Lisa Arseneau – Vice President - Lisa began her career in the transportation industry in 1986, joining Central Ontario Appraisers Inc. Her responsibilities included the day to day operation from scheduling appraisals to handling total loss negotiations. She was involved with many industry professionals including adjusters, claims examiners, insurers and insureds. Lisa had 5 years behind her when she made the transition to the Insurance Company side of the industry. Markel Insurance Company of Canada (Northbridge Insurance) is one of Canada’s largest transportation insurers. While there, Lisa developed an extensive network of industry related contacts that are still a very important part of her business life today. Her duties included underwriting, claims and information technology which allowed her to obtain knowledge of just about every aspect of the transportation industry. In 1997 Lisa decided it was time to attack the industry from yet another angle and became an insurance broker. Lisa was hired by a large Ontario brokerage and was put in charge of creating a new Transportation Department. During the next two years, she was able to connect more directly with the transportation companies and continued to develop and maintain her industry contacts. Since then she has worked as an insurance broker solely in the trucking and transportation segment. Currently in her nineteenth year as a Broker, with H L Staebler Insurance Brokers, she is as passionate today as she was the first day she started. Lisa belongs to several trucking industry associations and is active in all of them, staying current on industry trends, etc. She specializes in safety & compliance areas such as mock audits, company structuring and analysis and is very instrumental in bringing the industry to her clients.

Have you ever heard anyone say “If I had only known that one thing…”.  For example, you have an insurance claim, and instead of getting a replacement vehicle because you didn’t think of including it in your insurance application, you don’t have rental coverage.  “If I had only known, I could have had this coverage before I had the claim”.   There’s “that one thing”.  What about lending your trailer to another carrier without getting a written contract?  If that carrier gets hit and it’s not his fault, you could be  on the hook for the repairs if your  OPCF27B Liability for Damage to Non-Owned Automobile(s) in Your Care, Custody or Control doesn’t have the word ‘included’ in a certain section and you don’t have a written rental/lend agreement.  There’s “that one thing”.  I can’t tell you how many times I hear that phrase, and how bad I feel for whoever’s saying it.  Through their pain, it has made me a better broker. Through their loss, I have learned to cover all of the bases, all of the time, even if they don’t want their bases covered.  I’d much rather they have known what was available to them prior to an event, and be fully aware of how much risk they are assuming.

Lisa-Arseneau
Lisa-Arseneau

Another example is in abundance in my industry and is the most prevalent I have seen when dealing with owner operators being eligible to drive for a new company.  They have driven for companies that have had them covered under the company fleet insurance for say three years.  For one reason or another, the fleet owner has not identified them to their insurer.  I have heard they were told not to in case it had an adverse effect on the insurance policy, so they forgot (for three years?) or other ridiculous reasons.  This has now made it effectively impossible for the owner operator to obtain verifiable previous driving experience.  This can mean whether he gets another job or not.  More seriously, it can mean unable to obtain an insurance policy on his own!  This “one thing” really irks me.  If you are going to be covered under anyone else’s insurance policy, get a written acknowledgement that you have been added as an insured driver to that policy.  It will save you many hoops that you will be made to jump through later.  We are always working on making our industry more accessible to our end users (drivers, companies, O/O’s) and hopefully, soon, we can develop a trusted vehicle for this type of information.

In the mean time, try and think ahead…of “that one thing”!

About the Author

Lisa Arseneau is transportation insurance broker with over 25 years of experience in the trucking industry. She is the Vice President of T.R.I.P Division of the Pearson Dunn Insurance. She is a member of the Ontario Trucking Association, The Toronto and Hamilton Transportation Clubs and is and is passionate advocate for her clients.

Lisa can be reached by email at larseneau@pearsondunn.com

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Lisa Arseneau – Vice President - Lisa began her career in the transportation industry in 1986, joining Central Ontario Appraisers Inc. Her responsibilities included the day to day operation from scheduling appraisals to handling total loss negotiations. She was involved with many industry professionals including adjusters, claims examiners, insurers and insureds. Lisa had 5 years behind her when she made the transition to the Insurance Company side of the industry. Markel Insurance Company of Canada (Northbridge Insurance) is one of Canada’s largest transportation insurers. While there, Lisa developed an extensive network of industry related contacts that are still a very important part of her business life today. Her duties included underwriting, claims and information technology which allowed her to obtain knowledge of just about every aspect of the transportation industry. In 1997 Lisa decided it was time to attack the industry from yet another angle and became an insurance broker. Lisa was hired by a large Ontario brokerage and was put in charge of creating a new Transportation Department. During the next two years, she was able to connect more directly with the transportation companies and continued to develop and maintain her industry contacts. Since then she has worked as an insurance broker solely in the trucking and transportation segment. Currently in her nineteenth year as a Broker, with H L Staebler Insurance Brokers, she is as passionate today as she was the first day she started. Lisa belongs to several trucking industry associations and is active in all of them, staying current on industry trends, etc. She specializes in safety & compliance areas such as mock audits, company structuring and analysis and is very instrumental in bringing the industry to her clients.