It’s all very well knowing how to get cheaper car insurance and how to find the right policy but what if the time comes when you actually need to use your motor insurance. Would you be confident in knowing what steps to take when making a car insurance claim?
Every year, insurance companies process thousands of car insurance claims and pay out millions of pounds to people whose cars have been the victim of theft or damage. Even more is paid out to motorists involved in accidents on the roads.
Whether its personal injury or the theft or damage of a vehicle the process of claiming on your motor insurance policy can be a stressful one. To make things easier here is our guide to making a car insurance claim.
The first step is to contact your insurance provider as soon as possible after the event. Most insurers have a 24hr number you can call so use that to reach the right person more quickly.
If your claim is crime related such as theft, damage or vandalism immediately report the crime to the police and take note of your incident number. Should a police investigation result in any prosecutions your insurer will need to know the incident number.
Write down all the details concerning the incident and refer to these notes when making your written claim.
Be sure that your version of events is accurate and consistent. Changing your story further down the line could arouse suspicions that jeopardise your claim.
Get all the help and information you need from your car insurance company to support your claim. Don’t be afraid to ask your insurer questions as its essential to have all the correct documentation and evidence to back up your car insurance claim.
Retain any documentation relating to your claim in a safe and secure place and ensure that your insurance company can contact you easily.
Keep copies of any communication regarding your claim; be they letters, emails or telephone conversations and take the name of any person you speak with.
Before going ahead with any repairs to your vehicle you need to get absolute verification on the status of your claim. Until your insurer confirms they will cover the price of repair you are accountable for all costs.
If your car requires repair most insurers will recommend a garage where the repairs will be guaranteed for a specified period of time. If you take your vehicle in for repair yourself there is a good chance the cost will not be covered by your insurance company.
Having to claim on your motor insurance is never a pleasant experience but following these easy steps will help make the process run as smoothly as possible.
Monday, January 31, 2011
What To Do If Your Car Insurance Claim Is Rejected
Recently we covered how motorists can best deal with the situation of making a car insurance claim. But what if your insurer rejects the claim, what should you do then?
It is not uncommon for insurance companies to either reject a motor insurance claim or reduce the payments they make.
There are several factors that can trigger such as event:
Your insurer may come to the conclusion that you were largely (or even entirely) at fault if your claim is related to a theft from the vehicle or of the vehicle itself
Your car insurance policy may contain a clause witch invalidates the claim
It is decided the claim should be settled under another policy such as your home contents insurance (particularly in the case of theft from the vehicle)
You provided information that was untruthful or inaccurate
You are unable to provide receipts to backup claims of theft of items from your vehicle
The book price of the car is considerably less than the money you've invested in restoration or enhancements
With any insurance policy your insurer will expect you to disclose any information that could be of importance to them. You are obliged to do this even if the details are not requested; this is known as “utmost good faith”.
Insurance companies often use this extremely wooly approach to sharing information to justify rejecting or downscaling claims. Should this situation arise with your car insurance claim there are some important points to remember:
The small print of your policy carries a lot of weight; study it thoroughly before, during and after your claim (and ideally before taking out a policy in the first place)
Keeping accurate records of conversations and correspondence along with receipts can make a huge difference in backing up your claim as well as the eventual success of your claim
The payout figure announced by your insurance company is not set in stone. Rather than just accept the amount on offer you are perfectly entitled to question the payout and put forward you case for why it should be increased
If after all that you still disagree with your insurers decision to reject your claim or the payout level awarded your next step should be to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The FOS acts as an independent arbitrator to resolve conflicts between insurance companies and customers, they deal with thousands of complaints every year.
The first step in complaining to the FOS is to confirm your car insurance claim has been dealt with in full by your insurance company. You can raise your complaint with the FOS once your insurer has provided a letter or final response to your complaint or has failed to do so within eight weeks.
If you need the assistance of the Finance Ombudsman Service to help with your car insurance claim visit their website http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Delays in resolving a car insurance claim can lead to massive disruption in people’s lives. Hopefully this post will help make your next claim run more smoothly. We all need help from time-to-time so please don’t be discouraged from contacting the FOS for support with your claim.
It is not uncommon for insurance companies to either reject a motor insurance claim or reduce the payments they make.
