Insurance matters

SIMPLE STEPS TO HELP SETTLE A CLAIM QUICKLY

Christopher Bates, Divisional Director, Corporate and Commercial Division, UIB Group. As a business owner, each day is a race against the clock to tick off as many jobs from your to-do list as you can. As the old saying goes: time is money. So when something goes wrong and you need make an insurance claim, it never feels like you have time to spare to navigate an often slow or complex claims process to help make things right.

However, if you want to save time and speed up the process which could mean you being reimbursed for your claim more quickly then check out some of these top time-saving tips: 1. Gather your policy information before calling your broker and have it to hand to get ahead of the game - below is a checklist:

A. Your policy number and business details; B. Your trade or occupation; C. The address you’re insured at; D. The date when the damage or loss happened; E. Your VAT status and number; F. Bank details including the sort code, account number and name of the account holder the insurer should pay – nowadays many insurers have 

an electronic payment service (which is a preferred payment method) so your money could be in your account within two hours!

2. Provide as much detail as you can.

The devil’s in the detail, so provide as much of the information as early as possible, allowing insurer’s to deal with your business insurance claim more effectively.

So, before calling to discuss your claim, try to provide as much of the following information as you can:

A. A description of your business; B. Details of exactly what happened which leads to your claim; C. The full nature and extent of your loss, including details of all damage. Don’t forget any supporting evidence you can provide, such as estimates, images or original invoices, can help insurer’s settle your claim sooner; D. A description of your business premises (if you’ve insured them), whether the premises are occupied or not and the typical hours they tend to be occupied.

Insurers are not looking for War and Peace, but the more in-depth you can go, the better they can understand the ins and outs of your claim and get it processed.

3. Store your policy information in a safe, easy-to-reach place.

Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Why not pre-empt a claim by storing the important information listed above in a secure but easy-toaccess location and downloading your policy to your laptop or phone? When you’re in the middle of an emergency, the last thing you want to be doing is wasting precious time rummaging around for your business insurance policy details. Having them nearby means you can begin the claims process quicker.

4. Get emergency repair work done as quickly as you can 5. Make the claim as soon as possible

This may sound obvious, but if an incident feels like a non-emergency, you may be tempted to leave it until after the weekend. But with an insurance claim, the early bird catches the worm, and the sooner you report your claim the quicker we can set things in motion.

We all try our best to prepare for the worst, but sometimes unexpected incidents can stop us in our tracks. Reduce stress and save time and money by keeping these five simple steps in mind if the worst happens. By staying organised, you’ll feel reassured in knowing that you can make a claim quickly and efficiently, leaving you to get back to doing what you do best: keeping your customers happy.

UIB Is the only insurance broker recommended by the BiKBBI and can be contacted via:

Damage can become worse and take longer to repair if left; for example, if a roof leak isn’t repaired, the water will continue to gather inside the structure, resulting in greater harm to not only the property, but your wallet too, due to increased expensive final repairs.

If you must call out an emergency tradesperson to help limit damage to premises following an incident, always remember to keep copies of the receipts for the work carried out. That way you can include them at the beginning of your business insurance claim, which can help the process run smoother. www.uibdirect.co.uk