How to claim
for money and personal belongings on your travel insurance
The insurance industry is paranoid about fraudulent travel
insurance claims and may regard with the deepest suspicion
any claim which does not have the necessary proof to back
it up. It is therefore particularly important to take a copy
of your policy – and any helpline card – when
you go on holiday so that you can check what you have to do
when faced with a holiday mishap. If you fail to take the
action outlined in the policy guidelines, your claim will
be rejected.
Waiting until you get home to see how to claim is not a good
idea since it may then be too late to do what is required.
It is a good idea to read through the ‘How to claim’
part of your policy before you set off so that you do not
throw away any receipts and other back-up material that might
be needed. Guidance on the type of back-up material you will
need to provide – which depends on which part of the
policy you are claiming under – is given below, but
check your own policy for details of exactly what you will
be expected to supply in support of any claim. You should
also claim as soon as possible after getting home. If your
claim is for less than the excess given in the policy, there
is no point claiming.
Money and personal belongings
If you lose belongings or suspect that they have been stolen,
you must report the loss to the local police within 24 hours
of discovering the loss and get hold of written evidence from
the police that you did this. Your insurer may also require
you to report any loss to your holiday representative or the
management of your hotel or apartment (if applicable), and
may also ask for proof of ownership in the form of receipts
for the items lost.
If your money is lost or stolen, you should take the same
action but you may also be required to produce evidence that
you had the cash, in the form of receipts for currency exchange,
cash-dispenser withdrawal slips or - if these were in the
wallet that went missing – confirmation from your bank
that you bought that you bought the currency or withdrew Stirling
from your account. If your passport is lost, stolen or destroyed,
you will need a letter from the Consulate where you reported
the loss, together with receipts for the cost of replacing
your passport.
For damaged belongings, you will need the original receipt
plus an estimate for repairing the damaged item.
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