When it comes to making claims on your insurance few are likely to be as expensive as any claim that you make on your home insurance. With luck the insurer will pay out quickly and without complaint, but there are certain things that you should do when making a claim, just to in case things don’t go quite to plan.
First of all make sure that you know the terms of your policy: which risks it covers and which risks it doesn’t. Read your policy and make sure that the loss you have suffered is covered, and decide which policy you should be claiming, buildings or contents, even if you have a combined policy.
Once you have decided to make a claim your insurance company will require you to complete a claim form as soon as possible. If you can return it with accurate estimates for the cost of repair or replacement it may well make the claim process a lot quicker.
If you have a “replacement as new” policy you can claim for the full cost of repairing your property or replacing the item that you have lost or damaged with a new item. If you find it difficult to get estimates for these costs (if, for example, the damage is widespread and you can’t find workmen) send the claim form to the insurance company anyway without the estimates and tell them you will get estimates as soon as possible. Most insurance companies have a list of qualified tradesman that they recommend, and they may be able to send someone to give an estimate at short notice.
If you have managed to make temporary repairs in order to prevent further damage, make sure that you keep any bills. The cost of these will form part of your overall claim, on top of any further work that is done to restore your property to its original condition.
If you have suffered theft, your first call should always be to the police rather than to your insurance company. If you have lost credit cards or debit cards make sure that they are cancelled immediately, a delay of even a few hours may prove an expense that your insurance company is unlikely to pay.
And two other things to keep in mind:
- If you have an indemnity policy then you must deduct, on your claim form, an amount to represent wear and tear. If you are unsure about how much to deduct contact your insurance company and ask them to help.
- If you suffer damage to your possessions of any sort, don’t throw them away until you have checked with your insurance company, they may well want to see it and assess the damage themselves.
Home insurance is a vital commodity because it protects what is, for most people, the most expensive item that they own. Despite this it doesn’t have to be expensive in itself and there are a lot of things that you can do to reduce the costs of your policy. If you are looking for a new home insurance policy, make sure that you do your research and search around for a good deal. It may well be worth trying a company like Legal and General who are offering particularly good home insurance deals at the moment.