Crawford & Company names Dr. Andries Willemse to Lead Global Technical Services

ATLANTA, Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Crawford & Company (NYSE: CRDA; CRDB), the world's largest independent provider of claims management solutions, has announced that effective January 1, 2013, Dr. Andries Willemse, senior vice president, Global Technical Services (GTS^®) will assume the leadership role of GTS.

Major and complex loss is a critical component in the growth plans for the Property & Casualty businesses within Crawford & Company, and this is reflected in the appointment of Willemse as the full- time leader for GTS.

In his new position Willemse will chair the GTS Executive Council which has responsibility for the delivery of the Global Technical Services strategic plan. He is based in Crawford's Atlanta headquarters.

"I'm very grateful to Mike Reeves for leading GTS's strong global growth and success for the past five years, and he will continue to support Andries as a member of the GTS Executive Council," commented Jeffrey T. Bowman, Crawford & Company's president and chief executive officer.  

Willemse has been with Crawford for almost 15 years, and as a registered financial accountant he worked within the commercial and development banking sectors as well as consulting and legal environments prior to joining the insurance industry. Willemse is a member of the GTS Executive Council, the Global Markets management team and serves on Crawford & Company's Global Senior Management team.

Willemse started with Crawford South Africa in 1998 as a senior adjuster dealing with property, business interruption and fidelity guarantee losses and was appointed as the country manager for South Africa in 2004. This responsibility extended to Sub-Sahara Africa and included Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion. In 2007 Willemse relocated to the U.K. to serve in a global compliance function and then moved to the U.S. in 2008 where he was initially involved with project management for Crawford's U.S. Property & Casualty business.

Willemse holds several accounting and financial qualifications and his graduate education includes master's and doctorate degrees in business administration.

About GTS
GTS is Crawford's definitive solution for large, complex claims, providing the highest level of world-class talent in the industry's largest network to strategically manage losses around the globe. With nearly 500 of the world's most experienced senior adjusters and industry specialists operating from 144 locations worldwide, GTS assists all major stakeholders with strategic loss management during significant claims.

About Crawford

Based in Atlanta, Ga., Crawford & Company (www.crawfordandcompany.com) is the world's largest independent provider of claims management solutions to the risk management and insurance industry as well as self-insured entities, with an expansive global network serving clients in more than 70 countries. The Crawford System of Claims Solutions^SM offers comprehensive, integrated claims services, business process outsourcing and consulting services for major product lines including property and casualty claims management, workers compensation claims and medical management, and legal settlement administration. The Company's shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbols CRDA and CRDB.

SOURCE Crawford & Company