Water damage: Handling claims the right way

Insurance Insights | May 24, 2017

Water damage: Handling claims the right way

Sheldon filed a water damage claim when a sprinkler in his business burst, causing considerable damage. After inspecting the loss in person, we’ve been communicating with Sheldon and his insurer to resolve the claim and address his needs.Sheldon’s insurer was preparing to send him a payment, but they also happened to file incorrect documents and we stepped in to address the oversight. Eventually, the insurer sent Sheldon a Proof of Loss (or POL).The payment was interim in the sense that the insurer was planning to advance one part to Sheldon and pay the rest at a later date. But had Sheldon signed the POL document, he may not have received the rest of his compensation. In fact, signing a POL statement is usually the end of a given claim. The key was encouraging the insurer to remove the clause that would have ended the claim and withheld Sheldon’s payment.We communicated to the claims adjuster that they needed to modify the wording in their documentation and they revised the form until we were satisfied Sheldon would receive his payment. When he received the correct form with his cheque on the way, Sheldon complemented TSG’s efficiency.This interaction showed once again the importance of doing our due diligence for customers such as reviewing all documents carefully and communicating any errors to the people who can address them. We take this responsibility upon ourselves because our customers don’t always have the time to review their insurance documents and don’t necessarily understand insurance terminology.It’s also important to recognize the impact this kind of oversight that we described above can have on customers. Any lapses that impact their business operations and continuity may end up costing them considerably. For Sheldon, not receiving the payment he was entitled to through his policy coverage would have negatively affected his pocketbook as well as disrupted his business operations.On that note, we want to hear from you. When was the last time you saved a near miss for your client? And vice versa, when was the last time your broker tipped the scale in your favour? Comment below or tweet us @TheShepherdGroup