Home Insurance: What To Do When You Have To Make A Claim

If you have to make a claim on your home insurance policy, the first thing you should do is notify the insurance company as soon as possible. After you have given your insurance agent an outline of what you need to file a claim for, they will let you know what steps to take. Keep the contact details of your agent in your wallet or on your mobile phone, in case you cannot get access to it in your home.

Keep track of all the communications that you have with your insurer regarding the claim, as this may be useful to you further down the line. Take pictures or video clips of the affected areas of your house using a digital camera, such as the one on your mobile phone, as this may also prove helpful.

1. Keep a bit of paper or a notepad on you at all times so that you can write down anything that you notice is damaged or missing, as this information will be required when you come to make the claim.

2. You should also make any temporary repairs that you deem necessary, as it is up to you to prevent the damage to your property from getting worse. For instance, if you have a leak, then you might want to put a bucket under it to prevent further water damage to your property. If you need to buy anything in order to do this, be sure to keep receipts.

3. It is your responsibility to prevent any damage to your property from getting worse, so make temporary repairs, such as covering a leaky roof with a tarpaulin, wherever possible. Keep receipts for anything that you have to buy to make these temporary repairs, so that you can be reimbursed for them later.

4. It can take a little bit of time to process an insurance claim, so be patient. If your claim is not serious, it may take quite a long time to process as most insurance firms deal with claims on a priority, rather than a first come first served, basis.

5. While your claim is being processed, get in touch with your agent on a regular basis to check on the progress of your claim. If you are not happy with your insurer for any reason, then you are well within your rights to file a complaint with the financial ombudsman service, an independent body set up by the government to ensure that consumers do not get a raw deal from the financial service sector.

If you are not allowed or are unable to use your home, then you may be entitled to money for alternative accommodation while your claim is being processed if your policy includes loss of use coverage.