Something's happened to my house… now what?

House claims made simple

Insurance lingo can feel like a different language. And if your home gets damaged, you want a simple way to understand what happens next.

So to get prepared for any future mishaps, here’s how house insurance claims work and what everything means.

What’s a house insurance claim?

A claim is basically a request from you to let us, your insurer, know that there’s been unexpected damage at your home. And once you’ve filed the claim, we do what we can to help. Your home insurance policy covers natural disasters and any sudden, accidental, or gradual damage* to your property. Phew.

How to make claims easy

When it comes to claims, the more information we have, the easier it will be. So here’s some things you can do yourself – and what we’ll do for you.

What you need to do

Before you make a claim, there’s a few things you need to do:

For non-emergencies

• Take photos of everything that’s been damaged and write a list of the items. We might need to refer to these later, and it’s a handy way of making sure you don’t miss anything when lodging your claim.
• Keep hold of any damaged items, like stained carpets, as we might need to see them. Once we’ve had a look, you can start removing them. Bear with the eyesore until then.

For emergencies

• If you’ve sprung a leak and it’s causing damage to your home, then you need to get in touch with a plumber as soon as you can. After that, call us.
• If you’ve been burgled or had damage caused to your property that wasn’t your fault, you need to let the police know immediately before getting in touch with us.

We might also ask you for the following:

• The details of anyone that might have seen the incident take place.
• If needed, your police file number.
  Having these on hand makes the process quicker and easier for both of us.

What we’ll do

Once you’ve filed your claim, you’ll be assigned a claims manager. From then there’s three simple steps to getting your home back in order.

Step 1: Assessing your home

If your property isn’t safe, we’ll arrange for a builder to secure your home while we get started on your claim. We call this our ‘make safe’ process.

If it’s secure, we may need to see the damage for ourselves. If we do, one of our assessors will get in touch to organise a time that works for you both. Then they’ll walk you through the next steps and take any photos of the damage.

Step 2: Working on the repairs

If your claim is accepted, our builder will be in touch to book an appointment to look at any damage. They’ll chat to you about how they’ll repair your home and let you know when they’ll get started.

You should pay your builder the excess amount. From there, the builder will invoice us for the cost of the repairs and we’ll pay them back.

Step 3: All done

When your repairs have been done, we’ll get in touch to make sure you’re happy.

Ready to make a claim?

It’s easy to make a quick claim through My Tower, or if you need help right now, give us a call on 0800 379 372 to chat to a member of the team.

Need more simple insurance speak?

What’s excess? Sum insured? We’ve got you. Check out our Tower Translates page for easy-to-understand insurance speak.

Ts&Cs: *Limits apply for gradual damage so you should check your policy wording to see what you’re covered for.