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HISTORY 1966 — 1995
In 1966, two of the most experienced property
adjusters in the Western Hemisphere
had a vision. Henry C. Hudson, a British expatriate
who had formed his own firm in
Bogota, Columbia, Latin America and Thomas McElveen,
operating out of Miami,
Florida, had crossed paths many times and had
become friendly competitors. Most of
Henry's business, while it originated out of
the London market, was in Latin America.
Tom mostly covered the Caribbean and Central
America, also predominantly for the
London market.
They were "Property" specialists,
and their vision was to enlist a world - wide
group of
their peers in the property field to join an
organization which, when it was born, they
entitled the "International Chartered Institute
of Loss Adjusters, Inc." They reached out
and found perspective members in Peru, Argentina
and Guatemala in Latin and
Central America, and U.S. adjusters from Oklahoma,
Ohio, South Carolina,
Washington, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, California,
Louisiana, North Carolina and
Tennessee. Europe contributed members in London
and Antwerp. There were 27
charter members in all.
CHRONOLOGICAL
HISTORY
The first “Annual Conference" was held
at the Hilton/Statler Hotel in New York City on
May 21 - 25, 1961. Tom McElveen officiated as
President, with Institute business being
conducted on the first day, and the balance of
the week devoted to education. Some
of the topics on the agenda were New Policy Changes,
New Court Decisions and a
presentation by representatives of salvage and
cleaning contracting firms. The main
topic was "Reduction of Losses by Modern
Methods". Company claim executives were
invited to open sessions and some very highly
respected property loss Managers and
Vice Presidents were present.
 The following year,1968, with Henry
Hudson as President, saw the production of the
first and second issues of the "Roster",
combining the updated member lists together
with some pleasant thoughts and distributed on
a regular basis to our many patrons
and friends in the property insurance business.
The first directory described the aims and purposes
for which the organization was
founded and were listed as follows:
(a) To promote individual cordial business
relations among the leading loss
adjusters devoting their profession to the
adjustment of property insurance
losses;
(b) To exchange ideas and information concerning
matters of interest,
(c) To develop and maintain a code of ethics
that will promote the general welfare
of the companies and underwriters represented,
(d) To co operate with the claim officials
in a manner that will enable meritorious
claims to be paid promptly,
(e) To assist to the fullest extent to defeat
the payment of fraudulent claims and to
assist in the exposure of dishonest, unscrupulous
and unethical practices by
either laymen or professional individuals,
(f) To agree that any matter discussed at
any meeting of the Institute, committee
meetings and correspondence pertaining to
the Institute shall be held
confidential unless otherwise agreed.
The Roster Chairman that year was the late
Hap Hardies, with the President listed as
Tom McElveen in the first issue and Henry Hudson.
Unfortunately, these members are
no longer with us, but certainly not forgotten
by those who were fortunate enough to
know them.
The meeting that year started in Miami, Florida
on May 16th and continued on to
London. Unfortunately, there were no early records
available relating to this
conference program. 1969 saw the election of
the late John T Sewell as President.
Again, no official records are available relating
to this year, but we do know that the
annual meeting was held again in London. It
also saw the creation of the initial
Institute logo which was used for several years.
We did find a letter from Tom McElveen to John
Sewell relating to the significance of
this insignia which is worthwhile quoting today.
"The center of the map of the world
signifies the scope of our coverage. The
scales of justice at the top has a universal
meaning of justice to all. The pen
and ink, our trademark of reporting all facts,
and the Latin word at the bottom
of integrity is a noble word for us to abide
by. The shield, of course, denotes
our defense against wrong and enables us to
forge forward to the right, and
within an organization united and protected
by a common shield, we shall let
nothing deter us in upholding justice with
integrity and with the pen and ink
report the truth as we uncover it, and all
of this on a world - wide basis".
The 1970 conference was a
memorable one for this writer, as it was our
first. It was
held at the Inn on the Park Hotel in London
during the first week of November.
Bill Coppock was elected President.
Those of us who knew Bill have fond memories
of his
dedication to the Institute and furtherance
of education, especially in the area of
combating arson. Unfortunately, this year's
records are also missing. We are unable
to more fully describe the events of the meeting,
except that we did find a list of guests
(170) who attended our cocktail reception at
the Wheelton Room on November 5th.
1971 brought a new slate of
officers with Steve Scibal
as President and the annual
meeting held in two phases. The first in Chicago
at the Pick Congress Hotel on
October 14th and the second in London at the
International Hotel on October 19th.
The Roster Chairman that year was the late Hap
Hardies, with the President listed as
Tom McElveen in the first issue and Henry Hudson.
Unfortunately, these members are
no longer with us, but certainly not forgotten
by those who were fortunate enough to
know them.
