You never know when you might need to call on your insurance carrier to cover a claim. Life is unpredictable and anyone can have a momentary lapse in judgment. Below are a couple of bizarre but actual explanations I came across that were given by people making insurance claims:

“Coming home, I drove into the wrong house, and collided with a tree I haven’t got.”

“I thought the side window was down, but it was up, as I found when I put my head through it.”

Most pay for insurance and expect it to be there when needed. Some insurance companies provide exceptional service and are always there when you need them. Unfortunately, others make the claim process more difficult. They get in touch with you immediately if you miss a payment but are slow to respond to your claim. Some estimates suggest that thousands of insurance claims are unjustly denied each year.

Sometimes a simple error causes a denial of your claim and your persistence can get the error corrected quickly. Having a local, trusted insurance broker to go to bat for you can be helpful.  However, sometimes the denial is more than just a simple error and getting the coverage you paid for takes more effort. It can be helpful to think of your insurance policy as a contract. You agreed to pay the insurance premiums and the insurance company agreed to provide coverage if called upon. Unless the language of the insurance policy excludes a specific type of claim, the insurance company will generally be obligated to provide coverage. That’s why you should read your policy carefully.

At the same time, insurance policies are generally long, difficult to understand, and filled with “legalese.” Still, an insurance company has an obligation to ensure the policy language is reasonably clear. If the policy is ambiguous, coverage can’t be arbitrarily denied when you have reasonably interpreted the policy as providing coverage. The lack of clarity in the policy’s language will be construed in your favor and the insurance company must cover your claim as long as your interpretation of the policy is reasonable.

By: Bo Binghamn

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