DnA Newsletter

DnA

NEWS

Issue Five

THE DnA GROUP NEWSLETTER

New group structure

Introducing the DnA Group Welcome to the DnA Group, a structure designed to bring all our businesses under one umbrella. It underpins the dynamic integration of our five companies and the natural progression to work opportunities for our qualified investigators.

DnA Group delivers high quality investigative services and training to the Insurance and Legal sectors. ALM Training Ltd provides investigation training and qualifications with its graduates feeding into the Investigators Network UK (INUK), a regulated database of UK-based ALM-trained incident, fraud and claims investigators.

Managing Director Dean Hyde explains: “People from all walks of life are now entering this industry by successfully completing our in-house training

programmes. Once qualified, they’re able to secure work as a member of the INUK database or through our busy in-house or partner agencies.”

Lawyer Support Services deals with instruction work and investigation on behalf of personal injury lawyers and claims management companies.

Insurance Support Services provides agents for fraud investigation and defendant work in the insurance sector.

In addition, a new strategic partner Accident Liability Management ManORR

Dean Hyde

Alan Monro

provides further work opportunities in the field of occupational road risk. (see p. 4) ■ INUK is committed to maintaining standards, ethics and promoting continual professional development among its members.The network is only accessible to work partners of the DnA Group and investigators trained by DnA Grouprecognised training partners.

New on the web

Web-based video testimonials Short web-based video testimonials could be the quickest way to find out whether an ALM Training course might be right for you.

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Written testimonials can be powerful but are not always easy to relate to. So, at www.alm training.co.uk, we have taken the unusual step of publishing short video testimonials from recent students. It is raw, unscripted feedback.

“It’s refreshing to see and hear real people of different ages and backgrounds speaking about their experience with us and reflecting on the course itself,” says Managing Director Dean Hyde. “We pride ourselves on delivering the highest standard of education and making the course pleasant and enjoyable. But we

would say that, wouldn’t we?

“Well, don't just take our word for it!

At the click of a mouse, you can now watch many students, past and present, have their say – warts and all. Nobody’s perfect and we find the feedback invaluable. If you tell us something’s not working, we have a chance to put it right.”

The video testimonials are regularly updated and cover the three ‘stages’ of involvement with the DnA Group, from students on the Foundation and Advanced courses to graduates who are now out there doing fee-paying work.

www.almtraining.co.uk

What’s Inside...

• New premises – We’re expanding; even better seminar rooms and full AV facilities • Focus on members of the DnA team – and a useful new resource!

• A new strategic alliance has been formed with Accident Liability Management/Manorr • Technology upgrade – How the Digi-Pen improves workflow

New Move, New Offices

Moving up a level with brand new premises ■

As the group builds from strength to strength, we are celebrating more than 10 years of trading and continuing growth with a move to smart new premises.

The newly-built Newark Beacon now offers students spacious, flexible seminar and training rooms with advanced AV facilities, comfortable break-out areas, an on-site restaurant and spacious car-park.

“From humble beginnings – just one room – we are continuing to invest in the business,” reflects CEO Alan Monro, “and we have big plans to keep moving forward.This spacious, state-of-the-art, six-room training facility and high■ Newark is centrally located, tech support infrastructure provides with easy access from most parts of the UK. Our new a high quality environment for headquarters are just two students, clients and our own team. minutes from the A1 and the fast East Coast Mainline rail link.

It directly influences the quality of London is little over an hour the training we can provide and the away, with Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh all within easy reach. students’ overall experience.”

The team

Members of our support team ■ Claire Blackman Administration Manager Highly organised and motivated, with many years experience within the NHS. Claire takes care of student enrolment and welfare and the smooth day to day running of ALM Training.

■ Rosie Chase Administration Support Providing exemplary support to the ALM Training Team, Rosie stays calm behind the scenes and looks after our students.

■ Stacey Wallington Agency Manager

New Incident Investigation Unit

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The DnA Group has recently taken delivery of a new Incident Investigation Unit.The investment underlines its drive to support students with the latest technology.

This highly-specified vehicle carries state-of-the-art reconstruction equipment and is used to carry students to on-site investigation scenes as part of their training.

New address

DnA Group Newark Beacon, Cafferata Way Newark, Nottinghamshire NG24 2TN Tel: 0845 880 1560 Fax: 0845 880 1563 E: admin@dnagroup.org

www.dnagroup.org

Managing our new Case Management System, she liaises with solicitors and insurance companies, while handling incoming cases and their allocation to agents.

■ Darren Knight Lecturer Highly experienced and qualified.

Formerly a Master Driver in the British Army, Fleet Manager – and now a qualified Accident Investigator.

■ Andrew Tresadern Lecturer A Certified Trainer,Andrew has delivered adult classroom training and consultancy nationwide since 1995, most recently in the ICT sector and Department for Work and Pensions.

Recent graduates

Congratulations to our recent graduates!

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Our congratulations go to the graduating students who received their qualification certificates from the DnA Group CEO Alan Monro over the past six months.

