Oakleafe Claims - Logo
Oakleafe Claims
related

news

Having a disaster in your home or business, is to say the least, a very traumatic experience and now you have the responsibility with dealing and submitting a complex and difficult Insurance Claim.

Fortunately, you have prepared well. The good news is that you have a strong insurance policy covering you against such circumstance, you have paid your premiums on time, year after year.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that the impending insurance claim you’re about to make will often seem more frightening with great difficulties and stress in comparison to the actual disaster.

Why are Insurance Claims Difficult?

Insurance Claims are Difficult because it the responsibility of the policyholder to prepare and present their claim to the Insurance Company. This could often mean you would have to quantify and justify every single aspect of the loss while trying to keep things afloat.

Insurance companies would send out their own Loss Adjuster whose sole responsibility is to represent the Insurance’s interest and investigate the cause of the incident. Additionally, they can try to interrogate you and find any possible faults which might be used to deny the claim.

Difficult Insurance Claims Lead to Repudiation

Did you know that 1 in 5 Home Insurance Claims are Repudiated (Not Paid Out). When facing difficult Insurance claims, it is common when policyholders do not not read the fine print in their insurance policies and may often find they have not met some of conditions in a policy.

Click here to Read More

Loss Assessors can handle Difficult Insurance Claims

Loss Assessors work and represent the policyholder in the event of an Insurance Claim. Loss Assessors are independent Insurance Claim experts who can take the stress away from your claim. They work for you the policyholder, and only you. They can use their expertise knowledge and skills to deal with Difficult Insurance Claims. Loss Assessors will aim to get everything you are entitled to.

Click Here to read more about Loss Assessors

How Oakleafe Can Help with Difficult Insurance Claims

Oakleafe is the only party in the claim process which is on your side. Insurers appoint their own specialists to look after their interests to limit the levels of their liability. We are interested exclusively in your interests, to ensure you receive everything you are entitled to under the policy.

Having handled hundreds of complex and difficult Insurance Claims with the experience of over 8 Generations. We are confident to handle all the claim process from the beginning, until the end. where we can negotiate and ensure you are returned to a pre-loss position.

Every single claim will be unique in a certain way. Whether you have experienced a Flood or a Fire & Smoke Damage, we are able to handle all aspects of the claim.

Process in an Insurance Claim

As Insurance Assessors, we take our clients through every step of the Insurance Claim and we keep them up to date with every progress made. Difficult Insurance Claims can potentially be very complex but have made a quick list below that summarises the average process in handling an Insurance Claim.

  • Notification - After an incident your Insurance Company needs to be notified of the incident.
  • Mitigation - All policies place a responsibility on the policy holder to mitigate or prevent the damage from worsening.
  • Appointing an Assessor - Our experienced in-house Assessors would be assigned to your claim who will use their wealth of experience to manage all aspects of the claim.
  • Restoration - Depending on the type of claim, a professional restoration approach would be undertaken to ensure material damage is kept to a minimum.
  • Scope of Specification - Charted Surveyors, Structural Engineers, Contamination Experts and other professionals prepare detailed quantification of the loss. All reports and claim documents would then be submitted to the insurer.
  • Negotiation - We will undertake all meetings, phone calls, communications and negotiations to achieve a satisfactory settlement.
  • Approval - Once Insurers or their representatives approve the claim we prepared and submitted to them, funds are released to enable works or professional services to commence.

If you require any information, feel free to contact us and we would be happy to help you!

Contact Us

Insurance Claim Services

Domestic Insurance Damage Claim

Commercial Insurance Damage Claim

Related Claims and Topics

Insurance Policies are designed to help cover loss during a disaster in a home or business. But they require conditions to be met by the policyholder. Disasters cannot always be avoided buy we have come up with a list of common disasters and ways minimise and identify some of the potential dangers in your home.


fire-disaster.jpg

How to How to Prevent Fire Disaster

Fires can be catastrophic with overwhelming consequences in just a matter of minutes. They can be easily prevented with a few simple measures and checks. Please follow the list to ensure that you minimise the chances of a fire in your home:

“Did you know, just over half of home heating fire resulted from fires caused by heating equipment too close to things that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing, mattresses or bedding.”

  • Smoke Alarms are cheap and very easy to install, you are 4 times more likely to survive a fire if you have a functioning smoke alarm. Do not forget to test your smoke alarm regularly and change the battery if required.
  • All Appliances should have an CE marking for safety standards.
  • Old Cooking Appliances Should Be In Good Condition: You should make sure that old cooking appliances are well looked after and are in good working condition. Each year many fires start due to heating equipment that hasn’t been maintained.
  • During winters, electrical heaters can be often useful to quickly warm up, but they must be kept clear of any sheets, window curtains or any other ignitable materials.

