Making a difficult time a bit easier

One bleak morning in January, our claims team were contacted by our out of hours team in regards to a customer becoming victim of a very violent burglary, which resulted in considerable damage to their prized belongings, including breaking into their gun safe which featured five shotguns, jewellery, money and watches; and also causing a leak in the process.

The customer was returning home from the airport after enjoying a short holiday and, when he got to his drive, came face to face with two armed burglars on his driveway. After shouting at them, the burglars pointed the shotguns and escaped in a nearby vehicle. A short chase ensued by car until the customer pulled over to report them to the police. After 8 minutes the armed police response team arrived to help. Our claims team were then contacted and immediately arranged an emergency plumber to stem the water leak.

Following the reporting of the claim instructions were passed to our local Executive Claim Manager who arranged an early visit with the customer. We established in the initial call that our customer required a builder to scope out the repairs and redecoration so we contacted local surveyors known to us who could recommend a good firm. We agreed for them to also attend the meeting with our Executive Claim Manager and confirmed all the arrangements with the customer’s broker the same day.

At this meeting all elements of the claim were discussed and the damage inspected. The customer was able to provide a quotation for the replacement gun cabinets and for the redecoration and repairs to the fixtures and fittings that had been damaged. The customer had evidence of ownership and up to date valuations of the jewellery and watches, so we were also able to discuss options for early replacement of the expensive watches direct from Watches of Switzerland.

An important part of our HNW policies is the cover available under the Trauma section. In this instance, the customer wanted to install CCTV and alarms throughout the house and was able to utilise the Executive Home policy benefit of up to £15,000 for security improvements to do so.

We understand how important it is to get interim payments out so customers can start getting ‘back to normal’ and released a substantial payment so that goods could be replaced straight away.

In total, seven direct payments were made in to the client’s bank account to enable sufficient funds to be available to replace items and restore the customer’s home again. As a result of the speedy actions of our Executive Claim Manager it took just 25 days to conclude what had been a traumatic experience that our customer could put behind them. They were reassured and delighted by the care and attention they received and took the trouble to tell our Head of HNW claims:

“The response from Covéa Insurance has been excellent. I would particularly like to bring to your attention the efforts Jon Palmer has made to ensure the trauma myself and my partner incurred was reduced to the absolute minimum. Jon was able to authorise repairs to the house immediately and agreed a speedy however fair settlement of the majority of the contents claim.

Jon has been prompt and professional throughout, and I would like, in a climate where complaints are the norm, to say how refreshing it is to receive the care and attention Covéa Insurance provided.”

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