Throughout Northern California |
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AssnNewsNet Profile:
Michael Hall is an admittedly passionate man who strives for moderation in his work and his life. The passion peeks through |
 Michael Hall |
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and his face lights up when he talks about his wife, Gina with whom he has spent almost 27 years. “I was very fortunate to find Gina. She is just a remarkable personality and I just can’t imagine life without her. She’s bright and high energy and she takes excellent care of me; our home and our life,” he says. “I have had such excellent teachers and mentors at the insurance carriers through my career. I was lucky enough to have had great training that provided a great foundation for the rest of my working life when I started at Zurich North America. That training comprised almost 3 months of comprehensive claims handling in the commercial liability field. Where the training left off, I had successful managers and supervisors from whom I could ‘borrow’ claims handling techniques to try out on my files. Some applications worked for them and didn’t work for me, but I learned as much from the misses as the hits,” he says. “ I don’t believe I possess a ‘natural ability’ to do this complex job well; I have had to pay close attention and practice daily discipline to raise the level of my own performance and impact the performance of those whom I am charged with supervising.”Also, while at Zurich, he obtained his Senior Claim Law Associate (SCLA) designation. Mike likens his theory of successful claims handling to his favorite golfer, Tiger Woods. “I have watched him play since he was very young and where he used to be wildly enthusiastic about a good shot, he is now very much in the ‘zone’ and more moderate in his approach to the highs and lows of his game. I feel that we can see his growth in controlling his circumstances by controlling his thoughts and emotions and I think it’s a good lesson for life and career,” he explains. “In every large claims office I’ve worked in, there were those who spent each working day in a series of noisy arguments with customers, and they viewed it as their ‘job’ to do that. “Carl Van said in a training class years ago that the correct claims adjuster job description was ‘customer service’ and those whose priority wasn’t to serve the customers weren’t doing the right job.” Mike views his role as simply to pay what is owed, as quickly as possible. A proponent of life-long learning, he found his method of solving problems successfully from a personal development speaker and can sum it up easily by; ‘What can I do? What can I read? Who can I ask?’ He found he enjoyed the process of adjusting Construction Defect claims while at Zurich despite warnings that he wouldn’t. These claims are complicated to prepare for and Michael enjoyed taking time it took to read the documents and to ready the file to discover the coverage issues that govern the claims. York Claims Services, another employer from whom he learned much, was a great company to work for, Mike remembers. He enjoyed working the high-severity loss files and the supervisory duties. Mike relished the excellent training at Travelers Insurance, his next employment that took him to Core Leadership Training in Hartford, CN and offered an opportunity as a guest auditor with the auditing team where he did guest audits in other parts of the country. He would have happily stayed there if the department hadn’t been split off into different states and he would have had to move to keep his position. He has been at The Mattei Companies for just under two years, as a Casualty Claims Supervisor of the Sacramento Service Center. Michael is used to the blank looks that follow the presentation of his business card and he provides an explanation of the company makeup. “The Mattei Companies provides Managing General Underwriting and Loss Control for specialty markets. The claims division handles the company’s loss control and TPA business. The Economical Insurance Group of Canada purchased the company 2 1⁄2 years ago.” Mike feels that the company is preparing to be ready for significant growth and poised to take advantage of the opportunities that will be waiting in the future. Mike and Gina live in a restored 1930’s bungalow in Roseville that they have renovated with more modern and comfortable conveniences like central heat and air conditioning. They have also upgraded components that aren’t readily apparent like plumbing and electrical service. Gina works from home and while Mike insists that they are not fussy people, he says that she takes wonderful care of the house and maintains it beautifully. Even though Gina swims, runs and is generally athletic, Mike has not been able to interest her in joining his golf group that enjoys courses all over Northern California. He has begun to see the results of a year and a half of golf lessons and relishes the opportunity to experience the wide variety of players with whom he is paired and the golf courses themselves- some of them the most beautiful in the country. Mike is the new Co-Chair of the Registration Committee for the 2009 CCNC Committee with Dawn Dawson and has been appointed one of the voting delegates to the CCNC by the Sacramento Claims Association. He is looking forward to being a more constant figure at the Claims Association lunches whenever his schedule allows and the speaker is someone who can add to his knowledge base.
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