There are several factors that can trigger such as event:
Your insurer may come to the conclusion that you were largely (or even entirely) at fault if your claim is related to a theft from the vehicle or of the vehicle itself
Your car insurance policy may contain a clause witch invalidates the claim
It is decided the claim should be settled under another policy such as your home contents insurance (particularly in the case of theft from the vehicle)
You provided information that was untruthful or inaccurate
You are unable to provide receipts to backup claims of theft of items from your vehicle
The book price of the car is considerably less than the money you've invested in restoration or enhancements
With any insurance policy your insurer will expect you to disclose any information that could be of importance to them. You are obliged to do this even if the details are not requested; this is known as “utmost good faith”.
Insurance companies often use this extremely wooly approach to sharing information to justify rejecting or downscaling claims. Should this situation arise with your car insurance claim there are some important points to remember:
The small print of your policy carries a lot of weight; study it thoroughly before, during and after your claim (and ideally before taking out a policy in the first place)
Keeping accurate records of conversations and correspondence along with receipts can make a huge difference in backing up your claim as well as the eventual success of your claim
The payout figure announced by your insurance company is not set in stone. Rather than just accept the amount on offer you are perfectly entitled to question the payout and put forward you case for why it should be increased
If after all that you still disagree with your insurers decision to reject your claim or the payout level awarded your next step should be to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The FOS acts as an independent arbitrator to resolve conflicts between insurance companies and customers, they deal with thousands of complaints every year.
The first step in complaining to the FOS is to confirm your car insurance claim has been dealt with in full by your insurance company. You can raise your complaint with the FOS once your insurer has provided a letter or final response to your complaint or has failed to do so within eight weeks.
If you need the assistance of the Finance Ombudsman Service to help with your car insurance claim visit their website http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Delays in resolving a car insurance claim can lead to massive disruption in people’s lives. Hopefully this post will help make your next claim run more smoothly. We all need help from time-to-time so please don’t be discouraged from contacting the FOS for support with your claim.
Car Insurence, Car Insureance, Car Insurace & Other Common Misspellings
Shopping for your car insurance online can be a great way to save time and money. However, if you decide to start the process by visiting a search engine take the time to enter your search query correctly.
Misspelling your search query can affect the quality of the sites returned in your results. Here are the top ten most common misspellings made by people searching for car insurance:
Car insurence
Car insureance
Car insurace
Car insurnace
Car insuranc
Car insurnce
Car insurane
Car isurance
Car incurance
Car insuarance
While Google and other search engines work to return the most relevant results following a misspelt entry they are not infallible. So if you want to look for your new policy via a search engine then type carefully, or just click this link car insurance.
Misspelling your search query can affect the quality of the sites returned in your results. Here are the top ten most common misspellings made by people searching for car insurance:
Car insurence
Car insureance
Car insurace
Car insurnace
Car insuranc
Car insurnce
Car insurane
Car isurance
Car incurance
Car insuarance
While Google and other search engines work to return the most relevant results following a misspelt entry they are not infallible. So if you want to look for your new policy via a search engine then type carefully, or just click this link car insurance.
CompareTheMeerkat.com – It’s Not For Car Insurance
Aleksandr Orlov, founder of comparethemeerkat.com, is urging people not to use his site when shopping around for cheaper car insurance.
It seems that people looking to compare car insurance quotes are confusing comparethemeerkat.com with the similarly named comparethemarket.com, one of the UK’s leading car insurance comparison sites.
The problem has escalated to such extreme levels that Aleksandr has decided to launch a TV advertising campaign to educate the masses and clear up the confusion once and for all.
The message is clear, comparethemeerkat.com won’t help you find cheaper car insurance but if you’re looking to compare meerkats than Aleksandr is more than happy for you to stop by.
This ingenious piece of marketing is really taking off with Aleksandr proving a real hit on facebook, youtube and twitter.
If you’re considering using comparethemarket.com to search for a car insurance quote be sure to check out our review of their site. As for comparing meerkats, we’ll leave you in the dependable hands of Aleksandr.
It seems that people looking to compare car insurance quotes are confusing comparethemeerkat.com with the similarly named comparethemarket.com, one of the UK’s leading car insurance comparison sites.
The problem has escalated to such extreme levels that Aleksandr has decided to launch a TV advertising campaign to educate the masses and clear up the confusion once and for all.
The message is clear, comparethemeerkat.com won’t help you find cheaper car insurance but if you’re looking to compare meerkats than Aleksandr is more than happy for you to stop by.
This ingenious piece of marketing is really taking off with Aleksandr proving a real hit on facebook, youtube and twitter.
If you’re considering using comparethemarket.com to search for a car insurance quote be sure to check out our review of their site. As for comparing meerkats, we’ll leave you in the dependable hands of Aleksandr.
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