q&A
Saving the Day, One Claim at a Time
CAA Saskatchewan’s Terry macDonald on
insurance, school days and the power of persuasion
By Paul GallanT
Terry MacDonalD was
her
department’s first employee.
Hired 23 years ago to launch
CAA Saskatchewan Insurance, the vice president of
insurance built a diverse
program and an agile team
from the ground up. Though
she spends much of her
time now looking at the big
picture—CAA offers auto,
home, travel, accident, life
and health insurance—she’s
happiest when she can personally come to the rescue.
understand your policy. You
don’t want to find out about
exclusions or limitations after
your claim; you want to know
those details when securing
your insurance so you can
choose to accept the risk or
find a way to mitigate it.
Have you ever gone above
and beyond the call of duty?
How did you end up
in insurance?
Back then, nobody deliberately went into insurance
unless it was a family business. I stumbled into it, but
fell in love with the industry
because it’s people-focused.
When CAA Insurance
launched, what were
your goals?
We didn’t want to be your
run-of-the-mill brokerage.
We wanted to offer something with real value for our
Members—exclusive programs, extra benefits and
member-only discounts.
You completed your executive MBA a few years ago.
Insurance
IQ
CHriS GrAHAm
make sure you’re
protected at home,
on the road or on
vacation
Why did you go back
to school?
I’ve earned all the designations I thought would benefit me in this industry, but
the MBA was always on my
bucket list. It’s probably
one of the best things I’ve
ever done—it gave me confidence, clarity and a better
understanding of business.
What has been your toughest day at work?
We’ve had some extreme
Travel: Always buy
travel insurance before
you leave to ensure
coverage for medical,
plus trip cancellation
and interruption.
member savings event:
weather resulting in large
claims, like the big hail storm
in 1995 and the rainstorms in
2013 that resulted in flooded
basements for many of our
insureds. When events like
that happen, it’s all hands on
deck so Members and clients
get as much attention as we
can possibly give.
What’s your best piece
of advice?
Talk to your CAA Insurance
Broker, ask questions and
Get double savings
from 5 to 10%.
Auto: Worried that
your first accident
will make your rate
skyrocket? fear
not: introducing
CAA One-Claim
forgiveness.
Home: members
always save 10% on
home policies and
A Member who was recently
out of the country made a
significant travel insurance
claim, which was initially
denied. But before denying
a claim, my suppliers
typically review the file with
me first. It would’ve been
$200,000 out of pocket for
the Member. I didn’t think
that was right—it wasn’t the
intent of the policy. After a
bit of a convincing on my
part, they approved the
claim and looked after
the customer.
The Member must have
been delighted.
In truth he was never
aware the claim was initially denied—because I had
the chance to intervene. It
doesn’t always work that
way, but sometimes I can
manage that stress so the
Member doesn’t have to.
receive 24/7 claims
service. Plus, save
even more by bundling
your CAA Auto and
Home insurance.
caask.ca/insurance
CAA SASKATCHEWAN
fAll 2016
11