The dream of hassle-free claims processing

The 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.