Lorri Frederick, the newly appointed president of ClaimsPro, can’t help but chuckle when she recounts her entry into the insurance business.
“It was way back in the day when there wasn’t really any internet, so I applied for a position as a claims representative and I truly had to go to the library and look up really what that was,” she says. I had all my key terminology ready going into that interview.”
It’s a proactive approach that has served her well in the years since. Starting off at General Accident (now
Aviva), she spent nearly two decades in senior vice president and executive director positions before taking her previous spot as COO at ClaimsPro.
“It’s been a very exciting time, we had to keep it all under wraps,” she says of her recent promotion, which was announced the first week of July. “Now we can finally open it to the market and talk about it.”
Now that the cat’s out of the bag, Frederick will be focusing on ClaimsPro’s five-year strategic plan, as well as expanding the team in order to move into specialty and niche markets.
She says the independent adjusting side of the business is unique in that a service, rather than a tangible product is sold – but it’s an element of the job she loves.
“It’s all about people and that’s what I love about the job that I do,” she says. “I just give people respect and the opportunity to shine, and opportunities they want to grow into. That’s what’s exciting for me. It’s not an assembly line or factory creating something, it is people producing a professional product.”
This human approach likely came in handy for Frederick and team in the aftermath of the Fort McMurray forest fires. ClaimsPro, which has a location in the city, had a heavy presence in days and weeks following the fires, a daunting and often emotional task.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our team that managed in the city,” she says. “The number of people we had there and the coordination, not only between ClaimsPro but the other SCM companies, was great.
“Especially when you read the articles that came out yesterday quoting it’s the largest catastrophe we’ve ever experienced, I’m very proud of our team and I think they’ve done an excellent job.”
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