Home Insurance Smart Guide

5. Making a claim

What you'll learn in this step: There's a process you have to follow to be successful in your claim.

When the worst happens, its important to take the right steps if you want to succeed with a claim. In the event of theft or burglary, the first step should be to call the police and secure your property if there has been forced entry. Then promptly contact your insurer.

Have your insurance policy details to hand when you call, along with proof of ownership such as purchase date and serial numbers, plus valuation details. The customer service operator will either file a claim for you over the phone or send you the forms to complete. If a large sum is involved, the insurer may want to send out a loss assessor to look at the damage. Dont have work done until youve spoken to your insurer, who may require an initial report from a tradesperson to help them determine whether your claim is payable.

Be aware that when you make a claim youll generally lose your no-claims bonus and may have to pay an excess.

Claims can be rejected for a number of reasons.

• Duty of disclosure a claim for theft will be disallowed if you said you had deadlocks when you didn't, for instance
• Proof of ownership a claim will be disallowed if you cant prove you had the goods in the first place
• Exclusion clauses for example, you may not have specified valuable jewellery in your policy
• Breach of policy perhaps your speeding caused the accident that damaged your car.

If your claim is rejected, ask the insurer to point to the relevant section in your policy that is the basis for their refusal. You may be able to dispute their interpretation. By law, the insurer must have clearly informed you of any restrictions applying to your contract when it was entered into.

You can ask an insurer to reconsider your case through their internal disputes system. If youre still dissatisfied, you can refer your complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman Service (www.insuranceombudsman.com.au).