Perspective

Increasingly, insurance claims are made online using fillable forms or interactive live systems. The insurance industry also uses AI to screen, filter and categorise claims. Claims with unusual facts may not fit the insurer's claims assessment program. For example, travel claims often involve circumstances where the claimant had to make difficult choices involving flights, location and accommodation. 

This difficulty was highlighted in the recent pandemic when NZ citizens and residents who could not get a place in the MIQ era or could not produce a negative test in the latter stages of restriction could not enter the country.

In a travel claim I assisted with the online forms did not accommodate these circumstances and the claim was going nowhere after months of correspondence. To break the deadlock it was necessary to explain the essence of the claim by separate email. The email explained why choices had been made to travel from one country to another before returning to NZ and to show with supporting information that it was the wisest and safest course and cost no more than staying put awaiting a negative test. The claim was settled promptly after the explanatory email was sent.

Don’t be limited or constrained by the insurer’s processes which are mainly for their convenience. If you need to explain your claim, do it by email or letter. You can use the phone, but unless you record the conversation as the insurer will, you will have difficulty proving what was said. If you intend to record the call you should tell the insurer’s representative and get their consent. This can become legally messy and the insurer’s call center is best used for routine matters, not contentious ones.