What Happens When An Insurance Claim Is Made Against You?

Should you be honest with insurance claim

You should bear in mind that honesty is, in fact, the best policy in the realm of car insurance as well. Fraudulent claims are viewed very seriously in the industry. Being dishonest with the insurance provider may affect your future premiums and even pose issues when you apply for insurance from another provider!

What are unfair terms in insurance?

When is a term unfair? – A term can be declared to be unfair where:

reliance on the term would cause a significant imbalance in rights between each of the parties; the term is not necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the party who is relying on it; and one party would suffer detriment if the term was to be relied upon.

The extent to which the term is transparent and the context of the contract as a whole must also be taken into account. Certain terms are exempt from the UCT regime. These are terms that:

define the main subject matter of the contract; set the upfront price payable under the contract, to the extent that the price term is transparent; or are required or expressly permitted by any enactment.

Can I claim if it was my fault?

In order to make a successful personal injury compensation claim, you need to be able to prove that the accident was caused due the negligence of another person or company. It is therefore not possible to make a claim if you were entirely at fault for causing the accident.

Who pays the excess on an insurance claim?

When do you pay excess on car insurance? – You pay the excess in the event of any claim made on your insurance policy regardless of who’s to blame. However, if it’s proved the accident was the other person’s fault and the full cost is recovered from their insurer, you may be able to recover this amount. : How does car insurance excess work? – Admiral.com

Is it better to have high or low excess

Why would I choose to have a voluntary excess? – The amount of voluntary excess you have can significantly impact the cost of your car insurance premium. By choosing a higher voluntary excess, you will reduce your premium, but you will also have to pay more if you do make a claim.

If you choose a lower voluntary excess, your premium may be higher because your insurer will have to pay more in the event of a claim. If you consider yourself to be a sensible and careful driver who isn’t likely to be involved in an accident, you might decide to have a higher excess because you think you’re less likely to have to pay it.

When getting an insurance quote, try changing the voluntary excess to see how it affects your quoted premium. Many experienced drivers recognise that years of driving gives them a relatively low probability of making a claim, so they may make the decision to pay a higher voluntary excess and benefit from lower premiums.

Why do insurance companies ask for excess?

Why is there an excess? – Excesses help to deter fraud and reduce the number of very low-value claims. Having to pay an excess means anyone making a claim is more likely to be genuine – it’s a way for insurers to protect against fraud and false claims.

What is maximum repair cost?

Maximum Repair Cost (MRC): the MRC is a standard established by DND to guard against the possibility of an item being repaired at a cost that exceeds its replacement value to DND.

Why is excess important in insurance?

Excess – it’s one of those tricky insurancey things that can cause confusion and frustration. So, we thought it was about time to answer your questions around this topic. An excess is the amount that you contribute to a claim. If you make a claim and it’s accepted, your insurer will pay the repair or replacement costs that are over your excess amount.

Basic or standard excess – this excess is just like it sounds, a standard excess that would apply to any claim. Different policies have different standard excesses, for example, many car policies will have a standard excess of $400 along with age related additional amounts for the driver (see below). Most contents policies will have a standard excess of $250, and many home policies will have a standard excess of $400. That’s why it’s important to review your policy documents and check what your excess is. Voluntary excess – a voluntary excess is where you can choose a higher excess for a lower premium. Most home and contents policies allow you to choose a voluntary excess. For example, on a contents policy you could choose to have an excess of $750, $1,000 or $1,500. On a home policy you could choose to have an excess of $550, $750, $1,000, $1,500, $2,500, $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000. This is a great option if you don’t claim much and are prepared to pay more towards any claim. Imposed excess – an imposed excess is one that we set. This usually occurs when there is a higher risk, for example if your home is going to be unoccupied for a long period of time (60 days or more), we may impose a higher excess while the home is vacant, or if your vehicle type is popular among thieves we may impose a higher excess. Age and licence related excess – If you, or one of the drivers of your car is under 25, an additional age-related excess will apply if they are involved in an accident while driving the car. This age-related excess is in addition to the basic/standard excess. The amount ranges, depending on their age at the time of the accident and whether they are named as a driver on the policy or not. In addition to age, your licence type may have an impact on your excess. If you hold a learner, restricted or overseas licence, you may have an additional excess applied on top of your basic/standard excess and any applicable age excess. These additional excesses will be noted on your policy schedule.

The excess helps keep the cost of handling and meeting insurance claims down and so the premiums everyone pays are cheaper. Whenever you make a claim, an excess will be required to be paid, unless it’s specifically stated otherwise in the policy wording.

1. There are some instances where no excess will apply, for example, on our Car Comprehensive policy if you’ve selected the optional ‘Windscreen and windows’ cover then no excess will apply if your claim is just for a broken or chipped windscreen (page 8 of the Car Insurance policy wording ).
2. This depends on the type of claim and item you’re claiming on.

Most of the time your excess will be paid directly to the supplier or repairer (such as the panel beater or appliance store). If you have a total loss (where the item isn’t being repaired but we pay you a settlement instead), then we will deduct the amount of your excess from your settlement amount.

1. When you lodge a claim, we will let you know who your excess needs to be paid to.
2. No – it’s the amount that applies irrespective of whether you, someone else or mother nature caused the damage.
3. An excess applies to all claims, unless it’s stated otherwise in the policy wording.
4. If you have a claim under both your State home and State contents policies for the same incident at your home, you will only have to pay one excess which will be the highest excess of the two policies (the policy with the lowest excess will have its excess waived).

If you have Car Comprehensive cover with State, you have Excess Protection cover. This means that if an identifiable driver of another vehicle causes loss that is covered by your policy, we will waive or refund your excess as long as the following criteria are met.

You must give us enough information to establish that the driver of the other vehicle was completely at fault, the registration number of the other vehicle and information we need to identify the driver (including name and address), and reasonable help to recover your claim from the driver of the other vehicle, or from its owner.

In other situations (e.g. someone crashes into your home’s front fence) where we recover the full costs of your claim from the responsible person or their insurer, we will be able to reimburse your excess. Your excess will be noted on your policy schedule and some can be in the policy wording.

1. The policy schedule is a document that we will send you when you first insure your home, car or contents, as well as at each renewal.
2. If you have an online account already, simply login and download a copy of the latest documents we sent you.
3. If you don’t already have an online account, register here with your policy number.

You can also find excess information in the policy wording as some claim types have a different excess (from what’s on your policy schedule), for example, if you make a claim for a broken window in the house that you live in, the excess is noted as $250 in the policy wording.

What does it mean to void insurance?

Void means without legal effect; unenforceable. A number of actions on the part of the insured can render coverage under an insurance policy void.

What is not to void insurance?

Not to do or permit anything to be done which would render any other policy of insurance on the Premises or any part thereof void or voidable or which would cause an increase in the insurance premiums.

Can I cancel my insurance policy and get my money back

If you choose to cancel your policy, or your insurance company cancels it, you typically won’t get a car insurance refund unless you’ve paid the premium in advance.

How do I write a letter of withdrawal for a claim

I/ We _hereby agree to withdraw my/ our claim(s) and discharge the Insurers and/ or their agents from all of my/ our claims, present or future, in connection with or in any way arising out of an occurrence at _