After the unfortunate incident of a car accident, break-in, theft or carjacking you need to advise your insurance company as soon as possible. The insurer will complete, what is called, the initial examination checklist when you advise them of the claim to establish whether or not your claim is valid in terms of the policy agreement between yourself and the insurance company.

Some of the questions on this checklist are:

• Is the policy still in force? Here they will look at things such as premiums being paid up the date and the expiry date of the policy.
• Is the actual loss covered by the policy? If your policy is for third party cover only you cannot claim for the theft or accident damage to your car.
• Is the specific peril covered? Here we refer to the cause of the loss – if your car is destroyed by fire and fire has been excluded on your policy the peril of fire is not covered.
• Is the specific property covered? Was your car covered under the policy?
• Is there any exclusion that would invalidate the claim?
• Did the insured person carry out his obligations in terms of the policy?
• Have any conditions of the policy been violated?
• From the initial report does anything look suspicious that could indicate a fraudulent claim?

The completed checklist will then go to the assessor for further investigation and processing.