Insurance Company Checking Up?

[milly143]

We hired an item for a job we were working on. The item got stolen from the site so we reported it to the police and the hire company. Because of it's high value, we decided to put a claim through our insurance, sending them the forms they asked us to fill in and a copy of the loss invoice from the hire company. They are sending someone to our office today from the insurance company to speak to us. Does that mean they are suspicious or is that normal procedure? We've never made any claims on the insurance before.

[flip_flop]

oh Pinki - are we really going to play Top Trumps?

OK then, I have been in international re-insurance for the best part of 20 years with a Lloyd's re-insurance broker and am FCII qualified.

[R1Geezer]

it think flipflop this is a case of terminology. Your descripion is technically correct but we all know the effect of their work is to reduce payout wherever possible.

[flip_flop]

...and a case of experience Geezer, and in my experience having dealt with loss adjusters hundreds of times over the past 20 or so years, I have found they have always impartially adjusted the loss in line with the terms and conditions of the policy.

Yes OK, sometimes you have to nudge them in the right direction, but that is simple negotiation.

[woozer]

If, as some of you think, Loss Adjusters are reducing the cost of many claims then this may well be because the claims were inflated or outside the terms of the policy to start with. In which case they are doing us all a service by reducing the cost of claims and as a knock on effect helping to keep premium increases to a minimum.
If they are not acting in an unbiased manner they should be reported.
Having worked in insurance companies and brokerages since 1972 and dealt with many different types of claim, I cannot recall more than a handful of instances where an Adjuster seemed to make inappropriate decisions and these were never left unquestioned by the other professionals involved with the case.

[bennhoughton]

flip flop ins indeed right!

what some people dont quite understand is that an insurance policy is a contract, and in all contracts, if one party does not keep their side of the deal, then the other side does not have to keep to their side of the deal either, it is always good practice to read through your policy to ensure you know what is or isnt covered, as well as to understand any further obligations you may have.

Unfortunately these days, some insurance companies (generally the cheap ones) put alot of clauses etc into their wordings...more clauses = less claims paid out = they are able to charge lower premiums

[bennhoughton]

and to add further clarity...it is the role of the loss adjuster to make sure the contract has been fulfilled correctly - if one has issues with the loss adjuster, they can always hire a loss assessor, or if they have taken the policy out through a broker (always recommended) then the broker will be able to assist

[DTCwordfan]

You'zza pays for what you'zza get

Applies to insurance companies.

In fact as time has gone on I use ones that are regional - they are much more convivial to deal with and often offer better deals than the big ones when you look at the sum of the parts........and the comment on looking at the clauses was an important one.