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| Home
and Contents Insurance Guide |
Claims
and complaints
 Losing
your house or your possessions is a traumatic experience, and the
last thing you need is difficulty claiming your insurance. There's
no need to be unduly worried, provided you have been honest, kept
documents that prove exactly what you owned and insured your home
and contents for an appropriate amount.
If something happens and you need to make a claim, there are a
number of things that your insurance company requires you to do.
You must:
- Prevent any
further damage or loss to your home (for instance, by securing
doors and windows following a break-in).
- Contact the
police immediately if theft or vandalism is involved.
- Notify your
insurance company as soon as possible.
- Provide your
insurance company with a completed claim form, along with all
information that is requested, such as receipts, valuations and
damage reports.
- Immediately
send your insurance company any letters, court documents and notices
relating to the incident that have already resulted or could result
in a claim against you.
There are also
some things which you should not do when you are making a claim.
Do not:
- Carry out
repairs on your home.
- Throw away
property that has been damaged the insurance company may take
possession of it.
- Settle claims
with outside parties without permission from the insurance company.
- Make admissions
about the claim to outside parties.
The insurance
company can pay your claim in several ways, and will always choose
the option that costs it the least.
The insurer can:
- Pay the cost
of repairing the damaged objects;
- Pay the cost
of replacing the damaged objects;
- Give you
money to pay the cost of repairing or replacing the items.
If the insurer
is paying to repair or rebuild, it will often reserve the right to
nominate the repairer, supplier or builder who will do the work.
If your claim is rejected
By law, any financial institution is required to have an Internal
Dispute Resolution (IDR) process, which deals with complaints from
people whose claims have been rejected. When the insurance company
informs you of its decision to deny your claim it must provide you
with details of its IDR.
If you choose to complain through the IDR, the insurance company will
review all of the evidence and inform you of its final decision by
letter. If you fail to secure your claim through the IDR, you have
three months to present your complaint to Insurance Enquiries and
Complaints Ltd (IEC), a free and independent service funded by the
insurance industry.
In the first instance, the IEC will check that IDR procedures have
been followed. It will then ask for a full exchange of information
from both you and your insurer and attempt to reach a settlement.
If no conciliation is possible, the complaint is referred to a panel
that makes a final decision based on available evidence. In some cases
the IEC will also take into consideration testimonials from reliable
witnesses.
If the IEC rejects the complaint, your final option is to take the
case to court. |
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