Submitting an Insurance Claim

Loss adjusters may check everything.

When you submit your insurance claim, the loss adjuster's job is to check it for quantity (exactly how many Calvin Klein underpants did you lose, sir?), description (thong or jockey?) and pricing (discount store or the real thing?).

Nothing, but nothing, is sacred.

He or she will also check whether there are any other policies that can be claimed against - such as household insurance.

If so, he'll dole out the loss to each policy

Settlement figure

After agreeing on any necessary fine-tuning with you and any other insurance company involved, he'll present the final report to your holiday travel insurer together with the all- important settlement figure.

A lot of people have a tendency to, well; exaggerate their claims, as they don't expect the travel insurance provider to pay in full.

This is where the loss adjuster's Sherlock Holmes' instinct comes to the fore.

A major part of his job is detecting fraudulent (bad faith) claims or exorbitant claims - not a good idea, unless you want to be blacklisted by other insurers.

Don't fantasise

So if the loss adjuster comes knocking on your door, the best advice is to leave nothing to chance or his guesstimate.

And don't fantasise.

Back up your case with full and prompt concrete information including medical/hospital bills, receipts and proof of ownership/value and, if relevant, the Police crime reference number.

A settlement where you, the claimant, and the loss adjuster are in total agreement is, well, rare.

Even when we feel hard done by, many of us agree to the loss adjuster's recommendations just so that we can to draw a line under what is often an unpleasant situation.

Institute Of Public Loss Assessors

For details of a loss assessor in your area, contact -