The meeting that year started in Miami, Florida
on May 16th and continued on to
London. Unfortunately, there were no early records
available relating to this
conference program. 1969 saw the election of
the late John T Sewell as President.
Again, no official records are available relating
to this year, but we do know that the
annual meeting was held again in London. It
also saw the creation of the initial
Institute logo which was used for several years.
Our current logo was produced and adapted this
year through the efforts of Bob
Miles. Bob was kind enough to donate the original
design to the Institute when he
retired in 1986.
1972 saw the election of Harvey
Jones from Hanover, Germany as President
during
the meeting held in the first week of October
at the Inn on the Park in London. The
Membership Chairman at that time reported we
had 39 full members as of 1970, and
71 members as of 1972. During this year, we
also learned that members Jock
Southerland and Peter Brocklehurst were unable
to continue their membership due to
a conflict of interest with the British Institute.
They both agreed, however, that they
would act as liaisons to the market for the
IILA.
Harvey Jones convened an executive meeting for
the morning of October 4th, at which
time all of the officers and committee members
at the conference were present, except
for Harvey. He never showed up and disappeared,
not to be heard from until Heinz
Mueschen from Santiago, who had been elected
President Elect, found him in
Germany after many months of searching. Heinz
was able to recover the Institute's
banner which Harvey had brought back with him
after the London meeting. It was at
that time that Heinz assumed the Presidency
and he served through 1974.
1973 produced three meetings.
A special meeting was held on March 2nd in Corpus
Christi, Texas with the main topic being the
disappearance of Harvey Jones and the
formal election of Heinz Mueschen
as President. The second was a mid - year meeting
held from April 23rd to 25th at the Hotel Alamedia
in Mexico City.
By this time, the membership had grown to 92
full members, and a permanent
location for the office of the IILA was established
at the Chicago headquarters of the
Nation al Association of Independent Adjusters.
Program speakers included members
from Central and Latin America and the topics
were claim adjustments in both areas,
subrogation and earthquake U&O insurance.
The third (annual) meeting was held at
the Montcalm Hotel in London commencing on November
7th, and while there are no
records of the program for that meeting, the
scheduled speakers were members Jerry
Pyszka and Victor Acra.
1974 brought us to Atlanta,
Georgia with George Edmund
presiding as President.
The meeting was held on October 20th - 24th
at the Hyatt Regency and the theme of
the conference was "A Salute to Canada",
with our Canadian members Kirk
MacDonald, Len Croth, Fred Maltman and Doug
Scrivener as featured speakers.
Other presenters were guests John Snyder, whose
topic was salvage and Patrick
Collins from the Insurance Crime Prevention
Bureau, who spoke to us about arson
and property crimes throughout the world.
1975 welcomed Mike Keenan,
Jim Laird, Don Johns, Steve Hastings and Jimmy
Edward s (amongst others) as new members. The
annual meeting was held on
November 9th - 13th at the Caracas Hilton in
Venezuela with being
elected President.
The featured speaker was our own Dan Leahy whose
topic was comparing conditions
of foreign policies with reference to Venezuelan
policies related to the process of
adjustments. Other topics were presented by
various Latin American dignitaries and
members.
The 1976 conference was held
at the Hyde Park Hotel in London on October
llth -
14th. The seminar this year was entitled "Adjusting
Insurance Losses Around the
World" with the panelists being from Malaysia,
U.S., Western Australia and Canada.
This seminar was held at the Plantation House.
Lloyds brokers and underwriters were
invited and a reception followed. Most notable
that year was the election of the late
and lovable James MacPherson
as President.
1977 saw the election of Bob
Miles as President at the annual meeting
which was held
on October 3rd - 6th, again, at the Hyde Park
Hotel in London. The usual cocktail
reception was held for Lloyds brokers and underwriters,
and the same type of seminar
as was held in 1976 was held at the Institute
of Marine Engineers Conference Center
in London. Speakers from various London brokerage
house s and syndicates were well
received.
The 1978 conference was held
in beautiful downtown Montreal at the Ritz Carlton
Hotel and commenced on October 2nd. Featured
speakers that year were Doug
Morris and several Canadian attorneys. The real
treat was a tour of the Province of
Quebec's forensic laboratories which was enjoyed
by all the members present.
Jim Laird was elected President
that year.
1979 brought us to the Stanford
Court Hotel in San Francisco on September 23rd
-
27th. This writer, Ed Reilly,
was elected President for the following year
at this meeting
and the program included presentations by the
late Phil Froude from the Jansen
Green syndicate at Lloyds, a demonstration of
the psychological stress evaluator, an
address by Jim Hearn, President of the Insurance
Crime Prevention Institute, who
spoke about the fight against arson, a talk
on the adjustment of off - shore oil rig losses
by Bruce Bateman from London and a dynamite
presentation by Dr. Neal Frank of the
United States National Weather Services in connection
with hurricanes and there affect
on lives and property in shore line areas. We
might have set a record for attendance
this year, as 92 members and wives were registered
for this convention.
