International brokerage Gallagher has appointed Dennis Dalati as head of claims for Australia and Asia.

Mr Dalati has spent the past 15 years based in Singapore, most recently as head of claims for Marsh Asia and before that with Aon.

He has returned to Australia for the expanded Gallagher role following the departure of former claims head Adam Squire, now at Lockton, earlier this year.

“It’s amazing to be back in Australia, reacquainting myself with the Australian market and industry,” Mr Dalati told Insurance News.

He says he is delighted to have joined “such an established team”, which has been further strengthened in recent months. Brigid Allen was recruited from HFW to become Gallagher’s national claims manager for professional and financial risks, and David McIntosh joined as managing principal, moving from C Lewis & Company.

“I’ve been very impressed with the team. Two weeks in, and we’ve already had the NIBA award for Jenavee Holz-Cubby. It validates all the things that I’ve heard about the team before joining. The talent and bench strength is here.”

Mr Dalati says the claims function will need to keep up with Gallagher’s “aggressive” growth trajectory.

“I’ve seen this before. I’ve seen it play out. I’m trying to align our claims proposition with that growth, to see how we can best serve the growth that we’re experiencing right now.”

Mr Dalati has followed recent claims trends and challenges in Australia, including the 2022 floods and subsequent parliamentary inquiry, and says natural catastrophes present a different test compared with Asia.

“When you have nat cats in Asia, it tends not to be volume-driven. Even though there’s newsworthy damage, that middle market is largely uninsured.

“But it is a pretty unique situation in Australia, and it’s a fairly mature market here in terms of penetration. We have flooding, we have fires. I mean, it’s just volume across the board. Everybody has some sort of insurance.

“So resourcing is always going to be a pinch point when it comes to those type of losses. And I’m sure that from time to time there are frustrations.”

Mr Dalati says he is focused on working closely with carrier partners to ensure the industry responds effectively when clients need help – and relationships are key.

“One of the successes I’ve had in Asia is developing those relationships at carrier partner level – and at a human level, not just the corporate level. Being able to leverage those relationships to ensure that our clients, our claims, are prioritised, and that we reduce those friction points.

“We are very keen to develop those relationships, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s a hard market or soft market, our clients are being dealt with in a professional manner to the standards that we all agree on.”