Persistence and perseverance eventually pay off in a real battle of a claim.

A couple of years ago, a long-term client who was a truck driver, took out a Personal Accident and Illness policy with Westralian Insurance.

What happened

Early one night at home, he fell down his stairs and injured his leg.  At the time, he didn’t think he had done anything serious.  The pain was extreme, however he assumed he just had a minor injury. 

He had dinner and a beer, but with the pain becoming increasingly worse, his wife decided to drive him to the Emergency Department of his local hospital. 

Shortly after, scans revealed that he had in fact broken his leg and would need at least three months off work to recover.

On admission to the hospital, the doctor had noted he could smell alcohol on our client’s breath, so the Personal Accident insurer immediately declined the claim.   We argued that alcohol was consumed AFTER the accident and the hospital had never undertaken a blood test or breathalyser to prove he was intoxicated.

The insurer once again declined the claim.

We then had the matter referred to the insurers Internal Disputes Facility and their management also declined the claim.

The outcome

Not happy with this decision, we involved AFCA (Australian Financial Complaints Authority) who in turned agreed with us and forced the insurer to pay the claim.

The client was extremely happy that he had an insurance broker on his side, armed with knowledge and the facts, in order to push the claim decline further and further, until all options had been exhausted.

The insurer agreed to pay out the claim and we are happy to report that our client has made a full recovery and is back working again.

This true story is another demonstration of our commitment to our clients, and an example of why you should engage a professional insurance broker.

Call Westralian Insurance today on (08) 9302 1388, or visit www.westralianinsurance.com.au 

 Are you looking to diversify within your business?

Whilst we are all going through this period of economic uncertainty, many businesses will be looking to diversify, in order to maximise their ability to generate a profit.  Diversification is a great way of adding an alternative revenue stream and could, in some cases, mean the difference between the business’s success and failure. 

However, changing the direction in which the business is going or modifying the way the business operates, is not without its pitfalls.  From an insurance point of view, you could fall into the trap of becoming uninsured if your new operating structure hasn’t been approved by your insurer.  This is where an insurance broker can be invaluable.

An insurance broker can offer advice on updating your policies to accurately reflect the new business model and avoid the dangers associated with non-disclosure. They can deal with the insurer on your behalf and make sure your insurance policies cover everything you need them to, taking into account all changes to the structure of the business.

For more information and friendly, professional advice, call Westralian Insurance, on (08) 9302 1388, or visit www.westralianinsurance.com.au