International loss adjuster McLarens is returning to the Australian market.

“Our business globally – and particularly in the Asia-Pacific arena – is growing both organically and through acquisition,” Regional MD Asia-Pacific Ian Lavin told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

McLarens has advertised for loss adjusters to be based in Australia and will hire an Australian CEO in due course, he says.

“Our initial thrust will be offices in the mainland state capitals, and they will start to become operational from early to mid May.”

McLarens-owned companies already operate in Australia, but not in the general adjusting space, Mr Lavin says.

Part of McLarens’ global IT operation is here, as are the offices of Airclaims, which focuses on aviation insurance. McLarens also has a minority shareholding in Cerno – formerly McLarens Young International Freemans – following a merger in 2009.

“We do not intend to compete in the volume market and thus do not require very broad geographic presence,” Mr Lavin said.

“Cerno is one of our current network representatives and we will continue to use it where appropriate, most likely in areas where we won’t have cost-effective coverage.”

He says McLarens has been “highly satisfied” with Cerno’s performance on cases referred.