Mature Life Features

. . . to sign up for a

free 15-minute chair massage

provided by LifeQuest starting at —

10 a.m. tomorrow (Tuesday) in the 2nd floor theater.

It Takes Effort to Collect on Insurance

Most of us have several types of insurance covering, among others, auto-accident damage and liability, mortgage, renters, long-term care, home damage and liability, and death (called life insurance for some strange reason). And when we take a trip, many of us pick up a travel-insurance coverage.

But there’s work to be done to collect any benefits after the trauma of a crippling auto accident or fire that destroyed your home. And it has to be done quickly, usually while you’re still emotionally addled and physically drained by the happenstance.

Your first step is to find the policies that apply to your loss with all the pertinent information about where to file your claim. In some cases, you can call to the agent who sold you the policy to get some advice. That means you should keep our insurance policies handy. Someone else in the family or your attorney should also know where they are because you might be hospitalized and someone will have to launch your claim for you.

Make sure all instructions are followed to the letter. Unanswered questions or an overlooked step will delay the process and require redundant correspondence and contact with the insurance company.

Keep every police and medical report and all other bits of information connected to the incident prompting the claim. And every receipt. If you’re in doubt about whether a document is relevant, keep it and let the company toss it out.

If our claim involves lost or damaged property, it helps if you have a prepared inventory – photographs are better – of all your property along with a list of what’s been missing or destroyed.

File all correspondence and conversations with the insurers and don’t take no for an answer. Their job is to avoid paying out for non-qualifying and fraudulent claims. Your job is to prove to them that your claim qualifies.

Be persistent. If you hit a wall in your initial stages, ask to speak to your contact’s supervisor and present your case. If this doesn’t work discuss the matter with your attorney.

When you file claims for long-term-care reimbursement, make copies of your receipts before sending the originals to the insurance company.