“Formal recognition is an important part of the graduation process for each individual,” he points out, “and the short ceremony enables the students to acknowledge and celebrate each other’s achievement.”

Graduates then take a valuable Marketing Masterclass designed to help them become known in the marketplace, making it easier to secure referrals and regular work. Most of our graduates are now working successfully and one has set up his own agency. Well done again to all of you!

Remaining compliant

Agents’ CPD under control ■

Maintaining Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is now a legal requirement for agents on Investigators Network UK (INUK), the national database of qualified Incident, Fraud and Claims Investigators operating in the UK. INUK is committed to maintaining standards, ethics and promoting CPD and the website is constantly updated with industry legislation changes and the latest case law.

To ensure that agents comply with their obligations, a control panel on the INUK database features a CPD element designed to ensure that all agents complete their

mandatory 16 points of CPD per annum, achievable in three ways:

DnA Group-recognised training partners and accredited with the necessary qualifications.

• Reading case law updates and newsletters • Attending industry-related seminars • Attending industry related training Agents who fail to maintain 16 CPD units each year are suspended from the database as ‘not available for work’. Importantly, their CPD history can be printed out as a pdf document to provide evidence to a work provider.This network is only accessible to work partners of the DnA Group, solicitors, claims management companies, insurance companies and investigators trained by

www.investigatorsnetwork.co.uk

Referral initiative

How to earn an extra £13,000 pa ■

A NEW DnA Group initiative can help investigators earn an extra £13,000+ per annum (eae*).

The DnA Group UK Ltd is now regulated by the Ministry of Justice under the Claims Management Companies regulations enabling it to pass qualified personal injury referrals on to Law firms.

Investigators who pass referrals to DnA Group are paid £250 for each accepted

referral. Additionally, should an instruction be required, the investigator receives a further £100. With most prolific investigators providing at least one referral per week, and some investigators providing 3 or 4 referrals per week, the £250 minimum fee makes a huge additional revenue stream available to newly qualified investigators.

These excellent fees are only offered to

investigators who have learned to qualify claims through the DnA training process.

However, even if you have no intention of attending our training programme, you can still earn £250** if you pass a personal injury referral our way.

■ Call 0845 880 1565 or email claims@dnagroup.org *Estimated Average Earnings. **On acceptance by a Law firm.

New cutting-edge Digi-pen technology is dramatically reducing the time it takes our investigators to turn around cases for insurers and personal injury lawyers from 14 days to 48 hours, in some cases, giving clients a massive advantage.

New technology reduces paperwork

Digi-pen slashes case turnaround time

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This revolutionary, low cost electronic pen looks and works just like an ordinary ballpoint.

Investigators can work quickly and intuitively to make handwritten site notes, record witness statements and make drawings on paper forms in a natural way before transmitting them from the field via a mobile phone.

In simple or urgent cases raw information

can be back in the office for processing within minutes.

“New Ministry of Justice reforms will give insurers a tight 15 day window to accept or deny liability for claims, so the speed of our investigations is crucial,” explains Claire Blackman. “Because we now guarantee a five-day turnaround, insurers have at least 10 days to make their decision.The legal profession is now beginning to see the

benefits and, once its processes are re-aligned and ratified, demand for the technology is bound to increase.

“Because the Digi-pen is robust and easy to use on-site it has been embraced more warmly than other field technologies we’ve tried to date, including PDAs, laptops or tablets, and we’d be happy to show clients how it works. Just get in touch with us.”

Business

New strategic alliance ■

Recent changes to the Health & Safety at Work and the Corporate Manslaughter Acts will have far-reaching consequences as they apply to Occupational Road Risk.

With 246 deaths a year in lorries and dangerous vehicles, the figure increases five-fold to 1,300 deaths that occur ‘while driving at work.’ Occupational Road Risk is a big issue.

It is why the DnA Group has joined forces with Accident Liability Management-ManORR (ALM-ManORR). It provides bespoke Health & Safety solutions for those in business who are responsible for work-associated driving

and related road safety so that their organisation complies with The Corporate Manslaughter Act as it now applies to Occupational Road Risk.

ALM-ManORR provides training, preparation of policies and procedures and a membership scheme which guides employees in what to do in the event of a road traffic incident.This element of the business generates high quality road incident referrals for our trained investigators.

ALM-ManORR has devised an Occupational Road Safety toolkit which includes a complete manual of Health and Safety policies relating to Occupational Road

Risk, Diary Management Systems and access to a 24/7, 365 days a year Incident Reporting Line.

It also provides an all-in-one consultant solution to put the required staff in place and, should an accident happen, the DnA Group can supply investigators.

www.alm-manorr.com

DnA Group Newark Beacon, Cafferata Way Newark, Nottinghamshire NG24 2TN

ALM Training ALM-ManORR

Tel: 0845 880 1560 Fax: 0845 880 1563 E: admin@dnagroup.org

Investigators Network UK

www.dnagroup.org

Insurance Support Services

Lawyers Support Services

DnA Group UK Ltd are regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities. CRM12446 www.claimsregulation.gov.uk

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