Insurance claim timescales

ambro25

Not sure if this is the right Forum, so @ Mods by all means feel free to move if required.

I have had a pending claim with our travel insurer for the best part of 4 months now (if not 5 already), for a piece of electronics lost during a flight (about €450 in value).

We have been repeatedly mushroomed by the insurer from the onset (e.g. told to get the crime report from the Guards, when the Guards do not ever give it to the claimant, only to the insurer and only on written request), despite supplying all the information needed (proof of travel, proof of purchase, this-that-the-other) right away and generally 'playing nice/by the book'.

The insurer is at present allegedly still waiting on the Guards to forward the crime report since the insurer asked for it mid-December (and further to 3 'nudge' calls to the insurer from myself since), and cannot process the claim until then.

Today, I asked as to what could be done to move the process along a bit, and was told that I should contact the Guards by phone and check that they have received the insurer's letter requesting the crime report, and ask whether they are replying anytime soon. Strikes me as odd that I should be doing their job for them, and I'm slowly but surely getting seriously f*cked off by now, at playing the mug's game.

The questions are:

For anyone here who has had the malchance to experience a travel insurance claim, is the delay by the Guards in forwarding the report believable, or is this yet another mushrooming tactic by the insurer?

As I'm obviously being taken for a ride by my insurer, who can I contact to get their ass kicked, short of starting a small claims action (for which I'm not sure that I have any valid grounds, as their fine print conveniently sidesteps the "obligation of results/timescale" issue)?

jor el

It's not your responsibility to chase the Gardai looking for documents that the insurance company has requested. Find out how to start an official complaint with the insurer. Follow their procedure and if you get nowhere then contact the Financial Services Ombudsman, they are also the ombudsman for the insurance sector.

Colonel Sanders

am I allowed ask which company? I had a similar problem with VHI (and so did a guy in my team at work). I sent them a very strongly worded letter threatening to go to the ombudsman and hey presto the paid out my claim after insisting many times on the phone or by mail that it wasn't covered by the policy terms (it was, they dealt with it under the wrong section and quoted an exclusion that wouldn't have applied even if it was the correct section)

harrovian

Hi Colonel (sorry to piggyback this thread) but i after a wonderful Caribbean cruise in the summer i returned to Ireland to find a bag of Ds games (6 of them) & a ds console stolen from my bag. many other expensive items of clothing etc.. were ok it was just these particular items. i had receipts to no avail my claim was 100% legitimate i didn't claim for anything that wasn't taken. but Vhi shot it out of the water saying i should have kept valuables on me at all times??!! tried to reason that we had clothes/bags in the csae worth more than all the games put together ($180 of games) and that we only had a 6kg in flight allowance which was used with camcorder,laptop,camera's etc.. Said i wanted to appeal the decision and she told me that i was wasting my time as it would not be processed any further.

Needless to say won't be going VHI again because as far as there policy dictates you should basically bring your entire luggage onboard with you!! incidentally when you mention the 6kg allowance they are very quick to point out thats its not their problem. All wrapped up wouldn't you say!

ambro25

It's not VHI.

The item was an ARCHOS AV420, which we had used regularly to 'pacify' our little one during travels (PVRs are Godsend - can't recommend heartily enough!).

It fell out of my Mrs' handbag while it was under the seat in front during the fight, and we didn't realise until the day after (it was in a black leather pouch, couldn't readily see that it was either on the floor or still in the bag).

We called everyone possible the minute we realised: the airport police, Servisair, Ryanair (I eventually found out that Ryanair does have a "Objects Lost Onboard" desk in Dublin, but good luck finding about it and its phone number btw :rolleyes:).

We thought we had a good chance, as it was the last flight of the day, so (we assumed) the item would be found by the flight or cleaning crew. Needless to say, noone handed it in/no trace of it :mad:

XJR

Assuming all your supporting documentation, reports receipts etc are in order I can't see why it should take this long.

Every insurer has a complaints procedure, you should use this to escalate the issue and it this doesn't get results refer it to the relevant ombudsman. Hopefully the insurer is based in Ireland.

Generally when threatened with the Ombudsman insurers sit up and take notice.

NUTLEY BOY

That fine print also sets outs your rights. The onus of proof of a claim lies with the policyholder so don't get too huffy too quickly.

As the Garda report is something that the insurers get as part of the claims handling procedure they are responsible for dealing with that. As the Gardai will not give this document to you that is not your fault.

As you seem to have discharged your responsibilities in presenting the claim it now appears that the next step is a formal complaint to the insurer. The basis of complaint is one of "excessive delay" in dealing with the claim. Make it clear in your letter that you are making a formal complaint. Head the letter "COMPLAINT".

You can complain additionally that as a result of their delay you are being kept out of your money and that is a cost to you directly consequent upon their delay.

In your letter of complaint be sure to incorporate a threat that you will refer the matter to the Financial Services Ombudsman if you do not receive an immediate resolution.

Set a time limit. Insurers will dither if you let them. Give them 10 days within which to settle your claim failing which you will refer them to the Ombusdman with no further notice. If there is no action after 10 days execute the threat.

The next step is the Ombudsman on the bases of excessive delay in handling a claim, being kept out of your money for an unreasonably long period of time and that you have lodged a formal complaint with the insurers but to no avail.

2 general observations ;

(1) I would not worry about the Small Claims Court. I suspect that like a lot of insurance contracts this one probably has what is known technically as an "ouster" clause. This clause "ousts" the jurisdiction of the courts by requiring that all disputes with the insurer are referred to arbitration. In such cases if you started litigation against the insurers they could have it stayed and the issues dealt with by arbitration. There are cases where this might not apply but you just don't want to know......

(2) I must say that my dealings with insurance companies - thankfully few - are very mixed. There is a worryingly low standard of competence in some cases. Don't be fobbed off or believe half of what they tell you over the telephone. If the matter is important be sure to put the query in writing and to get the reply in writing. Even if you get a telephone reply to a query always insist on it being put in writing as some insurance company personnel suffer from terrible amnesia - even under oath .:mad:

kulareggae

hi my claim is car related i was not sure where to post my problem with my insurance company. i had a accident in april last year and till now its stil pending i recieved a letter saying i was liable but yet am i am told its still pending i am already found liable should the claim should be extended to next year even after my renewal date because no other company will take me until this is settled

Trampas

was there injured people?

this can cause claims not be settled for a long time

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

kulareggae

hello
yes there was one woman claiming injuries but since iv been found liable i rang them on tuesday and they said its still not settled as they want to negotiate the price they want to pay her and i was told this could take another year. I dont know wheithir I have been taken for a ride by my insurance

Trampas

kulareggae wrote: »

hello
yes there was one woman claiming injuries but since iv been found liable i rang them on tuesday and they said its still not settled as they want to negotiate the price they want to pay her and i was told this could take another year. I dont know wheithir I have been taken for a ride by my insurance

if the woman is still injured you will more than likely have to wait until they are recovered