How would you react to a claim that goes bad?

It's not often I'm lost for words but I find myself this morning with writers block. Nothing to fear, the sky isn't falling or the wheels aren't falling off just short on words. You watch I'll still manage to ramble on but thought you might want to know that this morning the usual structured plan I try to work on is very ad lib. It's probably to do with the fact that after 2 months of non stop negotiation and work on our clients claims we wake up this morning with all bar one put to bed. So what has been the norm this year has now passed and we can focus on other things. Just gotta RE - figure out where those things begin.

It's a very draining process. Claims are what people rate insurance by. OK so people first look at price. No doubt about that. Anyone who knows me knows that I am keen to educate consumers that price when it comes to insurance should not be the number one priority. Often when you want cheapest only you pay for it come claim time. Most competitive for the level of cover is a better way of looking at it. But claims are when your insurance is tested. Purchasing insurance is like buying a few colourful pieces of A4 paper. It's an intangible. But that paper is tested to the limit when catastrophes hit. Getting it right upfront when purchasing is the key to a successful result when a claim occurs.

We've said before that we take a very hands on approach to our clients claims. Some of our competitors give you a 1300 number and let you do all the work unless the claim gets off track. This is not our philosophy. You pay a fee for our service so we will drive the claims for you. By handling more of your claim it gives you time to carry on with work. It also means if things do run off the rails we are more in touch with the claim so can react in a more effective manner instead of having to learn where it is up to then put together our thoughts.

I'll touch on one claim still hanging around. We lodged it and arranged for assessment early on. It then seemed to be heading along nicely until the client requested an update. In all honesty I presumed it was under control since my last follow up showed progress. Turns out not the case. The Insurer had all the reports yet had not looked at them yet. When I rang they did a 2 minute review and straight away advised they will be partially declining the claim. (No discussion otherwise) Naturally this didn't make sense to me so we asked for more information. We - at the time of writing - now are unsure if the assessor ever found out what the true costs of the claim are. We have strongly requested 2 reviews and now a 3rd builder is going out to the clients property. It's almost like the claim is having to be redone to get the details correct. Unfortunately no one at this company wants to talk at present which further shows they don't have any answers for us yet.

It's unfortunate because due to the volume of claims over the summer period sometimes the Insurers are having to be occasionally reactive. Meaning they only get to look at it when given a nudge. A 2 minute review by the claims officer to the assessors reports is hardly thorough enough when you are talking about a persons property. Maybe if the claims officer had said to me 'this needs some more review time, I'm going to discuss with my team leader,' then we wouldn't be at logger heads.

So it shows that, yes, even when using a broker claims can go off the rails. However, think about it, how would you react to a claim going off the rails? Would you know what to do and if there is a process? I can tell you this client simply went into defensive mode and cursed everything until we brought the situation back to a structured response. Claims DO lose direction at times. It's a fact. Wouldn't you rather have us handle all the stress and insurance jargon that goes with it though? You are way to busy running your business to have to then worry about trying to handle an insurance claim without knowing all the In's and outs. Let us handle this for you.

Claims are the window to an insurance company. I mentioned previously that 99% of them over this tough 2 month period have been fantastic. Infact a company that we rarely use has impressed me more than any. The initial response by Insurers was top draw stuff. Claims were lodged around the clock, assessors appointed and repairs authorised. We have one hanging around which has some wrinkles to iron out and whilst we certainly are not impressed with how this one claim is going, we are working hard with our client and the Insurer to negotiate a fair and equitable settlement. It doesn't affect our personal view of this company one bit. They are still one we work very closely with. It is however proof that when Insurers juggle a 1,000 balls, some will fall and you need a broker there to sweep them up and keep your claim ticking along and infront of the decision makers.

To finalise there IS a process when a claim is denied. It is a requirement of your insurer to notify of it and assist you in taking a disputed claim through this process. If you want to learn more about it please let us know.

 
** The information included within this is of a General Advice nature only. No individual or company is named for privacy reasons.