Page 42 - TODAY magazine Issue 1 2021

YOUR TIME // INSURANCE KNOW-HOW
How to get
the most out of your
CAR INSURANCE
For most of us, a car is one of the most expensive things we’ll ever buy, which is why it’s important to have it insured. But if you want to be sure that your claim will be paid in case of an accident or theft, says Helen Ueckermann, you also have to hold up your end of the bargain.
Even when we’re not living through a pandemic, no-one needs unnecessary financial pressure and disappointment, especially when it could have been
prevented, as is often the case when an insurance claim is rejected.
Each year, the national Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance issues an annual report which, among others, sets out the main reasons why people disputed their
insurance companies’ decisions for rejecting their claims. Most of them relate to vehicle insurance.
‘The vast majority of these complaints are unsuccessful,’ says Christelle Colman, an
insurance expert at Old Mutual Insure. ‘The
reason for this is that motor, as well as home and household insurance, are the areas where there is the most confusion about what is covered by a policy and what is required from the insured – you and me – to
be able to claim successfully.’
WHY CAR INSURANCE CLAIMS MAY BE REJECTED
Being underinsured
Most of the complaints received by the Ombudsman in 2019
related to the amount of the settlement and specifically to