Your Insurance Contract
Insurance is a contract between you and your Insurer. If you suffer a loss or damage that is covered by your insurance policy you will need to contact the insurance company or in some cases, your broker. Contact details can be found in your policy booklet and your policy schedule.
What Is Covered?
There is a common misunderstanding as to what is covered and what is not covered. It must be clearly understood that buildings insurance is not “fully comprehensive”.
Firstly, you should check the perils that are covered. Typically these include:
Common Perils
Fire, Flood, Storm, Impact, Subsidence, Heave, Landslip, Escape of Water and sometimes Accidental Damage.
Exclusions
There are certain exclusions and some general principles that you should also check, by reference to your policy document and schedule.
Your Duties as a Policyholder
The primary things you need to appreciate is that all policyholders have a binding duty to mitigate any loss as far as possible, which means you have to take steps to keep your claim to a minimum.
The other thing to remember is that an insurance policy is not a maintenance contract and that ultimately, it is your duty to demonstrate a claim exists. However, in most cases today, Insurers will usually (but not always) take the necessary steps to establish or deny that a valid claim exists.
Making a Claim
Notify Your Insurer
Assuming that there is potentially a claim to answer, you should advise your insurer as soon as possible.
Document the Damage
If possible you should note the date and time the loss or damage occurred or was noticed, describe the problem and if appropriate take photographs.
Loss Adjuster Appointment
Depending on the nature of the problem, your Insurer may appoint a Loss Adjuster. The process that follows will vary depending on the Insurer and their preferred claim handling method.