Making your insurance claim

Fire? Flood? Theft? Malicious Damage? Storm? Burst Pipe?

Any of these disasters can befall your home or business and is why you will have taken out Insurance in the first place. However, there is many a pitfall laying in wait to trip you up, standing in the way of total compensation for your loss. Did you know, for example, that a policy that headlines "unlimited cover" will, more often than not, have small print written into the wording that limits your compensation to a fixed amount for what is termed “valuables” or “high risk items”? You may be covered by your policy for all the usual eventualities (Fire, Flood etc) but more importantly – how much cover have you bought compared to how much value is at risk?

It is all too often the case that the only time you focus on how much cover you should have bought and you find yourself underinsured is after the fact, when it’s too late to get it right. How many people are going to find that although they have had all their jewellery valued for the renewal of their policy even only a few months ago, that the increasing price of gold renders them underinsured when the burglary actually occurs? How many businesses think in terms of insuring machinery and plant on a second-hand value basis when their policy specifically assumes “reinstatement new for old”? How many property Landlords assume they are covered against Malicious Damage, not realising that damage caused by their Tenant, who is legally entitled to be there, is specifically excluded?

Over the years, Insurers have been collecting data fed back to them by the Loss Adjusters they appoint on their behalf to report, confidentially, concerning the circumstances of claims they are sent to investigate. What kinds of locks do you have? Are there bolts top and bottom on your patio doors? Do you have an alarm? If so, do you always set it when you go out or retire for the night - even if you only pop out for 5 minutes? If your alarm develops a fault, should you advise your insurer? What is a reasonable timescale within which to get it fixed?

We can’t change the facts – but we can help in so many ways. You see, we know what to look for in the policy wording. We know how policies are structured. We have the experience of handling hundreds - thousands of claims and of knowing how best to present, argue and negotiate claims on behalf of our clients to maximise their chances of success and to get every last penny to which the policy entitles.

So, if disaster strikes (we deal with lightning strikes too!) before you do anything else, call Truman Associates, Loss Assessors and Claims Consultants and leave the small print to us.

Don’t settle for anything less