How To Claim Building Insurance

If any of the structural components of your building or fixtures and fittings have suffered from damage, you’ll want to know how to make a claim on your building insurance to recover the expense of repairs. In this guide, we’re showing you exactly how to do that with a clear, step-by-step process.

Check you’re covered

To avoid the embarrassment of making a claim when you’re not covered, your first port of call will be to check that your policy is still in date and that you’re covered for the particular claim you want to make.

Remember contents insurance is not the same as buildings insurance.

Contact your insurance provider

Next, you should contact your insurance provider to start your claim. Depending on the provider there may be multiple ways you can report a claim.

For instance, you may be able to use an online portal, email or make a call. Many home insurance providers will also provide a 24 hour helpline to help get your claim moving quickly.

Get emergency repairs if necessary

To prevent further damage to your property, it may be necessary to get repairs done as soon as the problem is found, rather than wait for the green light from your insurance provider. If this is the case, make sure to keep your receipts as part of your claim.

Wait for your claim to be accepted

You may be asked a series of questions to determine whether your claim is valid. But once your insurance provider has all the information they need, all that’s left to do is wait for a decision.

Should you pay for repairs and then recover the costs?

One key question many building insurance policy holders have is ‘at what stage of the claim process is the monetary value of repairs recovered?’ As mentioned earlier, sometimes emergency repairs are required, in which case the cost of these temporary repairs would be recovered after the repair. However, for non-urgent repairs and where your property is not left vulnerable to more damage, it’s best to wait for your claim to be accepted before paying for any work to be done.

Don’t have building insurance cover? Speak to Agentis today to get the right policy for your property. Contact us to arrange your free initial consultation today.