How To Make A Successful Insurance Claim

Picture the scene, you've been put on hold listening to piped music for over 30 minutes, every so often the tape is interrupted with a promise:

'Your call is important to us' ... 'All our agents are busy dealing with other customers at the moment' ... 'We are experiencing a high level of calls at the moment' ...blah, blah, blah!

You're getting the distinct impression that nobody wants to answer your call and deal with your problem. Whilst you mightn't like this message, its one of the ways an insurance company try to find out if you have a genuine claim.

When you finally do get through, all the questions and interrogations they put you through is for your own good - even if it seems they're almost insinuating you are a lying, cheating, low down son of a gun.

But really, how happy would you be if your premiums doubled because the insurance company had been too lax? And not filtered the genuine claims from the frivolous ones.

If you find your temper rising, and you start to feel angry, just remind yourself that none of this is personal, and in a few years' time it won't matter anywhere like it does today.

The amount of fraud and dishonesty is getting out of control, if it hasn't already! Insurance can be a soft touch for some.

Having worked in a 'Complaints Department' for decades, there are several hidden secrets to make sure your insurance claim or complaint gets the merit it deserves - and may also provide some compensation for the distress and inconvenience it caused you.

When a claim is submitted to an Insurance Company the Claims Department will try and discriminate to decide whether it's a legitimate claim, or not.

Always Keep Notes of the Time, Date, and Staff Member's Name

Calls to Insurance Companies are usually recorded. The complaints handler can request a playback to hear the call. It's quite rare when this happens, as it can be cumbersome and time consuming. The whole process will flow easier if you co-operate.

REMEMBER: THE INSURANCE COMPANY IS NOT YOUR ENEMY - if you upset the complaint handler they will deal with your complaint, but if you show some consideration for the person, you'll probably get a better response and a more profitable settlement.

As the Manager of the department, it was up to me whether the customer received £25 or £1,000 in compensation.

Every time you get bad service the cash machine keeps rolling. But beware of goading the complaint handler into being rude or angry with you - they are aware of underhand tactics.

It's important not to be offended if it sounds like the claim handler doesn't believe you, they need to weed out any dishonest claims. It's part of their job and they must ensure the company's money is being spent responsibly.

Whilst Insurance Companies are in competition with each other they also share information. You may be tempted to think they don't know about that claim you put in for lost luggage on your ski-ing trip years ago, but think again.

On one of the assignments I worked on for a major bank, they had a 'Serial Complainer'. He would literally claim for everything. Eventually the bank told him to take his business elsewhere.

He was also told by a major airline that he could no longer be a passenger - Pretty Drastic. Everybody's patience has a limit, some people try to push it beyond redemption.

I also dealt with a house fire where the owners were claiming a substantial sum of money for the fire damage. The insurance company received several letters accusing the policyholders of potential fraud. The owner was convinced he was going to win and felt the need to boast about it in the local pub.

Perhaps he thought he had the loyalty from his friends, but none of us really know what people actually think about us.

It turned out that he previously claimed for a fire in a previous property. That time the insurance policy was in his name, this time the policy was in his partner's name.

Was he really so naive to think that Insurance Investigators wouldn't check the Electoral roll to see who was living in both those properties, and if they were the same people living in the new property.

I've always believed that Manners go a long way to make your life easier, perhaps when you're at the end of your tether, you should take a step back, get out of your own way and be the bigger person.