DISASTER RECOVERY MANAGEMENT: GOING THROUGH YOUR INSURANCE CLAIMS PROCESS

By Ekerete Ola Gam-Ikon

Life after any disaster or accident should justify having the appropriate insurance policy, just like having the right family and friends. The desire is always to return victims to the condition which they were before the unexpected events.

Managing this period can be quite nightmarish for so many people despite the insurance coverages both by insurers and family and friends.

Let’s share some tips on how this can be made easier:

• As an Insured or Policyholder confronted with a disaster like the type that occurred in Ibadan, we will assume you had an Insurance Broker, who had handled the placement of your risk – personal house or hospitality centre;

• As your Insurer and Broker must have advised, you should have contacted them immediately after you confirmed that the explosion affected you. Sometimes, relating with the Insurance Broker is sufficient;

• In response, the Insurer’s Representatives will arrive within 24 hours to conduct the preliminary assessment of the situation, with your Broker present to set the right tone for interaction. You should let your Broker, as much as possible, speak on your behalf because you’re too traumatized to speak or respond reasonably to questions;

• Your Insurer will decide, based on the severity of the damage, to appoint a Loss Adjuster. Ensure that your Insurance Broker is always around to interface and interact with the professionals. Loss Adjusters are independent and should assess the situation in the best professional manner;

• To return you, the Policyholder, to the position you were before the explosion (remember you’re the only one who knows this), you would’ve been required to complete an Insurance Claims Form. In it, you will provide all necessary information that you have, including, importantly, the estimated costs of the repairs and replacements that are required;

• Your Estimate should not be more than the value (sum insured) of your property as stated in the Policy Document (Contract). If it is more than the Sum Insured, your Insurer will only deal with that Sum Insured and your Insurance Broker understands this;

• Your Insurer will acknowledge the receipt of your Estimate, then send it to the appointed Loss Adjuster, who will make contact with you to agree on a date for the assessment;

• As stated earlier, always ensure your Insurance Broker is around for such meetings, and this time, also ensure you have your Engineers who gave you the Estimate to interact with the Loss Adjuster. You and your Insurance Broker are unlikely to understand the technicalities associated with the needed repairs and replacements;

• Understand that there are bound to be some disagreements and arguments in the course of adjusting the losses. While the Loss Adjuster is guided by the Policy, you’re most probably guided by the market prices and the need to make sure your place looks even better than it was. However, remember that you’re not supposed to gain from your claims;

• After this challenging and sometimes, humbling experience with the Loss Adjuster, there will an agreement on what the Insurer should pay, and this is what is conveyed to them by the Loss Adjuster;

• At this point, your Insurer will send you a Discharge Voucher (DV), indicating the amount to be paid in settlement of the claims, for your assent. You’re now almost done with the Insurance Claims Process; and

• Your Bank Account will be credited with the agreed sum as stated in the executed DV or a Bank Draft might be issued in your favour. This could happen within minutes after your Insurer received the signed DV from you.

Your insurance claim has been PAID!

What I’ve learnt from experiences and often advise insurance policyholders to do is: Endeavour to know, especially from your Insurance Broker, the requirements for settlement of claims.

For example, if the documents you need to make an insurance claim are in the affected property and therefore lost, your claims process will be delayed because you’ll need to go and get a Court Affidavit for that.

From the above description, it’s possible for your claims to be settled in 10 days or 20 days, depending on the resources available to all stakeholders in the process.

The important and critical message here is to be prepared to make your Insurer pay your claim in time! That’s why it is always recommended that you have an Insurance Broker.

Hopefully, this will help some insurance policyholders and claimants have better insurance experiences.

Remember, you can ask questions and make comments and you’ll be sure to receive responses from me.

I remain…

Assuredly Yours,

Ekerete Ola Gam-Ikon
NCRIB NAC Award Winner
+234-802-585-0344
olagamola@gmail.com