1980 saw the election of John
Townson as President. The meeting commenced
on
September 28th at the Castle Harbour Hotel in
Bermuda and 101 members and
guests were registered.
Speakers at this conference included Gloria
Jiminez, Federal Insurance Administrator,
John Curtis from Prescott Underwriting &
Management, A.M. Bud Brown of Universal
Reinsurance, Dennis Darling, Lloyds underwriter
and Haddon Frazer.
In 1981 we elected Karl
Buschmann President, and the annual
meeting was held on
September 13th at Ceasar's Palace in Lake Tahoe,
Nevada. Featured speakers were
John Snyder who spoke on the salvors role in
commercial losses, Paul Golding who
spoke on the recovery of a 747 in Anchorage,
Alaska and a panel discussion on
catastrophe losses with Ed Hermanson from American
Insurance Association, Larry
Spangler from the National Flood Insurance Program
and John Wrend from the
Property Loss Research Bureau as participants.
Sadly, this year also saw the death of
past president John Sewell. 103 members, wives
and guests were in attendance at
this meeting, a new record.
1982 saw the election of Pat
Spilstead as President, and the meeting
this year was
held on September 8th - 12th at the fabulous
Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper National Park
in Alberta, Canada. The theme of this meeting
was "Today's Preparation for
Tomorrow's Needs", and stress management
workshops were conducted throughout
the meeting. We had 86 members, guests and wives
in attendance.
In 1983 we elected Walter
Kuhn from Guatemala as President at
the meeting, which
was held in Fiji at the Regent Hotel on October
3rd - 7th. This meeting was unique in
that it was held in conjunction with a "Pacific
Loss Adjusters" convention hosted by the
Institute of Loss Adjusters of New Zealand,
Inc. The participants were members of the
Canadian Independent Adjusters conference, Chartered
Institute of Loss Adjusters
(Australasia Division), Chilean Independent
Adjusters Association, Loss Adjusters
Institutes of Australia as well as Africa. The
theme was "The Adjuster's Response to
Large Scale Disasters". About 180 people
attended. Speakers' topics included the
reinsurers aspect/response to disasters, restoration
of contaminated buildings after a
fire, salvage after a disaster and recovery
efforts in an airplane crash. We have
included Dave O'Keefe's very informative newsletter
in the Memories section for further
details relating to this conference.
The 1984 convention was held
in Cartegena, Columbia during the first week
of
October, where the "Godfather", Guy
Panarello was elected President. The
Hilton
Hotel was the facility, and Heinz Mueschen and
Dan Leahy led the program. Topics
presented by local speakers included the role
of adjusters in terrorism, kidnapping and
rescue, losses due to computer misuse and fraud
and losses greater risks resulting
from stress. While 24 full members were present
for the business meeting, we have
no records of attendance by spouses or other
guests.
1985's conference was a double
- header. The first experience was in Munich,
Germany at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel from October
2nd to the 5th, and the second
was in London at the Kensington Close Hotel
from the 6th to the 9th. Chairman Don
Johns, assisted by Len and Wally Croth, organized
a program which was both
educational and entertaining.
A tour of Munich Re's headquarters was arranged
where the delegates were served
lunch followed by a presentation relating to
underwriting problems which affect large
losses in the reinsurance market. of course,
and quite coincidentally, Octoberfest was
in full swing during this visit.
The London part of the meeting was attended
by almost 125 members, wives and
guests and saw the coronation/election of as
President. A panel of distinguished
underwriters and brokers presented a seminar
on the London market, both
from the underwriting and claim sides. Another
panel dealt with crime in the world of fine
arts. Unfortunately, this year also saw the
passing of Tom McElveen
who died on October 27th.
1986 found us in Florida at
the Key Biscayne Hotel & Villas from October
12th - 17th.
Carl Rank was elected President
and the program presenters included a psychologist
as well as Dr. Neal Frank of the National Hurricane
Center. A crime seminar was also
conducted. 45 members attended and several revisions
were made to he constitution
and by - laws. Bob miles donated the original
design of the logo.
1987 produced the election
of Ron MacDonald as President
at our return to the Ritz
Carlton Hotel in Montreal during the week of
September 13th. Some of the program
topics included loss adjusting in the 21st century
and a presentation on electronic
crime presented by Inspector Ian H. Ross of
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Membership by this time was up to 145, with
102 from the USA and 43 from other
nations. 93 members, wives and guests attended
this meeting. It was also the year
that we lost Jim MacPherson who had died in
August.
