Claims Advice

All insurance policies have claims conditions that impose certain requirements on you in the event of a claim. These will be detailed in your policy booklet. If you do not follow these requirements there is a danger that you may not receive the full or indeed any payment for the amount claimed. Most insurer's now operate 24 hour claims report lines Your basic responsibilities are likley to include (but are not limited to):

• Report the incident to us or your insurer immediately and advise the appropriate authorities if necessary
• Take reasonable steps to minimise the loss
• Where damage to another person or their property is concerned (for example in the case of motor accidents), never admit liability to anyone and refer any correspondence received direct to us unanswered.
  

Property Claims - Damage

Always make a list of the damaged property. Your insurers will also request documentary evidence to support of the amounts claimed such as receipts, valuations and repair estimates.

Many insurers now operate an Approved Repairer Scheme and may submit this information to their preferred supplier to arrange repairs or replacement of damaged items

Property Claims – Theft / Lost items

Always make a list of the lost or stolen items and find as much as you can in the way of documentary evidence to support of the amounts claimed, such as receipts or repair estimates.

Notify the Police of the incident and keep a note of the Crime Reference Number and police station address. Your insurers will request this information

Many insurers now operate an Approved Repairer Scheme and may submit this information to their preferred supplies to arrange for the replacement of stolen or lost items.

Property Claims - Loss of Money

Documentary evidence (such as cash withdrawal slips) showing the exact amount of money stolen will be required.

Notify the Police of the incident and keep a note of the Crime Reference Number and police station address. Your insurers will request this information.

Motor Claims - Accidents

Wherever possible at the scene of the accident it is important to obtain details of:

• The third parties' names and addresses
• The registration number of any vehicle involved
• Whenever possible, the name and address of any witness or police officers at the scene of the accident

All Insurers require that accidents are reported to them as soon as possible even where there is no damage to your vehicle. An accident involving injury will need to be reported to the Police.

Most motor insurers operate a 24-hour helpline where they can take details of the accident over the telephone and arrange for your vehicle to be removed to an approved repairer if necessary. Always have your Policy Number to hand when contacting insurers direct, and please take a note of their claim reference number.

Any correspondence received from third parties or their representatives should be forwarded immediately, unanswered, to us or your insurer. Insurers only have a limited time to respond to third party correspondence so it is essential that this is done quickly.

Where a vehicle is written off as a result of an accident you will be asked by your insurers to provide the original Vehicle Registration Document (V5), MOT Certificate, purchase receipt and details of any finance/lease agreement. These need to be passed to insurers to enable them to set a value on the vehicle. Please note, if your vehicle is less than 12 months old and beyond economical repair your policy may have a new car replacement clause - confirmation can be found in your policy booklet.

However, please note that you will need to contact DVLA to advise them that the vehicle is no longer on the road.

Fleet policyholders who are reponsible for aministering the Motor Insurance Database (MID) will also need to update the database once the vehicle is no longer in their custardy or control.

Motor Claims - theft

The theft of a vehicle should be reported immediately to the Police and as soon as possible to your insurers. Your insurers will ask you for the crime reference number.

In most cases your insurers will wait a period of up to six weeks to see if the vehicle is recovered prior to making a settlement offer.

The original Vehicle Registration Document (V5), MOT Certificate, purchase receipt and details of any finance/lease agreement etc need to be passed to insurers to enable them to set a value on the vehicle.

However, please note that you will need to contact DVLA to advise them that the vehicle is no longer legaly on the road.

Fleet policyholders who are reponsible for aministering the Motor Insurance Database (MID) will also need to update the MID register once the vehicle is no longer in their custardy or control.

Employers Liability - Injury to Employees

It is now a legal requirement that your insurers respond to any letter of claim you receive within 21 days, otherwise the claimant's solicitors can issue proceedings without any further notification or sanction. It is essential therefore, that all letters of claim be passed on to us immediately upon receipt with all relevant information.

Most insurers do not have claims report line numbers for Employers Liability Claims. You will therefore need to report all claims/incidents likely to give rise to a claim immediately to this office and complete a claim form (if required) as quickly as possible. Please send as much information as you can on any incidents such as:

• Accident Book Entry
• Incident/Near miss report forms
• First Aider Report
• Safety Officer Report
• Heath & Safety Executive Documentation
• Photographs/Sketch PlansSecurity Videos
• All correspondence received in connection with the matter immediately and unanswered

Your insurers will often appoint someone to speak with you or vist your premises as soon as possible to discuss the incident and gather as much information as possible.

Eventually your insurers will request information from your employees personel file and occupation health records. However, the Data Protection Act requires that the claimants permission is obtained before this can be released. Your insurers will obtain the claimants permission through their solicitors to enable you to release this information.