Hi Could someone please give me some examples of how claims can be re-opened? Does it tend to be the characteristic of liability insurance? Thanks W
Reopened claims are not just restricted to liability policies they can occur on other types of policies as well (eg property damage). Some examples would be as follows: A claimant involved in an accident discovers after the original claim is settled that they have suffered from an injury/illness which was not apparent at the time the original claim was settled and thus returns to the insurer for additional compensation. This may be as a result of a claims management company contacting the individual. The repairs to a vehicle carried out under a property damage claim are completed poorly and have to be redone at a later stage.
I think it can also occur for process reasons, as well as the nature of the risk. A claim may be reported, and not followed up with required documentation. A company may have a policy of closing such claims in its systems after a certain period. If the customer does follow up then the claim should be reopened.
Yes tiger that's another good example of why a claim may be reopened. Depending on the precise practices of the insurer there could be many different reasons for a claim to be reopened.
Thanks that's useful! Based on Tiger's point, would you say it makes "re-opened claim possible" always a general point to make in claims characteristic questions?
In theory yes, but I would recommend, as always, that you customise your answer so that it fits the specifics of the question. Therefore I would say whether re-opened were likely/unlikely/very unlikely depending on the class of business and ideally give an example of a situation specific to the class of business under consideration which might give rise to re-opened claims.
