‍The Premium Yarn - The One Insurance Blog that won't put you to sleep.

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Welcome to this month's edition of the Premium Yarn!

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Hi Team,

In my privileged position as your number one general insurance broker, I get to deal with some pretty fascinating clients from all walks of life—people with cafes, people with huge trucks (or entire fleets of them), property developers, farmers, businesspeople, mums and dads, you name it. There are also a couple of you who aren’t even 25 and just have a vehicle insured with me, but I am sure big things are yet to come.

In spinning a monthly yarn about insurance for such a diverse group of people, I do my best to share principles across the board that can add value to you all, no matter your situation. There will be times when I go deeper into some areas for specific things—like business liability or luxury boat cover. So, if you’re ever reading this yarn and thinking, “He’s hilarious and everything, but none of this relates to me,” then first of all, Thank You for opening the email, and second of all—flick me a message and ask me what you want to know. My mother always said that the only “stupid question” is the one you don’t ask, and I genuinely love answering your questions!

This time I want to talk about the claims process, which is great because it relates to everyone, whether you’re wearing a suit, oily overalls, a chef’s hat, or Chucks.

Making Claims: Some Guidance

Where a Broker shines is in their knowledge of claims handling and making that process smooth for you. It’s a pretty stressful time, so I wanted to give you a few tips to make things as easy as possible for you:

1. Take a deep breath. If you are panicking and need to talk to me, then call my work phone more than once. I don’t carry it around on the weekend, but I do check it sporadically, and if I see four missed calls from one number, generally I’m going to call that number back. I am happy to grab you an Uber, come pick you up myself, help with assessing any damage, or even help you clean up if nobody else can.
2. Take photos of the event and take any steps to prevent further damage. We can retroactively reimburse you for any costs relating to a claim. I’ve had a couple of people wait to claim, which, depending on the claim, won’t punish you, but if it’s a situation where you could’ve saved the insurer a lot of money by fixing it earlier, it could affect any reimbursement.
3. If you really want to make a claim before talking to me, you often can—claim forms and email addresses are pretty easy to find on the internet. If you’re unsure as to who your insurer is, search for any invoice/policy documents I’ve sent you—they’ll be noted on there.

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Important!

I would note that if you do this, then please let either Alice or I know—insurers don’t let us know you’ve claimed, and we can’t advocate on your behalf if we aren’t circled in. I have had a situation where I came in halfway through a claim and managed to get that particular client covered for more than they were told, purely because they didn’t know to ask the question, and the claims handler wasn’t clued up on their situation properly.

Each claim is different, but the above is a good rule of thumb to follow. Naturally, I am always happy to discuss any particular scenarios with you, so when in doubt, email me.

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Other News

New Caveo Support Person - Watch this space!

Exciting news - we have almost finalised hiring new support, whose main gig will be ensuring that our claims processes are as smooth as butter. This is an area we are working hard to improve so this is great news for our busy team. This will be announced in the next yarn, so watch this space.

Conference Update

As mentioned, we’re back from the conference now, and what a time it was. Thanks for your patience with us while we were away and allowing Alice and me to soak up the atmosphere. We managed to be part of the winning Ambrose team in the golf charity day, successfully bid on and won some incredible items during the Black Tie charity auction, which contributed to $60,000 raised over the course of the conference for Cure Kids, Nurturing Families, and Trees That Count. Best of all, we were able to reconnect with some incredible people who work in our industry—funders, insurers, and fellow brokers alike.

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Go well, give your dog a pat for me, and if you ever need a 4^th for your ambrose team, be sure to give me a yell.

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Cheers,

Joshua

Joshua Rhind | General Manager & Adviser

Caveo - powered by Velocity Financial

38 Vivian Street, Te Aro, Wellington

M: 027 384 6444

E: joshua@caveo.co.nz

W: www.caveo.co.nz

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Read Caveo's disclosure here.

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Always get professional advice

The information shared in this post is meant to be general guide to support you on your journey. When making important decisions about your finances, we encourage you to seek independent financial advice first, tailored to your unique situation.  As well as talking with a financial adviser, make sure you talk to your lawyer and accountant too – together they'll help you find the best solution for your specific situation. Our knowledgeable financial advisers are here to help. Check out our website for the details about our financial advisory services in our disclosures  https://www.velocityfinancial.co.nz/disclosure-statement. 

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