Five Festive Facts… ‘In Case you Need to Make a Claim’

Welcome to Week 5... ‘In Case You Need to Make a Claim…‘  With one fact for each week in the run up to Christmas, we’ve given some practical advice on how to protect your home, business and family to minimise the risk of any insurance misery.

 This week…   ‘In Case You Need to Make a Claim’

We’ve already covered how to protect your home and those gift purchases or presents received (see http://www.ajcconsultants.ltd.uk/five-festive-facts-theft/ ) from potential theft.  This week we’re giving some practical advice as to what to do should you need to make a claim on your home or contents insurance.

Last year Insurers’ reported that they handled 10,000 burglary claims over the Festive period with pay-outs of around £15 million.

Contact the Police – you will need to report any break-in or theft to your local Police department.  They will visit the property and assign a Crime Reference Number. You will need this to give to your Insurance Company.

Check your Policy – Keep your Insurance Policy handy so that you have contact details to hand.  Most Insurers’ have a ‘Claims Line’ that you can call or an on-line Claims Form you can complete and submit.  Report your Claim as soon as possible to your Insurance Company, you’ll need to quote your Policy Number (from your Schedule/Certificate of Insurance), your Policy will detail how many days you have to do this from the Loss date.  Check your Policy Excess – if this is a considerable amount and your Loss is small, you may decide not to make a Claim on your insurance.

Be honest -Make sure that the details given/completed when you report your Claim are true and accurate to the best of your knowledge.  Your Claim will, in due course, be assigned to a Claims Team or Loss Adjuster who may ask for further information, details or verification of the information you have given.

Provide Evidence of Loss-Insurers’ will ask you to detail Losses.  Provide as much information as you can (age, place of purchase, cost at purchase), along with any receipts or any photographs you may have.  The more information you can provide the quicker your claim can be settled.

Victim Support- Being the victim of a Crime, particularly one which violates your privacy and home can be traumatic, seek support from local specialist professional agencies.

Claim Support-Not only are the effects of been a victim of a crime emotional and stressful, making an Insurance Claim can add to the anxiety and be time-consuming, let alone be confusing.  Instructing AJC Consultants to handle every aspect of your Claim will ensure that you Claim is dealt with quickly and professionally, with maximum settlement made as soon as possible.  It’s always best to instruct AJC as soon as possible when you need to make a Claim, but we can advise and handle the Claim on your behalf at any stage of the process – maybe Insurers’ are disputing your Claim (or aspects of it), or taking too long to settle it?   See http://www.ajcconsultants.ltd.uk/about-us/ for more information or to contact us.

TIP:  Keep receipts for expensive items and/or photographs of the item in case you need to make an Insurance Claim. (Remember that thieves are likely to target computers/iPads/mobile phones etc. so keep a backup.) Boxes and instruction manuals can also be used as ‘proof of purchase’.