It Pays to be Insured
Russell Scanlan’s claims department is enjoying a great deal of success, acting on behalf of clients and securing pay-outs for a wide cross section of clients. In the last two years, nearly £8 million has been secured on behalf of clients. Claims manager, Steve Wright, has worked with many individuals and organisations across a range of business sectors, from retail to manufacturing. Here, he explains more about what the claims department does.
Some cases we work on can, due to the size or complexity, be put under the microscope by insurers. Understandably, the larger the claim the more scrutiny it is placed under as insurers rightly want to ensure that contractual agreements have been met. It’s our job to present a robust case on behalf of the client throughout the whole process. In many cases, we can shorten what can often be a lengthy process which clients appreciate.
Our role is also to add value to the service we provide and I believe the success of the claims department embodies what Russell Scanlan does on behalf of its clients. Going above and beyond is something we strongly believe in and this is reflected in our focus on client service and relationship management with our clients.
About 90% of our claims are commercial, across a range of business sectors, but despite this diversity we definitely see patterns and trends emerging.
As to be expected, we see seasonal clusters of claims. Bad weather drives motor and property claims, whilst the summer months see a large rise in theft claims – the type of requests we receive remain pretty consistent.
One of the largest and growing threats to businesses is flooding – unpredictable, short bursts that are difficult to predict and therefore difficult to prepare for. Localised flooding always causes a sharp rise in insurance claims from our clients due to property damage and unfortunately this is bound of continue, if not worsen. My advice would be that common sense prevails in these situations; patch up any tiny property defects you have been meaning to fix over the summer months, before it’s too late.
Policy holders are becoming very savvy about how to make a claim, and the market has seen a large increase since the economic crash. Some see insurance as a ‘piggy bank’ that they have been paying into – luckily the vast majority of clients we deal with are rightfully entitled to their pay outs and the only cases we aren’t able to win are those where a clear and strict policy was put into place, invalidating a claim.
All in all, the current claims market is strong and steady. It always helps to have a broker on your side, who knows exactly where to look to make insurance help you in the way it should and I think our approach over the past two years demonstrates this.
If you would like to find out more, please contact a member of the Russell Scanlan team who will be happy to discuss your requirements on an informal basis.
