Customers dream of hassle-free claims processing

T. Sima Gunawan Contributor Jakarta

Customers dream of hassle-free claims processing

T. Sima Gunawan Contributor Jakarta

It was early in the morning and Ita was getting ready for work when her driver burst into the house. He looked petrified. Finally, he managed to blurt out the bad news.

He said he was warming up the car in front of the house when two men appeared and ordered him to get out of the car. They then drove off with the Isuzu Panther that Ita had bought only three months ago.

"He said that one of the men pointed a gun at his head," Ita, a resident of Teluk Gong in Central Jakarta, said.

She reported the theft to the police and to her insurance company. Things, however, did not go as smoothly as expected.

"We had to go through a long process -- about four months -- before we got the money from the insurance company," she sighed as she recalled her experience of two years ago.

A letter from the police was necessary to get the insurance company to process the claim. However, obtaining the letter was not easy and Ita and her driver had to go to the police station several times. The driver was summoned quite a few times to be questioned by police, who wanted to make sure that he was not involved in the theft.

Officially, people who file police reports about crimes such as vehicle thefts and robberies do not have to pay any fees. But somehow, people often end up giving the police money, either voluntarily or reluctantly, to encourage officers to follow up on their reports.

An employee at the insurance company, according to Ita, offered to help. He promised to get her the police letter immediately, for a small fee of 10 percent of the price of the car. Others said they could help for only Rp 5 million.

Ita eventually asked her father-in-law for help. It took him about a month and Rp 3 million to obtain the letter.

Ita immediately took the letter to the insurance company, but had to wait another two months before the company transferred the money.

"My friends told me that I should be glad because it usually takes longer than that," she said.

Another car owner, Bagus, said he never had any problems with his insurance company. Last year, for example, after his Toyota Soluna hit another vehicle, he immediately went to the company to report the case and file a claim.

"It was very easy, and I was able to have my car repaired right away. They also handled the other vehicle that I hit. I am really satisfied with their service," he said of his insurance company, which is one of the largest in the country.

But Ken, who is a customer with the same company, had a different opinion.

"It's true that you usually have no problems if your claim is not very big. But things are different if your claim is large, which is what happened to me," he said.

Ken insured his car under the total loss category, meaning the insurance company would theoretically have to cover his losses if the cost to repair the car was at least 75 percent of the price of the vehicle, or if the car was stolen.

He said that about three years ago, his Toyota Corolla was involved in a serious accident and was badly damaged.

He immediately informed his insurance company of the accident and went to the police station to file a report. After obtaining all the necessary documents, he submitted a claim with the company.

"It was the end of the year and everybody was busy. They said that I would have to wait before they could get me the money," Ken said.

Almost two months passed, but every time he asked for the money he was told his claim was still being processed. "They said they needed approval from this person and that person. I was also ping-ponged from one person to another, which made me mad. I even told the head of the claims division that I would send letters to newspapers about the matter, but he did not seem to care."

Ken followed through on his threat and wrote letters detailing his experience with the company. Just a few hours after they were published, he got a call from the company and that afternoon the money was transferred to his account.

"It was only Rp 70 million and I already had all the necessary documents, so why did they make things so difficult for me? It did not make any sense at all," he said.

He later insured his car with another company, not because of this experience, but because the other company offered better rates.

There are many insurance companies here offering big discounts for customers, and more and more people are aware of the importance of insuring their vehicles. This is true particularly because auto theft has become so much more common as a result of the prolonged economic crisis.

The chronic traffic jams that drive people mad and make them drive recklessly and the smooth toll roads that allow people to drive at high speeds have resulted in more traffic accidents -- another factor boosting the car insurance business.

"Yes, we are enjoying a thriving business," said Ezer, a marketing officer for a major insurance company in Central Jakarta.

She acknowledged that it can take quite a long time to process claims for those customers whose cars are stolen.

"We have to conduct a survey and check everything very carefully. We also need time to get approval for any claim reimbursement. Besides, every day we have people filing claims. That's why the whole process can take about two months," she explained.

Good service, not just big discounts, is important to attract customers. Car owners who have their vehicles stolen have to go through a long and painful process with the police, and would be elated if their insurance companies could put them at ease by approving their claims faster. This is one of the keys for insurance companies in maintaining customer loyalty.