If you thought insurance companies were too strict with their rules today, just wait until 2022. Under the laws that will be in place by then, you’ll probably find it even harder to make your insurance claim, especially if your injuries are severe or your claim has been denied multiple times already. Here are five reasons why your insurance claim might be rejected in 2022, and what you can do now to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
1) You haven’t got comprehensive insurance
Insurance companies will not cover you if your policy doesn’t include coverage for all manner of damages, whether it’s third-party liability, personal injury, car rental and so on. If you have comprehensive insurance—which includes any loss or damage to a covered object—the claim process should be fairly simple. But if you don’t have comprehensive insurance… well, let’s just say you better hope it wasn’t valuable!
2) You didn’t read the small print
You should always read your policy to understand exactly what you’re covered for. In fact, it’s standard procedure with most modern insurance companies to include a clause that says you agree to not file a claim if you haven’t understood it. If an insurance provider denies your claim because they think you haven’t done your homework, they might be right—but they also might be out of line.
3) You can’t put an exact figure on your loss
If your insurance claim doesn’t have a clearly quantifiable number associated with it, it’s going to be hard for your insurer to verify what happened—or decide if it wants to approve or deny your claim. Obviously, theft and fire are easy to figure out; but if you can’t put a price on what you lost (say, for example, damaged goods), then keep good records of how much you spent on those items. You might need them later.
4) You have lost your supporting documents
Make sure you keep copies of all your documents and even consider storing them digitally. If your claim is rejected due to lack of documentation, or if you are required to resubmit a claim because of lacking documentation, it can take longer for your claim to be processed. Additionally, it can increase your overall costs if you need to resubmit more than once. Consider also storing supporting documentation on an external hard drive or electronic storage provider like Box or OneDrive.
5) Different policies have different rules
There are two ways that insurance companies can reject your claim. First, if your policy does not cover accidents and injuries caused by certain behavior (like texting while driving), a claim might be denied just because you committed one of these behaviors. Second, even if your policy covers accidents and injuries caused by certain behavior, it might still be rejected because of a specific clause within that policy.