Have you ever made an insurance claim only to be asked for evidence in excess of what you can provide? We’re investigating insurers who make unreasonable requests, and we need your help.
Earlier this year, we asked you about your experience with insurance companies. Feedback showed that some of you are being asked to provide what we believe, to be an unreasonable amount of evidence to support your insurance claims.
For example, we heard from two people who made claims when their freezers became faulty and they lost their frozen food. Their claims were rejected because they couldn’t produce receipts for all the items in their freezers. This prompted us to ask: In reality, how many people are likely to keep receipts for their frozen peas and carrots for weeks after they were purchased?
Going over-board for claim evidence?
Other people told us about buildings insurance claims being rejected because the homeowners couldn’t prove they had carried out regular maintenance on their properties. One insurer pointed to some moss growing on a roof as suggesting a lack of maintenance. Another claim was rejected because the homeowner didn’t have all the tiles in his shower grouted annually.
Of course, insurers do have a right to ask for evidence to support a claim – they need some way of checking that the claim is legitimate. But problems arise when insurers push their demands, asking for evidence we can’t be expected to provide. Your feedback suggests that, when faced with unreasonable behaviour by insurers, many policy holders simply give up their claims and walk away.
We know from Naomi Milward’s case that a robust challenge can sometimes turn the tables. It can be worth the fight, but it shouldn’t have to be this way.
Unreasonable requests from insurers
We’re worried that you’re being treated unfairly and that insurers could be breaching the rules. If this is the case, and the practice is widespread, we want to know about it so we can take action.
Can you tell us about any experiences you’ve had where an insurer has made an unreasonable request for evidence or asked you to jump through hoops before they would take a decision on your claim? And did you receive the money owed to you?
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