For additional fire prevention and knowledge, please visit your local fire services for free advice. If you have had a home fire, click here to see how Oakleafe Claims can help you.


storm-disaster.jpg

How to Prevent Weather Damage:

Although we cannot control the weather. There are still many things which we can do so that we can reduce the risks, or even prevent some of the potential problems that might occur during bad weather.

  • Clear Guttering: During a stormy weather a clogged gutter can potentially cause problems on your roof that can lead to leaks.
  • Plumbing should be in good condition to prevent pipes from freezing with the potential of a burst pipe and escape of water.
  • Broken or loose roof tiles should be fixed as this can prevent leaks and potentially prevent other tiles from breaking during a bad storm.

theft-disaster.jpg

How to Prevent Theft:

Anyone who has experienced burglary in their home will tell you it makes you feel violated, apprehensive and at a loss of your next move. There are different ways that can potentially detour thieves

All Entrances are secured and avoid leaving a spare key under a door mat or somewhere hidden.

  • Fences and other Entrances are well maintained, broken or unmaintained entrances can open vulnerabilities.
  • High Value Items like Jewellery are kept in a safe or out of sight.
  • Consider CCTV and/or Smart Home Security Systems – Just the sight of camera or the alarm is enough to detour most thieves.

eow-disaster.jpg

How to Prevent Burst Pipes

Pipes freeze because frozen water takes up more space inside your pipes than its liquid form, expanding and causing the metalwork to buckle.

Fact: A large portion of burst pipes occur in the winter due to a drop in temperature.

Here is a list of things you can try to prevent burst pipes.

  • Consider Lagging all internal pipework – in particular, pipes in lofts.
  • Watch out for changes in your home, drops in boiler pressure or discoloration to floors could all be signs of a leak.
  • Insulating your pipes and water tanks to prevent them from freezing.
  • Turn off water if you are going away

Engage a Loss Assessor:

Loss Assessors are independent Insurance Claim experts who can take the stress away from your claim. They work for you the policyholder, and only you. Using their expertise knowledge in Flood DamageImpact DamageFire Insurance Claims and Theft Insurance Claims, they have the skills to handle your Insurance Claim from the beginning to your pre-loss condition. Loss Assessors will aim to get everything you are entitled to.  It is important to engage a Loss Assessor as early as possible as they can ensure the entire process proceeds in the correct manner and your claim is not prejudiced negatively.

Fire Fact Source: http://www.firstalert-online.co.uk/fire-safety-facts/

Related Claims and Topics

Family flood claim rejected by insurance company.

An Insurance Company has been accused of “giving the industry a bad name” for rejecting a Flood Damage Insurance Claim by a family whose home was hit by flooding near Bridgend.

How Insurance Companies Operate

Insurance Companies can often interrogate you and make you feel you are the one to blame. They will investigate and attempt to find any possible evidence to disprove your claim. Often they expect you to use technical terminology to provide your case. Insurers always have the mindset to pay the minimum possible claim sum. And if you do not have a solid case, the chances of a claim succeeding are slim.

Mark Jenkins has been told by Ocaso his claim in November is being refused because he did not declare the house in Maesteg was within 200m of a river.

Ogmore AM Huw-Irranca Davies said the flooding was nothing to do with the river and the firm was “unreasonable”.

Ocaso said it was “in discussions” with Mr Jenkins.

Mr Jenkins estimates it caused about £50,000 of damage to his house and is challenging Ocaso’s decision not to pay out.

How Loss Assessors can help

In a situation like this, a qualified and experienced Claims Assessor can run a full scope of work. This would mean the Assessor would provide complete reports and Quantified sheets. These reports would disprove the allegation of the Insurer that the evidence they provide is irrelevant to this claim.

“It’s a bit of a struggle as you can imagine, four of us in one room,” he said.

“[Our] two-year-old [was] looking forward to one of his first major Christmases in the house, that’s not going to happen.

“It’s just utter devastation at the moment – we’re just making do.

“We’re just lucky we’ve got close family to put us up because otherwise we’re effectively homeless because we can’t live here.”

In this incident where the house can no longer be inhabited, Loss Assessors would  help you find alternative accommodation and oversee the welfare of you and your family while the house is being restored to its pre-loss position. Insurance Loss Assessors will aim to get everything you are entitled to.  It is important to engage a Loss Assessor as early as possible as they can ensure the entire process proceeds in the correct manner and your claim is not prejudiced negatively.

For the full article follow the link to read more.

Source: BBC News

Related Claims and Topics
You may be a good negotiator but are you an expert in insurance? 
DON’T GO IT ALONE.

GET IN TOUCH

If you have been declined whilst trying to claim on your domestic or commercial insurance, we can help. We can also help with professional services, for example, Brokers, VAR Valuations and Managing Agents.

envelopephone