1. Initial contact and review of your claim
- After reporting your claim, a QBE Claims Professional will contact you within approximately one business day.
- The QBE Claims Professional will verify the details of the loss and the policy information and explain your coverages that apply. They will discuss:
- the deductibles, potential coverage exceptions and coverage limits with you;
- options for getting an estimate of the cost to repair or replace your covered property.
2. Getting an estimate of the damages
a) Typically, one of the following will occur:
- Independent adjuster inspection - QBE can arrange to have an independent adjusting firm assess your damages by sending an expert to your home or collecting information over the phone, email or other channels. The firm will send an estimate of damages to your QBE Claims Professional to review.
- Desk top adjustment (small losses) - For losses with minor or limited damage, your QBE Claims Professional can often get enough information from you over the phone or from photos you send to estimate the damages.
- Business property only - When business property was damaged or stolen, your QBE Claims Professional will gather information from you to best determine how to evaluate the damage. Please collect as much detail as possible regarding your business property including model numbers, manufacturer names, purchase prices, and purchase dates. Please do not discard any property until we have been able to inspect it.
b) Liability claims
When your claim involves a non-employee who was injured on your property, or an incident where you may be liable or partially liable for damages to someone else's property, your QBE Claims Professional will take your statement of what happened and complete further investigation, if needed, to determine your potential liability.
3. Settling your property damage claim
- After your QBE Claims Professional obtains and reviews the final estimate of the damages, he or she will prepare a summary of the amount you will receive and contact you.
- Please refer to your policy for specific limitations and exclusions.
4. Payment
- For smaller losses or personal belongings, you will most likely receive a check payable to the named insured(s) on the policy.
- For payments involving lienholders identified on your policy, the check will typically be made payable to you and your mortgage company (or other lienholders).
5. Managing repairs
- Keep in close contact with the contractor you hire to complete your repairs. The repairs must progress reasonably. The period of restoration has been agreed upon so any unnecessary delays caused by the contractor’s availability could affect your business income loss. If you have any questions during this time, please contact your QBE Claims Professional.