Criterion Management Team

The Criterion Management Team

The Management Team are all based in our Head Office in Guildford. For more information and contact details for any of our Management Team.

Helena Evans – Managing Director

Email: helena@criterionadjusters.com

Call: 07788 380532

Position: Managing Director

Qualifications: ACILA, FIFAA, FUEDI-ELAE

Having returned to Loss Adjusting in 2010, Helena spent several years handling property claims arising from the full range of causes throughout south east England. She gradually began handling more and more complex claims including major losses, VIP private client cases and large real estate claims, including three losses for one policyholder at one building totalling £10m.

Helena also took on increasingly senior roles. She became Head of Private Clients at the Davies Group in 2017 and prior to joining Criterion Helena was Director – Head of Major Loss and Private clients, with a responsibility for a UK team of 20 Loss Adjusters.

Helena is an Associate of The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters ( CILA ) and in 2018 became the chair of The CILA High Net Worth Special Interest Group.

Throughout her career, Helena has built a reputation for handling even the most challenging cases with supreme technical expertise, empathy, and authenticity. As a mentor and active member of the Women in CILA committee, Helena has also been a champion of education, diversity, and inclusion in the industry.

Most recently Helena was elected President of The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters for 2021/2022 and throughout her term in office continued to promote the importance of the human side of the role of an adjuster which is key to excellent customer service.

Alistair Spence – Regional Manager North

Email: alistair@criterionadjusters.com

Call: 07885 315180

Position: Regional Manager North

Alistair entered loss adjusting in 1990, when he joined the Glasgow office of a national practice. He primarily covered the West Coast of Scotland, dealing with a mixed portfolio of commercial and domestic claims. In 1998 Alistair joined another firm and became the Adjuster Manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland and was responsible for the operational delivery of the 12 adjusters in his team. In 2006, Alistair was seconded to the Property Owners Unit in London and after becoming Head of the unit he eventually became the Real Estate Development Director, successfully expanding relationships with key stakeholders and continuing to handle a challenging caseload. In 2013 Alistair joined the Financial Ombudsman Service where he became an accredited adjudicator. Alistair then moved to Australia where he took up the post of a Senior Loss Adjuster dealing primarily with High Net Worth, commercial and domestic claims, before becoming the Branch Manager of the Gold Coast Office In Queensland. During his time in Australia, Alistair has managed several catastrophic events including cyclone claims. Alistair joined Criterion in 2018 after returning to the UK and is based in Scotland.

Mark Watts – Regional Manager South

Email: david@criterionadjusters.com

Call: 07715 408595

Regional Manager South

Qualifications: LLB

Mark studied Leisure and Sports Management at Sheffield Hallam University, despite which he decided on a career in insurance ! He joined Norwich Union (now Aviva) in 1996 as a trainee Personal Injury claims handler. Mark developed a particular interest in fraudulent claims and in 1998 he moved into Norwich Union’s specialist Fraud Team. He spent six years there, dealing with the investigation of all classes of fraudulent claims, including the presentation of evidence to court and police authorities. Mark ultimately became responsible for reporting on and analysing the teams fraud results and also for writing and delivering fraud training. Mark joined the Davies Group in July 2004 as a trainee general Loss Adjuster handling a wide range of personal lines and commercial claims. His experience grew steadily over the next 11 years, during the course of which he was heavily involved in several surge responses such as the national flooding in 2009. In 2015 Mark was promoted into the Private Clients and Major and Complex Loss Team where he handled High Net Worth losses, claims exceeding £100k, and other specialist losses such as environmental damage. Mark joined Criterion Loss Adjusters in April 2020 and is based in the East Midlands.

Louise Skilton – Operations Manager

Email: louise@criterionadjusters.com

Call: 07557 633856

Position: Operations Services Manager

Louise gained a real appreciation of the claims process and interacted with various adjusters, solicitors and other agencies at Cornhill Insurance (now Allianz). She then joined McLarens Toplis Loss Adjusters in Guildford as a secretary to a senior adjuster and claims assistant. In 2003 Louise joined Criterion as a secretary but as the company expanded Louise’s role developed into claims handling as a technical claims assistant. In January 2017, Louise was promoted to Operations Assistant and is now responsible for the administrative support for Criterion’s key accounts including the production of management information. Louise’s role also involves the implementation and measurement of Criterion’s operational service delivery.

Helena Evans – Head of Specialist Services

Email: helena@criterionadjusters.com

Call: 07788 380532

ACILA, FIFAA

Qualifications: LLB

Helena’s insurance career began when she joined Sun Alliance Insurance company (now RSA) in 1989 as a junior claims handler. She entered Loss Adjusting in 1991 with Brocklehursts (now Crawfords) and in 1994 spent some time working in Antigua following a hurricane. Helena took a career break in 1998 to raise a family. Having returned to Loss Adjusting in 2010, Helena spent several years handling property claims arising from the full range of causes throughout south east England. She gradually began handling more and more complex claims including major losses, VIP private client cases and large real estate claims, including three losses for one policyholder at one building totaling £10m. Helena also took on increasingly senior roles. She became Head of Private Clients at The Davies Group in 2017 and most recently Helena was the Head of Major Loss & Private Clients with responsibility for a team of 20 Loss Adjusters. She is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters and in 2018 became chair of the CILA HNW Special Interest Group. Helena is also on the committee of the Women in CILA group and has presented on the topic of Vulnerable Customers at the CILA conference.

Jo Goldsmith – Support Team Manager

Email: helena@criterionadjusters.com

Call: 07788 380532

ACILA, FIFAA

Qualifications: LLB

Jo has over 20 years experience in Customer Support Management roles, most notably within Dentsply Sirona, the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental solutions. In this role she managed Customer Support Teams both in the U.K. and overseas and was responsible for initiating and delivering multiple customer service improvement programmes including a large, complex European warehouse consolidation project. Jo is a graduate member of the Institute of Export and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Jo joined Criterion in August 2020 to manage our Support Team. This team provide the highest quality support possible for our loss adjusting and surveying services to ensure that we continue to deliver a highly professional and efficient claims handling service.