Q&A: Helena Evans, CILA

What initiatives from previous presidents are you looking to build on over the next year?

The strategy is set by the council every year, so the president champions the objectives that are set by the strategy of the council. For example, Shaun Kelly’s work involved making the charter more accessible, that’s currently in front of Her Majesty the Queen to approve the new changes.

The year before, when Graham Smart was the president, the council decided that we needed to reconsider our exam syllabi, so he championed that and made sure that it was fit for purpose and future proof. Each year we look to build on the changes we’ve made the year before and I will be championing qualifications and building careers for people. It’s a continuous objective of the Institute for the Professional and Technical Expertise. Council is reviewing the strategy all the time to make sure that we’re continuously improving. This year we are doing a thorough review of the whole strategy just to make sure everything is on track for the future.

What legacy do you want to leave behind?

If I can inspire people to become a loss adjuster that would be good. I’m proud to be a chartered loss adjuster. I started when I was 19 and I didn’t actually believe that I’ve been given the opportunity to be an adjuster. It was in 1991, I was a female in a very male-dominated profession and adjuster to me at that time was such an esteemed level and I never thought I would be one.

When I finally qualified I was really proud and I’d like to inspire others who think it’s an industry that they can’t get into that you can and inspire them to do their qualifications and believe in themselves. I have enjoyed being an insider in this profession and would like to encourage more members and young people to come and do their exams.

Was it difficult being a female in a very male-dominated profession when you first started, and how is the industry changing?

It wasn’t difficult as a woman when I started, I just don’t think women thought about it as a career to go into. But I have noticed over the years there are lots more women in the industry. Women in CILA was set up to help encourage women to do the qualifications rather than just encouraging women into the industry. It’s encouraging women to progress with their qualifications and over the years I have seen an increase in the number of females just on the back of our executive committee. Four out of seven of our executive officers are now female, which is a good progress.

What challenges has the pandemic brought for loss adjusters?

Many loss adjusting firms were already working from home anyway so that was quite a good thing when lockdown hit. We were all set up because we spend 50% of our time out and about anyway and then working from home. From that side, it probably didn’t affect too many loss adjusting companies. They are quite resilient and used to cracking on with business as usual because they are used to having to adapt to something thrown at them. Lots of companies had video technologies in place already as an additional method of dealing with policyholders. Lots of companies went to using virtual visits more at the beginning of lockdown because they already had the technology that meant they could just jump on-site using that technology.

What do you think loss adjusters learned from it?

The pandemic showed the benefit of virtual visits to clients. It showed that you still need loss adjusters and their technical expertise and knowledge to deal with claims whether that be virtual or in person. It highlighted that you still need the professionalism of an adjuster to deal with claims.

What challenges do loss adjusters face in the years to come?

It’s difficult because things like Covid-19 weren’t predicted but loss adjusters are used to adapting to change and disaster situations.

No one would have predicted Covid-19 – it’s such a surreal experience and unprecedented because nobody had experienced that before. It was new to everybody. That’s where it’s hard to predict challenges when something like that has been thrown at everybody. But one thing about Covid-19 is that it affected everybody not just one sector so everybody was in the same boat.

But as loss adjusters, we are very good at being a chameleon and adapting our soft skills to deal with any situation. There will be challenges but because of the way we’re used to working and adapting. Things like climate change that we can foresee we are working with different bodies on, but then you have things like Covid thrown in and then you have to just jump in and carry on with business as usual.