Background
Elise Farnham writes the
personal lines claims column for IRMI.com.
As president of Illumine Consulting, Ms. Farnham provides continuing
education programs, professional and personal development programs, and
business ethics programs. She has served as an expert witness involving
coverage and errors and omissions issues. Ms. Farnham began her career in the
insurance industry in 1973 with Crawford and Company. She became a multiline
adjuster and in 1978 was promoted as the first female claims branch manager for
the company. She has worked in Texas, New York, and Georgia in senior
management positions and has also held senior-level positions with The Harmonie
Group, CSB Group, and GAB Robins, NA.
Ms. Farnham is a member of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter
(CPCU) Society. She has served the society as Southeast regional governor,
executive committee member, president of the Atlanta Chapter of CPCU, and
served on numerous task forces, including the Ethics Certification Task Force,
the CPCU Claims IG Committee, chair of the Media Advertising Task Force and is
a member of the Coverage, Litigators, Educators, & Witness interest group
committee. She is a member of the education and professional development
faculty for the society with courses on ethics as well as technical insurance
and risk management topics. Ms. Farnham is a past member of the Board of
Ethical Inquiry for the American Institute for CPCU and has served as a member
of the Associate in Risk Management, Associate in Claims, and CPCU Advisory
Boards. She was recognized as the Instructor of the Year by the Atlanta
Chapter.
Ms. Farnham is the past president of the International Association of
Insurance Professionals (1998/1999), having served on the board of directors
for 5 years. She was regional vice president of Region 1 (Northeast). Prior to
that, she served two terms as president of NAIW-New York City. Currently, she
is a member of the Insurance Professionals of Atlanta. In 2004, she received
the American Association of Managing General Agents Achievement Award from the
Georgia State Council of National Association of Insurance Women for her
contributions to the association. In 2002, 2004, and 2009, she was named
Insurance Woman of Atlanta, and in 1993, she was chosen as National Claims
Professional of the Year.
Ms. Farnham serves the Risk and Insurance Management Society as a member of
their professional development faculty. She teaches the WC Management, Claims
Management, Fundamental of Insurance, and Executive Risk/E&O courses. Ms.
Farnham served on the Board of Directors for the Registered Professional
Adjusters Society from 1998 to 2018.
As an international speaker and author, Ms. Farnham's articles have been
published in Business Insurance, Claims Magazine, The Claims Advisor, CPCU
Claims Interest Group Quarterly, CPCU Society's Insights,
National Underwriter, Risk Management Quarterly, Today's Insurance
Professional, and Insurance International (published in the
United Kingdom). She published her first children's e-book, Monster in
the Barn, in 2012.