How to make an insurance claim

So many things happen around us every day that involve an insurance claim.

Just turn on the TV and you hear about the devastating floods or the wild storms levelling homes.

Then you hear the frightening statistics like nearly 420,000 burglaries happened in Australia last year. That's one every 1.25 minutes!! (Source AAMI). Then you hear on the radio every morning the number of car accidents on the local roads.

Sorry to sound so depressing but these things are a fact of life that happen but at the end of the day someone has to pay for it all.

That's exactly the reason why we have insurance. Otherwise we could be up for some very large bills to put things back the way they were. Yes we may grumble when we have to pay the premiums but when it comes to the one time we need to make a claim our attitude somehow changes completely to those premiums.

There are many tragic stories of people not having insurance who are pushed right to the edge financially simply because they didn't have insurance. I'm not just talking home and contents or car insurance I'm talking all forms of insurance like - life, health and income protection.

OK so having insurance is one thing but knowing how to claim on it is a totally separate thing. Filling out the claim form or knowing when to claim can be a tad confusing.

Inorder to take some of the mystery out I spoke to the Insurance Council of Australia and they helped me put together the following list of things to do before you make the claim :

1. Gather as much information as you can :

In the case of a car accident  - Get the full name of the other driver, their drivers licence number, the name of their insurer, their home address, home, work and mobile number, the registration number, the make and model, colour, the exact location of the accident. The street or road name, nearest cross street, the name and numbers of witnesses, the name of the police officer (if one is called). Too much information is never a problem.

In the case of a fire or burglary  - Being prepared makes claiming ever so easy therefore here's a few things to have pre prepared - Have a list of brand types and serial numbers of electrical equipment, take photos of the house inside and out and especially take photos of your more valuable possessions, make sure that you revalue everything when your policy renewal comes in - don't forget to add Christmas and birthday gifts.

In case of a health claim - Look into your policy and find out exactly what you can claim. Keep all receipts and claim as soon as you have had the procedure or treatment.

2. Fill out the form correctly - follow the form carefully using all of the information you gathered earlier. If you have some difficulty call your insurance provider and ask for their help. Whatever you do, don't make a false claim - insurance fraud adds $20 to every policy and insurance companies take fraud very seriously, with many having their own fraud detection officers.