar farms, warehouse fires, general liability and product recalls, as well as claims arising from political violence. His experience also extends to three years as the managing director of another large international adjusting business' Korean operation.

Toomer said it was Crawford's strong reputation in each region of the world he's worked which attracted him to the company.

"Crawford is known for being very people focused, recruiting the best talent and an unwavering commitment to ongoing development of that talent. As a leader of people, those things are really important to me, and it's critical to know the company thinks in a likeminded way,"

Toomer explained.

"Our construction and power team is a talented group and I'm keen to see us become even more connected because that's how we can share market trends and build to understand the needs of our clients in an even deeper way.

"I'm also committed to ensuring that within our team we distribute work based on best fit, which factors in the value of claim and its complexity. Claims shouldn't always be allocated based on geographical location of our adjusters. It's about the right fit for the claim because that is what gets the most efficient and cost-effective result for our clients. Our clients should be central to how we operate internally," Toomer commented.

Meantime, chartered accountant Josephine Princi has joined Crawford as NSW team leader for its forensic accounting division. Princi comes with almost a decade of experience and specialises in the quantification of business interruption and stock commercial losses throughout the Asia Pacific region and the UK. Prior to Crawford, Princi spent over five years with another major international loss adjusting house and found her passion for mentoring new talent.

"I have watched from the sidelines as Crawford's forensic accounting team has gone from strength to strength, with a pipeline of really bright talent moving through, so it's great to now be a part of that.

"I am strongly committed to building the capabilities of the team, producing quality work and providing exceptional service to our clients," she said.

After spending four years working for one of Crawford's key competitors, Werner Gibson has returned as senior adjuster within the Global Technical Services (GTS) team, which handles large and complex property losses.

Gibson has spent almost a decade in adjusting within both Australia and South Africa, but originally graduated university with a Bachelor of Laws, and spent the first six years of his career as a prosecutor.

"I can certainly say I've got a keen eye when things are not as they seem because I spent three years specialising in financial crimes, with a focus on the detection and prosecution of fraudulent claims instituted against government entities," Gibson noted.

He believes the biggest focus for large and complex property claims is efficiency in claims handling: "The property space is ever changing, via the introduction of new technology or a new type of business into the market. Those things are going to evolve, and we must adapt accordingly, but as adjusters one thing we must focus on every single day is the need to get from point A to point B in the most efficient way, and a solid team approach will always win that race."

Crawford also recently promoted Perth-based Alastair Boyes and Melbourne-based Theo Sapountzis to GTS general adjusters; and David Gibson to commercial adjuster based in Melbourne.

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