General insurance is an umbrella term used to refer to any insurance policy excluding life insurance. Some common examples of general insurance include travel insurance, health insurance, home insurance, motor insurance, and marine insurance, among others. The coverage of general insurance is designed to protect you against losses sustained due to certain unforeseen events that cause you heavy damage and financial strain.
Now, apart from buying coverage,it is also extremely important that you know the right way to file a claim. Taking the correct steps will save you from a lot of hassles and ensure a speedy settlement. In this article, we have listed out 5 quick tips for you to follow when filing a general insurance claim.
- Call up your insurer immediately
As soon as you face a situation for which you need to raise a claim, the first thing that you must do is contact your insurer immediately. Therefore, always keep your insurance company’s contact details saved on your smartphone. Once you call up your insurer, they will guide you on the immediate steps that you need to follow to make a proper claim. For instance, if you are unfortunately involved in a road mishap, call up your insurer immediately, provided you are not gravely injured. Do not listen to any instructions that a by-stander might give you.
- Avoid altering the scene of the incident
This tip is really relevant when filing general insurance claims for mishaps involving your home (under home insurance) or vehicle (under motor insurance). Let us look at an example – if your vehicle has been submerged in flood water, do not attempt to start the engine or drive the car. Rather take a few pictures as evidence (provided you are on safe ground) and call your insurer immediately. Interfering with the scene of the damage by altering it in any way can affect your claim.
- Be completely honest with the details
When filing your general insurance claim, make sure to be completely honest with the details. Avoid exaggerating or adding any information that could be construed as lies. In the case of health insurance, make sure that you are 100% honest about your medical records and pre-existing illnesses when buying the policy. If you hide any information when purchasing coverage in an attempt to skip waiting periods, you might see your claims get rejected.
- Follow established time limits for claims
Every insurer has certain established time limits within which you generally need to file your claim. If you wait too long, your claim might get rejected. For instance, most car insurance providers give you a period of 1 to 2 days to file a claim; some might extend this up to a week. Do note that this period can vary for other types of general insurance. Make sure you know this time frame for filing claims when buying your coverage so that your claim does not get rejected.
- Store all bills safely
You may have to sometimes make a payment for repairs on your own before being able to claim reimbursement. In this situation, make sure to keep all bills and receipts safely for submission to your insurer.
Remember to always keep your general insurance policies active so that you enjoy constant protection. Read the fine print before buying your coverage and review your insurance needs regularly.
Good luck!
HotMail Log. She travels the world while freelancing & blogging. She has over 5 years of experience in the field with multiple awards. She enjoys pie, as should all right-thinking people.”}” data-sheets-userformat=”{“2″:23171,”3”:{“1″:0},”4″:[null,2,16777215],”10″:2,”12″:0,”14″:[null,2,2236962],”15″:”Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif”,”17″:1}”>Pooja is a digital nomad and founder of HotMail Log. She travels the world while freelancing & blogging. She has over 5 years of experience in the field with multiple awards. She enjoys pie, as should all right-thinking people.