Meet the Lifestyle Technical Team

9 Aug 2023

A small but mighty team of three works behind the scenes to ensure Aviva Lifestyle policies are clear and helpful – and that claims are processed as efficiently as possible.

They may not know it, but while your customers are enjoying their cottages, boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles and other recreational fun, there’s a small team here at Aviva dedicated to optimizing our Lifestyle policies and claims processes.

“We launched this team in January 2021 as part of the growth and development of Lifestyle. This team is highly specialized in the various Lifestyle products we offer,” said Shawn McKone, a Senior Manager with Specialty Claims at Aviva.

The Aviva Lifestyle technical team is comprised of three specialists, Kim Johnston (automobile), Tanya Leclair (property) and Mac Mooney (property). They provide support to the different products and regions for Lifestyle.

“Most of our team are Lifestyle veterans. I joined Aviva Lifestyle myself when it was created in 2019, Kim was part of a specialized team that managed collector car products and Tanya is a long-time field adjuster who had already transitioned to Lifestyle before our team was formed. Mac joined our team in October 2022 from Ovation who specialize in higher valued properties”

What exactly does the Lifestyle technical team do?

“We provide the technical expertise and oversight that allows for the management and improvement of the Lifestyle department as a whole,” said McKone.

That typically entails:

• Ensuring adherence to existing processes and quality control
• Helping resolve various technical claims, including managing complex investigations and litigation
• Collaborating with Underwriting/Product to improve our product offerings
• Implementing new processes to improve handling overall that lead to better customer experiences, e.g. speeding up the claims process

One recent example the team was working on was overland water coverage for travel trailers (RVs).

 “We were getting consistent feedback that a particular exclusion in our Water Protection Endorsement was difficult for our customers to understand. Our expertise allowed us to articulate why we had an opportunity to make it work better. We worked collaboratively with the underwriting team and discontinued what was a challenging process and as a result improved the claims experience for our customers,” said McKone.

“The benefit to brokers and customers is that they no longer have to worry about this specific exclusion, which was often not fully understood.”

What should brokers know about the Lifestyle technical team?

“We would hope that brokers are aware that we’re a specialized team here to provide consistency in how Lifestyle claims are handled coast to coast. Our job is to ensure there is very little variation between adjusters, managers, provinces, etc.,” said McKone.

“We’re also able to speed up claims. When there’s a claim with a technical issue, our team can step in and guide adjusters on how to proceed and resolve any problems quickly. We know how to interpret the policy and get to the next step.”

With Shawn in Alberta, Tanya in British Columbia and Kim and Mac in Ontario, the team also has a unique national perspective.

“One thing that’s important to our department is not seeing things through a static lens. We like to look at all processes from the perspective of always evolving. If there’s something that doesn’t work anymore, we want to move on that quickly.”

If you have any questions, please contact your Broker Operations Specialist or your Broker Relationship Manager.