In October of this year, the Duuo team was excited to welcome Adam Quinn-Taylor to the team as a National Claims Specialist. When the announcement was made, a few of us thought “Wait… Adam wasn’t already on the team?”
For the last few months, Adam has been adjusting and resourcing support for Duuo, all while regaling us with stories of his most recent claims adventures (trust me when I tell you it’s almost like listening to the insurance version of a true-crime podcast!).
As a way to officially welcome Adam to a team that is beyond thrilled to have him, we decided to ask him a few questions about himself and his role at Duuo!
What has kept you busy outside of work over the last few months? Any new hobbies?
Given that we didn’t get to travel this summer, I had more time to work on a large project and decided to make a pizza oven in the backyard. This was my first attempt at masonry but it turned out really well and now we’re eating pizza every weekend!
What got you interested in claims in the first place?
I kind of fell into claims as an unexpected career change. I previously owned and operated a small business in Ottawa. At that time, my wife was working in a claims role at Co-op and so I got some insight into the day-to-day aspects of the job and thought, “hey, maybe this is something I can try out”. Eventually, I made the decision to sell my business, I applied to Co-op, and the rest is history.
Over the course of your career, what is one interesting claim that still stands out to you?
Although I was no longer working in the Response Centre in 2016, when the Fort Mac fire happened, it was all hands on deck across the claims department so that we could help respond and address the immediate needs of all those insureds that were so seriously affected. This interdepartmental cooperation and mobilization was really something special to be a part of. That being said, I’ve encountered a lot of interesting claims in the last 9 years, but perhaps those are stories for another time!
What are the most common mistakes you see people make when filing a claim?
People often skip the step of reviewing their policy (or policy summary at the very least) prior to making a claim. As a result, they don’t always have a clear picture of what’s covered and what’s not, which can lead to a lot of back and forth with a claims adjuster, delaying the actual claims process.
Something else I always try to tell people is to take inventory. It’s so important to know how much stuff you actually own and take photos of your storage and living spaces to refer back to. Keep track of the receipts/order confirmations for your high value items so that we can understand when they were purchased and their model numbers. Without this, your claims adjuster will have to do a deep dive to determine the value of your damaged items, which will take more time.
Say my apartment floods and I need to submit a claim. Can you walk me through the steps I need to take?
First, make sure that you take the immediate steps to mitigate further damage. This could mean stopping the flow of water, cleaning up the water as much as possible and moving your belongings out of the affected area. Assuming there is damage to the building (your unit and/or neighbouring units), let your landlord know what’s happened.
Next, you’ll want to notify Duuo by adding (+) a claim under the ‘claims’ tab of your Duuo account. Our claims bot will collect the initial information, including any photos or other documentation you can provide, and ensure the appropriate adjuster gets in contact as soon as possible to discuss next steps.
If you weren’t Duuo’s National Claims Specialist, what would you be doing?
I have a small woodworking business, it would be nice to make that a full-time endeavor!
Why Duuo? What about our mission makes you excited?
The innovation. Duuo’s commitment to address the unmet and digital needs of Canadian insurance consumers means that we are constantly innovating and are so agile, compared to the industry at large.
