Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

While we eagerly wait for the monsoon every year, excessive rains can cause severe damage to life and property. Insurance is the only scientific method of ensuring recovery from such disasters, at least in terms of the economic value of the assets lost.
Any person holding policies such as the householder’s policy, house policy, motor policy, etc., may hope to get
adequate compensation by way of claims settlement. However, the process is not as simple as one expects it to be on the basis of the face value of the policy. The policyholder has to be very cautious and careful while lodging the claim with the insurer.

Submit details for claims
As soon as the flood recedes, the policyholder has to get hold of his policy document. If the document is not retrievable, then trace the policy number from a soft copy. He should then read the terms and conditions and prepare a list of damages and submit it to the insurer. Care should be taken not to displace or remove such items from the place of occurrence. The normal response of the insurer would be to depute a loss assessor to inspect the affected site or the damaged property. Hence the items should be allowed to be inspected in the as is where is condition.

Insurers have their own yardstick to evaluate the loss caused in such situations. The fine print is the description of exclusions from the cover. The insurers print certain conditions under which the expected claims are excluded. In normal course of transactions while buying a policy, the customer may not be made aware of such exclusions. Policyholders should be very careful while buying a policy and while filing claims. If they are not satisfied with the assessment of loss made by the insurer they need to insist on a review of the assessment before signing the discharge voucher for settlement of claims. One of the major losses suffered by people in urban areas is in respect of motor vehicle.

By Kamalji Sahay

See Full Story at www.financialexpress.com

Every day we read about fires, floods and other tragedies that occur. They seem to be so prevalent, now than ever before. The old notion that “it can’t happen to my family” is not the best approach to being ready if you are faced with a claim. Preparation is the key to readiness in the world of insurance. These five tips can easily be implemented just in case:

1. Check your coverage now – not after a catastrophic event for your family. Know and ask in writing if all your insurance needs are covered and your financial limits are sufficient. A phone call to your agent or broker can start the process, but at the conclusion of the process confirm any advice or adjustments in writing, and save it in your insurance file. Policies and important correspondence can be imaged and saved in the cloud so it’s retrievable if a big loss occurs. Ask your child or grandchild how to do this if you do not understand the cloud storage and retrieval system.

2. Video your belongings and save in the cloud. – Use your smart phone to video your home, contents, boats, etc. Talk about the items in the viewfinder as you go. If there are expensive personal items, note their worth and ask your agent or broker if such items need to be “scheduled”—detailed with agreed upon amounts. You pay a little extra on these items but you can then recover their actual value if lost. Most “personal property” items fall under a general category under most homeowner policies and may not be sufficient.

3. Scheduled items should be updated every 3-5 years with the assistance and input from your agent or broker. This step is easy to forget. Rings, watches, art, etc. can change in value. Again, confirm changes in writing.

By Robert K. Scott

See full story at www.mondaq.com