McLarens launches entertainment and contingency proposition

Global claims services provider McLarens has launched an entertainment and contingency proposition in the UK & Ireland following the recruitment of a team of senior specialists.

Four adjusters have joined the business to support a focus on the media and entertainment markets.

McLarens Entertainment and Contingency UK & Ireland will offer full commercial claims coverage, including property, liability, and business interruption, for businesses operating across the media and entertainment sectors, including film, TV and music production, live events, tours and festivals.

The team will be led by media and entertainment specialist Ian McDonald. Coming out of early retirement to spearhead the proposition, Ian has over 40 years of industry experience in media and contingency insurance losses, alongside a previous career as a music production technician.

He previously served as director and head of media and entertainment at a global loss adjusting firm. 

Joining McLarens alongside Ian are Frank D. Benke, Russell Norris and Tim Adams. All are established experts in their field and join from a global adjusting firm.

Frank D. Benke has joined as director & senior specialist loss adjuster, entertainment & contingency. He has almost 40 years’ experience in varied roles within the insurance industry including loss adjusting, claim handling and management across both insurance and reinsurance.

Russell Norris has joined as specialist adjuster, entertainment and contingency. Russell specialises in the full breadth of entertainment industry related liability and property claims. He has worked across the insurance sector, including as a claims broker at Lloyd’s.

Tim Adams has joined as associate director and specialist adjuster, entertainment and contingency. Having held roles within global insurers and international loss adjusting businesses, he regularly handles film & TV technical property losses as well as ‘time element’ production claims and contingency losses.

Ian McDonald, Head of Entertainment and Contingency, McLarens UK & Ireland: 

“The UK is now the world’s biggest producer of film and TV. We have more studio capacity than Hollywood and we’re seeing continued growth in the market. We’ve also seen the UK Government expand the tax credit system for film and TV in its last autumn statement. In short, there’s a huge amount of opportunity for growth.

“These can be hugely expensive and complex claims and we have the expertise and knowledge to deal with the full breadth of losses. Our team is respected by brokers and underwriters in this specialist market, and we see a significant opportunity to expand and help McLarens to become the leading provider of technical claims services in this area. We’ve long admired McLarens’ approach, so much so that it was a no-brainer for me to come out of early retirement and grasp this amazing opportunity.”

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Emma Cockings
Emma is a content editor for Claims Media. Emma is a experienced writer with a background in client-centric personal injury for a major firm. She has attended and reported on multiple brokerage events throughout her career.