How to Submit a Property Claim?

Insurance is a reliable financial instrument that allows you to minimize your risks in case of adverse events.

In everyday life, there is always a risk associated with the damage or destruction of personal property. Property insurance is a convenient tool that will help compensate for your losses in the event of the following adverse circumstances: fire, robbery, theft, illegal actions of third parties (arson and glass break), flooding, air conditioning, sewage breakthroughs.

Personal property insurance will also provide compensation for natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, subsidence, landslides, a mountain collapse, snow pressure, avalanches, a hurricane, mudflows, the effects of subsurface water – resulting in damage to an apartment or house).

Individuals are entitled to voluntarily insure luxury goods, furniture, appliances, expensive gadgets, paintings, antique items, etc. According to the insurance policy, you can insure the building of your house or the structural elements of the apartment, decoration, utilities and other property located in it.

Each insurance company has its own specific list of insurance, and the larger it is, the greater the package of services it can provide to you.

Wha to do is an insured event occurs?

Upon the occurrence of an insured event, the insurance company is obliged to compensate for your losses. In order to receive compensation, you will need to submit a property claim to the insurance company within the prescribed period (usually 3-4 days). You will also need to make up an act of the event that entailed the insured event. This act must be drawn up by the competent authority – for example, the police (in case of theft).

You must indicate in the claim – when, where and under what circumstances the insured event occurred. In addition, damaged or destroyed property must be listed. Further, the emergency commissioner must check whether the accident is really an insured event. If everything that happened complies with the terms of the contract, the amount of damage and insurance payment is determined, and an act on the insured event is drawn up.

Then you need to submit all the documents necessary to receive compensation (electronically, personally, or through a special form available on most companies’ websites). This list includes:

1. insurance policy;
2. insurance premium receipt;
3. confirmation of the insured event (act drawn up by the competent authority);
4. documents indicating the reasons for the occurrence of the insured event and the damage caused.

If the insured event is confirmed, the insurance company pays you the insurance amount that can return your financial situation to the previous level (that is, before the insured event). In each case, the amount of payment is determined individually. The maximum amount of the insured amount depends on the insured value of the object and the established limits. In this case, the insured amount (reimbursement amount) will not exceed the insured value of the property, otherwise, the insurance contract may be invalidated. To determine the insurance value, an economic assessment is carried out.

What is not an insured event?

There are a number of cases that are not considered insured events. You will not be able to receive compensation from the insurance company in the event of:

• the formation of mold, fungus, not related to the occurrence of an insured event (for example, due to violations during the construction, installation of plastic windows, etc.). That is, if third parties intervened and indirectly caused damage, the insurance company will not pay the damage;
• physical deterioration, decay, dampness, aging of property. Nothing is eternal under the Moon. Over time, any property deteriorates – and it is impossible to insure against it;
• exposure to drafts or penetration of water in the form of precipitation through unclosed doors, windows, balconies, loggias, roof gaps, etc. If you do not make repairs on time and, as a matter of fact, intentionally damage the insured property, then no one will pay for it;
• the collapse of buildings caused by events that are not insured events. Suppose the apartment building in which you live is subject to demolition. This is approved and you are warned. In this case, no one will pay insurance for the destroyed insured property;
• violations of building codes and regulations, as well as poor-quality construction, installation and other works in insured objects. Insurance protects against contingencies. If you called builders yourself, then you yourself must control the repair process;
• violation of fire safety rules. If you do not follow safety rules, then insurance will not save you;
• the effects of a nuclear explosion, radiation or radioactive pollution, military operations, civil war. This is not a natural disaster, but the actions of people from whom the insurance company is not protected itself;
• confiscation, nationalization, seizure or destruction of the insured property by order of state authorities.