The 1988 conference was held
in the glorious Hawaiian islands at the Kona
Surf
Resort on the Big Island. During.the week of
October 9th, we saw the election of
Edgard Lizarralde of Bogota, Columbia as President
and a dynamite program which
was highlighted by a presentation by Cigna Worldwide
Vice President, John Stel on
special problems with insurance claims abroad
as relates to independent adjusters
past, present and future as well as a bad faith
session led by local attorney, Clyde
Matsui. Also special was a talk and films on
volcanos including potential claims
dealing therewith. This year also saw the passing
of three of our outstanding
members, Jose Barcelo of Caracas on June 15th,
Joe Moss of Nashville on May 24th
and President Emeritus Bill Coppock who left
us at the age of 72 on December 6th. All
of them are sorely missed.
The 1989 conference was held
at the Melia Don Pepe Hotel in Marbella, Costa
Del
Sol, Spain during the week of October 8th. Don
Bird was elected President and the
program speakers were Doug Morris whose presentation
related to structured
settlements and C.H. McGee who addressed the
issue of insurance emergency service.
In keeping with a Spanish theme and out of consideration
for our Latin American
members, the 1990 meeting was
held at the Serra Mar Hotel in Puerto Rico during
the
week of October 17th. Steve Hastings
was elected President and served as the
principal speaker on the program for the presentation
on midwest tornados.
Our own Jerry Daly offered advice on marketing
techniques and Atlantic City attorney
M. Barker gave us a legal insight into large
property related losses.
Latin America beckoned in 1991
and the conference, arranged by Heinz Mueschen,
took place during the week of October 27th at
the Hotel Miramar in Vina Del Mar,
Chile. Steve Hastings volunteered
and was re - elected President, and a very interesting
program was presented with topics being the
Mexico City earthquake presented by
member Ricardo Roca, the San Francisco (Loma
Prieta) earthquake of 1989 which was
presented by Dan Leahy, damage by pollution
caused by crude oil leakage by tankers
at sea which was presented by guest speaker
Eugenio Cornejo, the Abutsford land slip
disaster in New Zealand presented by Don Bird,
catastrophic loss: evaluation methods
which was presented by member Rudolfo Schmidt
and, last but not least, another
dynamite presentation by Dan Leahy relating
to the Mount Pinatubo eruption in the
Philippines.
1992 brought us to far away
Singapore, the most modern city in the Orient,
at the
Marina Madarin Hotel during the week of October
26th. Convention Chairman Don
Bird arranged for fabulous pre and post convention
tour s of the Far East as well as a
dynamic program. Gil Malmgren's talk was entitled
"California, The Land of
Disasters".
Trevor Sinclair regaled the delegates with his
speech on loss adjusting in the Australian
bush. Steve Hastings discussed the great Chicago
tunnel breech and Klaus Gassner
described the changed situation in the insurance
market in Europe and its effect on
loss adjusting. The president of the CILA gave
a talk on his institute and Toronto
attorney, and good institute friend, Larry Gilbert
son talked about the property loss
adjuster's investigation, reporting and file
preparation for reference to legal counsel.
Doug Holmes was elected President.
Alfred Landivar from Santiago,
Chile was elected President at the 1993
annual
meeting which was held during the week of October
10th at the Steingenberger
Quellenhof Hotel & Spa located in Aachen,
Germany. This was another great
convention which was hosted by Chairman Klaus
Gassner. The program
presentations were recorded and simultaneously
interpreted in German, English and
Spanish. Local experts discussed fire damages
and fire prevention measures, product
liability in Germany, EDP programs for loss
adjusters and talks by this writer in
connection with the World Trade Center disaster
and Klaus' presentation on inland
marine risks on a world - wide basis. 89 members,
wives and - guests attended this
meeting and most of them enjoyed a pre - convention
tour on the Rhine River. This was
quite a memorable convention.
The year 1994 brought us to
the historical city of Halifax, Nova Scotia
during the week
of September 25th. Klaus Gassner
was elected President and convention Co -
Chairmen Lee Stewart and Doug Holmes arranged
for speakers, with topics relating to
claims arising from hybernia oil patch and related
oil rig losses, North Atlantic
aquiculture, reprise on the World Trade Center
bombing and, to top it off, a
marvelous presentation by Gil Malmgren and his
daughter Kearson on the string of
earthquakes, fires, floods and mudslides to
hit California in recent years.
The 1995 meeting was held in
California's famous Marin County at the Embassy
Suites Hotel in San Rafael. Chairpersons were
Gil and Sheila Malmgren who
arranged an outstanding program with the topics
including disaster preparedness and
relocation, coverage decisions - analysis and
action during disasters, adjusting in the
cutback (by the fabulous Junita Sinclair), insurers
update on disaster response and
claim control, earthquake engineering reality
meets insurance company expectations,
photo surveillance in claim investigations,
reinsurance perspective: where we are
headed, insurance fraud - detecting and defense
and, finally, good faith claims
handling: a day in the life of a bad faith trail.
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