Genuine Fire on Building, No Claim Settlement Insurer Denial, No Foul Play exist. Why No claim?
When I joined the public listed insurer. The branch manager gave me a heap of a mountain of claim files. I went through diligently till the wee hours of the morning in the cozy comfort of my house. After one month local training, off I attended another 2 weeks HQ training by the senior underwriting and claim manager.
There was one case that caught my full attention. A genuine fire broke out razed a motorcycle repair shop to the ground. The insurer refused to pay a single cent to the pathetic insured even though there is no foul play involving. Why? Why? Why?
As I was a greenhorn in the insurance industry, I noted down the detail of the insured contact hoping to interview the ill-fated insured. My mind just wanted to solve the puzzle. No wonder the 1st chapter in any insurance textbook, the insurer alway denial any liability whatsoever.
By pull string. I managed to interview Mr. So & So.
” Another guy from the insurance company, G ….et…ou? He yielded at me at the top of his voice. I startled by thunder voice, almost run off as if there was a tiger on hot pursuit me from behind.
Luckily, I was with my friend during the commotion. I hold a deep breath and using my gentle and soft voice to pacify him down.
” Sorry, Mr. So & SO, I am not here to rub salt in your wound, but rather trying to rectify the mistake so that in future the public would not be the next victim like you that had undergone a painful experience.” I consoled him. Here goes his part of the story.
When he purchased the shop lot under construction from the famed developer. He took 90% margin loan from another public listed bank having their own insurance company. At first, he intended to use the shop lot as his own office but later changed his mind due to the masses traffic jam during the office hour. It was vacant for 2 years after obtaining the CFO.
Every year, the bank would auto renew his shop lot fire insurance with auto debit from his current account, with no question by both parties. On the third year, he rented out to a motorcycle repairing shop with spraying painting been carried out at the back of the shop lot. Everything went fine, without any mishap.
On the fifth year, a night fire broke out burnt the shop lot into ashes. The main causes due to the spraying painting been carried out in the shop. The fire claim adjuster wrote detail final report to the insurer.
Insurer repudiates the claim based on the change of occupation on the building. A vacant risk is less fire hazard comparing with the spraying painting motorcycle repair shop. Thus the insured pay a lesser premium. In this case, neither the bank is ignorance or the insured is cheating, which is hard to prove. But I know Mr.So & So still paying the bank not existed shop lot. How pitiful! That the “Utmost good faith” in my next series.
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Insurance is always tricky and they will try to get out of a claim every time. There is so much you have to prove to make sure you get your money.
Insurances are not that tricky and scarcely provided that you know the law of insurance, policy detail, exclusion clauses. I love insurance claim. Thanks for your comment and reading my article.
I have never done insurance of anything in my life. Still there is more to read about it for me. But your post has given me an insight of insurance policy. Thanks for sharing this useful information
No life or car insurance. NO student insurance as well? There is a primary student policy for us here in Malaysia. Just be careful when you receive a policy, read through all small print, you can cancel the policy within 14 days during the cooling period, and seek for the full refund of the premium that you had earlier paid. Thanks for reading my article.
I think people rarely have good experiences dealing with insurance companies, but this story is harsh.
Insurance companies need your money NOW, but when you have a claim it’s all “let’s look at everything in detail and take our time”. If they can find any way out of paying they will – and they wonder why people think badly of them.
The story is not harsh, but in the reality it is true. You come across of public grievances been highlighted in the local daily newspaper.
So we have to outsmart the insurer when dealing with a claim.The Insurer is well known for denying their liability. Thanks for the comments.