Tis the season for home-related misfortune, according to insurers.
Almost all report the festive period is rife for claims for accidental damage, theft, burst water pipes and fires.
Homes left empty when visiting friends and family or on long nights out socialising may tempt thieves. And the influx of visitors into the home, coupled with the general merriment, can lead to mishaps like spilled wine on the carpet or a broken TV.
These unhappy incidents may ruin your fun and prove incredibly stressful, but if you’ve got home insurance you can at least go about covering the cost of the loss or damage.
Here’s what you need to know about making a successful claim on your home insurance over the festive period.
Types of home insurance
There are two types of home insurance that can be purchased together or separately. These are known as buildings and contents cover. You may have both types of cover or just one.
Contents insurance covers your household possessions. Typically this type of policy protects them against theft or fire. But some pay more to get cover for ‘accidental damage’ for cover against things like spillages or breakages.
Buildings insurance covers the structure of your home as well as permanent fixtures and fittings. It provides cover in the event of major damage to the structure of your building from fire, floods, storms, vehicles, falling trees, vandalism or malicious damage. In some cases it also covers frost damage to pipes, subsidence and accidental damage to permanent fixtures.
The cost of making a claim
When making a claim you should bear in mind that you will probably have to pay an excess before your insurer pays out. The exact size of your excess depends on your policy.
[SPOTLIGHT]Remember that once you make a claim you’ll lose any no claims bonus you’ve built up over the years, which will impact the cost of your premium (unless it’s protected) at renewal.
So you may decide making a small claim for a broken vase for example is not worth it.
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How to make a claim
You should follow these basic steps in order to make a claim.
1. Locate your policy documents and check you are covered for what’s happened.
2. Check whether it is worth claiming, given the excess you will need to pay.
3. If you decide it is worth it, call your insurer. Many firms provide a 24-hour helpline for policyholders, which will prove handy over the holiday season. If you’ve been burgled it’s important to contact the police first and then contact your insurer as you will need a crime reference number to pursue your claim.
4. Your insurer can advise you what you to do next, but in most cases you need will need to submit a claims form which requires gathering some evidence. This may be in the form of photos of the damage or receipts/bank statements that prove you owned the items you want replacing. In some cases an insurer may arrange for a loss adjustor to visit your home to check whether your claim is valid, especially if it’s for a substantial amount.
5. If you think your home needs emergency repair work to prevent any further damage, check with your insurer whether you can organise this yourself or if they will send someone over.
6. If the incident in your home means it’s now uninhabitable, check whether your insurance company offers alternative accommodation as part of your cover.
Once your insurer has the information it needs it can process your claim. As long as you’ve been truthful, supplied the right information and your policy covers what has happened you should be able to make a successful claim.
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If you have a problem with your claim
If you feel your claim isn’t being dealt with properly you think it has been unfairly rejected, you can complain to your insurer following their complaints process.
If this doesn’t resolve the issue you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). It will investigate the issue looking at both sides of the dispute and come to a decision. The outcome from the FOS is legally binding for companies, but not for policyholders, so if you wanted you could take further legal action.
Read How to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service for more.
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