Buildings and contents insurance is designed to protect you from all sorts of dangers and unanticipated events. If you have suffered a theft, damage or vandalism, it can be an extremely distressing experience, and many people will want to get their money back immediately. Your first point of call, however, should not be your insurance company but rather to the police. This will ensure that the theft or vandalism has been officially noted and may help with your claim.
Another thing you must do, from the outset of getting your policy, is know exactly what it covers. If there is anything missing from your policy you should contact your insurance company and make sure that you have the protection that you require. You may have several different types of insurance: buildings, contents, or home insurance and you should be clear as to which items, and what eventualities, are covered by which policy.
If you are not sure which policy to claim under you should contact your insurers as they will be best placed to help you. Many insurers have emergency telephone numbers for policyholders, and will also be able to find you good tradesman in case you need immediate repairs. It may prove easier to use one of these insurance company tradesmen if it comes to having work that you will later claim for.
Your insurance company can provide you with a claim form when it comes to making your claim, complete it as soon as possible, and where possible return it with estimates for the cost of the repair, or the specific items that you have lost, with any proof of their value if you have it. If you are unable to value estimates - in case you have suffered extensive damage -make sure that the claim form is sent in as soon as possible and tell the company that you will give them the estimates as soon as you can.
If you have items that have been damaged by vandalism, fire, or flood for example, you should make sure that you keep them, whether it be in the house or your garage, because the insurance company may wish to make an assessment themselves.
Once the insurance company gets your estimates it will either immediately pay your claim, or if there is any doubt, arrange for a claims inspector to call on you. The claims inspector will arrange with you the basis on which your claim will be settled. Another option might be to send a loss adjuster who will handle the whole claim for you. Loss adjusters are independent experts, and are more likely to be sent in specialised cases. There is no need to appoint anyone to act on your behalf, and if you do you will have to pay the fees yourself.
For most people their home is the most valuable item that they own and it is important to make sure that it has proper protection.
Taking a holiday or business trip is usually quite straightforward. Most of the time, you buy your tickets, fork out a bit extra for travel insurance (because it’s just what people say you should do) and jump on the plane. But what happens when something goes wrong, and that safety-net insurance policy you bought actually needs comes in to play?
Many people’s first reaction to realising they have to make a travel insurance claim is slight panic – what evidence and documentation do you need? Does your situation even warrant a claim? What happens if it all falls through? Don’t worry – there are a few basic things you need to remember, and if you can do that, all should work out fine.
Who do I Contact, and When?
Depending on what it is exactly you’re claiming, you have differing amounts of time to act. Before you leave on your trip, you should take two copies of your travel insurance details, packed in separate places. This should contain the full name of the travel insurance company, the policy you chose, the dates you’re covered for, full contact details, and most importantly your unique policy number. More often than not, the company will provide you with a handy wallet-sized card with all of this information. If in doubt, take as much information as possible.
Generally, the sooner you contact your insurance company the better. In cases of medical emergency this is important. In non-life threatening cases, and where you don’t have full details of your policy with you, it might be best to contact the company to see if you’re covered before you opt for whatever insanely expensive treatment you may need. Due to the higher costs involved, your company needs to know ASAP. They will obviously also need to be contacted ASAP if you need to be evacuated home, such as from an area where you may not be able to get quality care.
If, on the other hand, you’ve lost or had something stolen, you generally don’t need to contact anyone from the company until you get home – and you often have up to a month to get around to this. What you do need to do, however, is report all theft to the local police, and obtain a report of the ‘crime’ in question. Be aware, in developing countries with high numbers of foreign tourists, this is seen by many police as a waste of their time - you might have to slip the officer in question a few bills to get anything done. (Incidentally, this won’t be covered.)
If you’re lucky enough to have your luggage lost by an airline, bus company or even hotel, try and obtain a report from them admitting culpability. Without this, your company may dispute your claim. The people who lost your goods may offer a private settlement themselves – get this written down as well.
Where’s the Proof?
Large numbers of people take out travel insurance, and, feeling slightly annoyed that they haven’t been the victim of a mugging or hostel robbery, attempt to claim that aging analogue camera as stolen. To claim, you must present proof of ownership. This is often easily done by showing the receipt for the item, but as many people simply don’t keep receipts that long, other methods are accepted; bank or credit card statements, warranty cards, even photographic evidence can be used to show that you owned a given item. If you can’t provide anything whatsoever, you may not be able to claim. Check your policy. And if they think you’re telling porkies, they might just investigate your case further – you’ve been warned.
In the case of purchases that had to be made (medical treatment, taxis when you missed your connecting bus due to a delayed flight, quick flight home due to civil war unexpectedly breaking out, etc), keep the receipt, and be prepared to present credit card statements and possibly contact details of the organisation in question.
How Long do I Wait?
Generally speaking, a simple claim on a stolen item should not take very long. Companies differ, but most will process a claim in around ten days if they have all the details they need, they will either say no, or send you a cheque. If your claim is, in their eyes, dubious for any reason, it may take longer. In cases where large amounts are to be paid out, such as those which have arisen due to medical expenditure, the gathering of all the relevant proof and information may itself take some time – you might just have to be patient.
Both Ramond19 Verde19 & Darryl Bonjoulais are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ramond19 Verde19 has sinced written about articles on various topics from Insurance. Ramond Verde is author of this article on . Find more information about. Ramond19 Verde19's top article generates over 880 views. to your Favourites.
Darryl Bonjoulais has sinced written about articles on various topics from Beauty Tips, Cellulite and Insurance. This article has been brought to you by Travel Insurance Direct, providers of reliable for travel. Darryl Bonjoulais's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.