Why you need a good Claims Team in your corner
19th July 2023
For anybody that has had to make a claim on their insurances, you will already appreciate that this is when the true value of your policy and broker are realised. Unfortunately, it is usually a case of when rather than if, and having an experienced Claims Team to fight your corner can be the difference between a positive experience, or a time of stress and anxiety.
The role of an insurance broker during the claims period should be so much more than just acting as a post box between the client and insurance company. As an integral part of the servicing team, from the point of notification, the Claims Team should be on hand to provide you with in-depth advice on how to achieve the very best results from your insurers.
We often find that real life examples can be the best way to demonstrate what we as insurance brokers do. We asked our Claims Manager, Diane Bradford, to share with us an example of a situation that happened very recently, which demonstrates perfectly the benefit that having an experienced insurance broker can bring to you.
“I was handling a Business Interruption claim, where I felt insurers were incorrectly refusing an indemnity for a second lockdown, during the pandemic. The insurers refused the claim on the basis that the indemnity period of 3 months had been exhausted by the first lockdown claim. I argued that the second lockdown was a new and different claim, and the 3 month indemnity period should be triggered anew.
Not willing to give up, I took the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) who, after many months and correspondence backwards and forwards, upheld the complaint and agreed the insurers should accept the second claim. The insurer tried to appeal to no avail, and the FOS issued their decision in our client’s favour.
Just this week, over two years after the claim was first made, a payment in the region of £29,000 was received by the policyholder.
I will always fight for our clients when I feel an insurer is in the wrong or dealing with a claim unfairly!”
At COHIBL, we are extremely proud to have one of the most experienced Claims Teams in the industry, who have been fighting in the corner of our clients for over 25 years. Where other brokers can tend to ‘go missing’ at the point when a claim is submitted, avoiding calls, or dragging their feet with responses, we pride ourselves on the level of customer service and support that we provide, always embodying our ‘we care’ ethos.