Most common causes of claims rejection

Since insurers keep numbers on claims they are best placed to advise the most common reasons for claims not being paid.

For example, when it comes to vehicle insurance it is amazing how many people “drive unlicensed, drunk or with worn tyres,or fail to renew their vehicle tracker contract, claim security they don’t have, or use vehicles for uses that they did not insure” says Dombo, Managing Director, Alexander Forbes Insurance.

Similarly, the biggest cause of claim repudiation when it comes to home contents is a malfunctioning alarm.

“If an alarm does not work because it is poorly maintained, the monitoring contract has been allowed to expire, or it is not switched on when the home is left unattended, your insurer is unlikely to pay” says Dombo.

Another common cause for home contents claim repudiation is that very often insured parties do not have all the protections that they claim on their proposal form, like burglar bars, electric fences, or security gates on all doors.

Withbuilding insurance the most common cause of claim failure is lack of maintenance, making certain types of building damage inevitable. For example:

• roofs collapse because timbers have rotted
• tiles blow off because their nails have rusted through
• gutters silt up causing walls to become damp and plaster to bulge or crack
• waterproofing is allowed to deteriorate causing water damage

A simple rule that Dombo advises home owners to apply when trying to work out whether they can claimforwater damage is “if you have a rainwater leakeven though there has not been a stormthe problem must be maintenance since a home should be able to withstand ordinary rain.”

It must also be remembered that when people stipulate that they have a vehicle tracking device, a home alarm system or a well maintained property their insurer rates, and prices,

their risk according to theinformation received. “If the risk is then changed without notifying the insurer, or was incorrect in the first place, this can lead to claims rejection” warns

Dombo.

As such, “if people allow their vehicles or their homes to fall into a state of disrepair, such that they become more likely to be involved in accidents or suffer or cause loss, any

insurance claims arising might be rejected as loss arising from poor maintenance” concludes Dombo.