Car Insurance Claims: 4 Steps to Lodging a Successful Claim

March 16, 2021 CAR INSURANCE IN KENYA

You get to know the value of your car insurance when you are lodging a claim. Car insurance claims in Kenya form the biggest percentage of claims payable in most insurance companies in Kenya, with some insurance companies making significant losses from this particular class. See a summarized claims report of the same as of October 2020 HERE. So we shall learn how car insurance claims work

Car Insurance Claims fall into 5 major categories:

1. Accident
2. Theft
3. Third-party property damage
4. Third-party injury
5. Windscreen and window glass

Accident Car Insurance Claims

Accidents form the biggest portion of car insurance claims. This means that there is physical damage to the car as evidenced by body damage to the vehicle. In our previous article here, We discussed what to do in the event of an accident.

Car Insurance Claim Procedure Kenya

Here is a step-by-step guide on the insurance claim process in Kenya:

1. Upon notification of the accident to the police, you will be required to get a police abstract.
2. If you have not notified your agent or insurer, ensure you do so immediately. Share photos or videos taken at the scene of the accident. Please also note to exchange car insurance details/photos of car insurance details
3. After getting the abstract, your agent/insurer will issue you with a claim form which you are required to fill.
4. Submit the original abstract, filled claim form, driver’s ID, and driving license.
5. If you have videos or photos of the accident scene, you can share the same as well if you have not done so at point 2.

From this point, the insurer will start processing the claim by following the following steps:

The insurance claims process for car accident

1. Assessment of the vehicle at your choice of garage or their assessment center.
2. If the information provided in the claim form and the assessment report match, the insurer, therefore, proceeds to authorize repairs.
3. If there’s some inconsistency, the insurer may call you for clarification. If the inconsistency still persists, the insurer might appoint an investigator to look through the circumstances of the accident. We, therefore, ask that you cooperate with the investigator to expedite the process.
4. If the investigator is satisfied with the nature of the accident, then repairs are authorized. If the claim is deemed fraudulent or caused by uninsured causes, then the claim will be rejected.

Please note that if you do not have an excess protector, the excess amount applies here and you will be advised on the amount once the vehicle repairs have been authorized.

It is also important to note that the term contribution is different from excess and can be applied to specific matters such as tires and batteries due to wear and tear. This contribution can also arise from other pre-accident damages as well. You will be notified of them once the vehicle repairs have been authorized.

Theft Car Insurance Claims

If the car is stolen, the following happens:

1. Report to the police and an abstract will be issued as they continue to do their investigation or trace the car.
2. Upon which you notify the insurer and agent and fill the theft claim form.
3. Upon doing the above, the insurer will appoint an investigator to look into the disappearance of the vehicle.
4. During this time, should the vehicle be traced, you notify the insurer. However, if they stripped some parts and the vehicle is still intact, the insurer will authorize the replacement of the stripped part.
5. If however, the vehicle has been stripped to the bone, it will be considered a total loss and therefore full compensation to the insured value.
6. If the vehicle is a complete loss, the investigator gives a favorable report in the sense that it was not fraudulent, then a discharge voucher (DV) is issued for the value insured less theft excess.

Car insurance claims theft excesses will be defined in two ways:

• If you have a tracking device, you will pay a lower car insurance claims excess of between 2.5%-5% value of the car.
• If you have an alarm only, the excess will be 10% value of the vehicle
• If no tracking device or alarm, the excess will be 20% value of the vehicle.

These excesses as per car insurance claims are not payable to the insurer but rather, give you compensation less the specified excess.

Third-Party Car Insurance Claims

As stated above, these can fall either to third-party property damage or third-party bodily injury. You will notice that in your accident car insurance claim form, you will be required to state other damaged property or injured pedestrians, passengers, and persons.

How to claim 3rd party insurance in Kenya

However, even if you are on third-party insurance, these kinds of claims need to be reported to the insurer. Therefore, the following information will be required,

1. Notify your agent/insurer of the accident as soon as possible
2. Notify the police and get an abstract for the accident.
3. Fill in the claim form.
4. Attach the other necessary documents, the original police abstract, ID, and driver’s license of the driver.
5. The insurer will register the claim and notify you of the excess payable, especially for the third-party property damage.

Windscreen Claim Procedure

These are by far the easiest car insurance claims to be settled. This is because they require less documentation and are straightforward. Unlike the other claims, you do not need a police abstract for a cracked windscreen. The windscreen car insurance claims can be settled either by the two discussed methods.

Insurer Replacement.

1. Take photos of the vehicle showing the vehicle number plate
2. Take a photo of the cracked windscreen. Sometimes it might be too fine to see from the outside, so we recommend taking it from both the inside and outside of the vehicle.
3. Fill in the windscreen claim form
4. The insurer will therefore issue a replacement letter also called the LPO to you for their preferred windscreen fixers.

Insured Replacement

1. The first two steps discussed above apply.
2. Go to your preferred windscreen expert and ensure you are given an ETR receipt.
3. Take photos of the fixed windscreen in the same format as the case of the broken one.
4. Fill in the windscreen claim form.
5. Upon successful lodging of this claim, the insurer will ensure the amount paid is within the insured amount and replace up to that amount. If the windscreen was replaced at a cost higher than the insured value, the insurer with only pay you up to the insured amount.

We at Amssurity help you through the car insurance claims process, notify you of the information required and guide you through the claim process. We know insurance claims sometimes can be difficult but we aim to advise and offer support from inception to ensure you have a smooth experience.

You can learn more about the IRA Claim Handling guide here.

We offer car insurance at great rates and flexible payment plans as well.