ADRIAN COUSINS: I don't think we're seeing any particular trends. I think it's post-COVID, coming out of COVID. I think we're starting to see the claims ramp up a bit, but we're not really seeing as many as we were pre-COVID. And don't forget, when the numbers you'll see, you'll see in both circumstances and claims. So it could be that just the number of circumstances are reducing because I'm sure that the carriers won't be saying that they're not paying out enough money at the moment for claims payments.
RAY PEMBERTON: OK, thank you. What would you say has been the most interesting claim that you've had so far in 2024?
ADRIAN COUSINS: I guess-- so I guess 2024 in terms of events, I thought the Baltimore bridge was quite interesting, which we got involved in through some clients. But I think the one that's made me think more is probably CrowdStrike.
RAY PEMBERTON: Yes.
ADRIAN COUSINS: It was a large loss. I think we in the market were quite lucky that it wasn't a malicious event. And I think it's just given us lots to think about and plan for the future to make sure that we're able to service the clients properly.
RAY PEMBERTON: Great, OK. Thank you. What would you say from a perspective on the claims side is best in class for a carrier's performance in terms of service levels?
ADRIAN COUSINS: What is best in class? So as I say to clients, all we're trying to do is just manage, manage their expectations. Yeah, so if we can't manage their expectations, then we're going to fail. And that doesn't really matter whether the claim is covered or whether it's not covered. We need to basically get to that position as quickly as possible.
So I guess in terms of carriers, if we're unable to manage the client expectations, then we're going to fail. And what we see the good carriers do is basically communicating with us, giving us real timetables as to when they're going to respond. Really, telling us they're going to get back to us soon isn't that helpful. Giving us a time frame is actually much better. And if it's going to slip, then that's absolutely fine. But the key thing with everything is right communication.
RAY PEMBERTON: Absolutely, yeah. OK, thank you, Adrian. What would you say is causing some kind of delay or any delays for your team from carriers where you'd like to see improvements?
ADRIAN COUSINS: I think-- I think over the years, what we've tended to see is that the lead markets are not as strong as they used to be. And so there seems to be a consensus of opinion when coverage councils submit their reports or even when the leading primary layer has actually agreed to a position.
And so what we're seeing is we're seeing more, more consensus as opposed to some really strong leaders in the market pushing the claims along, which is something that we're missing. And I think generally, in the insurance market, particularly in claims, we're seeing an erosion of talent. Everybody's getting older, myself included. And there aren't that many people coming up through the ranks to take over those strong leaders. So I would say that probably causes a delay.
I think the other aspect we have are coverage council. I don't know whether that's because the market are borrowing coverage council to become the new adjusters for their places because they can't find anybody else. But there is quite a delay in some of the coverage council that are appointed by the market.
RAY PEMBERTON: What would you say the future is at the moment with claim trends? Do you think there's any particular area that's going to be hit hard for any particular reason?
ADRIAN COUSINS: I don't know. I mean, we've-- so COVID was supposed to be the great leveler within financial lines, which never particularly turned up. ESG was supposed to be the next one. I mean, there are claims there. There are circumstances notified. But actually, in terms of costs, certainly in terms of FINEX, we're not seeing significant claims.
So it's a bit dangerous trying to project something where we've managed to fail so badly already. But I guess, you could probably expect regulatory issues to be something. And I guess you would expect climate change to start affecting some of our clients soon. But who knows.
RAY PEMBERTON: Absolutely, yeah. We watch that space with interest. Thank you, Adrian. Thanks for joining us today. And thank you for watching. And we look forward to seeing you on the next FINMAR Presents.
