Before Claiming

Before making a claim on an insurance company it is worth considering that:

If you are unable to pay the excess because of financial hardship, you may still make a claim. You may request the insurer to take the excess out of any payment you will receive. If you will not be receiving any payment, but the insurer will be paying a repairer or someone else on your behalf, you may ask the insurer to make the payment to them and then accept the excess from you in instalments.

See the Financial Rights Legal Centre's Sample Letter, Can't pay my excess.

Making the Claim

There are a number of things you can do to help the insurer process your claim quickly and efficiently, and reduce the possibility of complications. In particular, you should:

Notification

You should notify the insurance company of the event as soon as possible. Notification by phone should be followed up in writing, and the letter should include all relevant details of the incident. It is not advisable for non native speakers of English to make a claim by phone.

Supporting documents

If possible, you should include documents to support the claim.

Keep Records for Insurance Purposes

It is a good idea to keep records — receipts, valuations, serial numbers, photos and so on. Accurate records help in getting a claim paid promptly.

For example:

Someone who has been burgled should take photos, contact neighbours for statements, and arrange for a third party to witness the scene if there will be a delay in the police attending. A list of items stolen must be provided. If you later need to add any items to the list originally submitted to the insurer you should explain why these items were missed off the first list.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

If your car has been damaged in an accident you may need to arrange to:

You may be able to recover these costs from your insurer, or from the other driver or their insurer (if they were at fault).

You should not arrange to store your car or hire a replacement without getting your insurer to agree to it, preferably in writing, unless you can afford to pay for it yourself.

Travel Insurance

Whether travel insurance covers the cancellation of travel plans depends on the terms of the policy. Some policies include limited cover for events related to COVID-19.

Consumers should read the terms to understand coverage under the policy in the event of disrupted or cancelled travel plans. Travel insurance generally does not cover precautionary cancellations by the consumer.

Under the General Insurance Code of Practice, a consumer is entitled to lodge a claim and have it assessed by the insurer. For this reason, an insurer must not dissuade a consumer from lodging a claim.

Travel insurance policies do not cover the insolvency of a travel provider. If a consumer accepts a voucher for travel that was unable to be provided because of the pandemic, and the travel provider ceases trading, the consumer becomes an unsecured creditor of the provider.

The Insurance Reference Service

The Insurance Reference Service is Australia’s only national database of insurance claims. It offers an easily accessible record of insurance claims by individuals. Some insurance companies use this database in deciding whether to accept an insurance proposal or as part of the investigation process when a claim is made.

Most people don’t know that the service exists. Consumers have a right of free access to the database, and can correct inaccurate information on it. To order a report detailing your claims history see the Insurance Reference Service website at http://insurancereferenceservices.com.au/about .