We all think that our insurance company will be our allies in times of disaster at home or in our business: just contact them with all the details and your insurance claim will be fairly dealt with. You probably think that all you need to do is make a list of all the damaged or lost items, with replacement costs, and your insurance company will send you a cheque.

But the insurance claims process is not usually as easy as that.

Consider these issues:

- Do you know the detail of your insurance contract?

- Are you clear about exactly what items have been damaged, stolen or lost?

- In the light of the details of your contract, could you have stopped the loss from occurring in the first place?

- Are you ready to put a recovery plan in action, meaning your business and life can go on with as short an interruption as possible?

- Are you in touch with companies who can deal with the cleanup operation so you don’t have to?

- Do you know what damage to expect after the immediate incident, such as through smoke, water or long-term structural issues?

- Have you thought about making a business interruption claim?

- Can you cope with the stresses and strains of dealing with your effectively claim from beginning to a successful conclusion?

Luckily, you can get professional help with dealing with the whole process of settling an insurance claim successfully? Your insurance company could come across as friendly and helpful – but there are a business! Although it’s their job to settle insurance claims fairly, they also have to look after their shareholders by paying out as little as they have to. To help them, they use insurance loss adjusters – specialists in reducing the amount of the settlement. Your insurer’s loss adjuster is employed specifically to reduce the amount paid out to settle a claim.

Did you know that you can also employ your own team of specialists who can help you with your claim? Just like the loss adjusters, they have years of experience in dealing with insurance claims, but for people like you and not the insurance company!

Known as insurance loss assessors, they also know what to expect with a claim. They know their way around the small print, and they know the issues involved with cleaning up after a disaster. As they are not the victims of the incident, they can deal with the claim in a clear and dispassionate way, meaning that they are on the ball throughout the claims process.

An insurance company uses professional loss adjusters to pay out as little as possible. You can employ your own loss assessors to maximise the amount you get paid out. Contact insurance loss assessors for insurance claim advice. After all, it’s only fair.

If you are living in the UK the chances are that you have seen or heard ads on the TV, in the papers and on the radio advertising services to reclaim mis-sold PPI. What you might not be aware however is how these advertisements relate directly to you. You may be one of the unlucky consumers who were ripped off and mis-sold payment protection insurance.

If you were sold a mortgage, loan or credit card within the last 6 years the chances are that you were offered payment protection insurance. Payment Protection Insurance or PPI as it is more commonly known is an insurance policy offered alongside forms of credit to protect consumers in the event of accident, sickness, redundancy or critical illness. Lenders selling PPI often mis-sold this costly insurance policy to consumers, who did not need, want or ask for it so that they could reap the rewards of the generous commissions they earned. As a result of this blatant mis-selling they now have to repay all mis-sold policies. It is estimated that there are as many as 31 million mis-sold policies which may cost lenders a staggering £12billion in compensation.

Lenders were reckless in their mis-selling of PPI and sold it to consumers who were ineligible for its cover, those that did not know they had it and to consumers who were told it was compulsory. You might have been ineligible for any cover under your PPI policy if you were self employed, working part time, on contract work, were over 65, under 18 or had pre existing medical conditions when sold PPI. Lenders were also extremely ruthless in the way they sold these policies. They often told consumers that it was compulsory or pressurised them into taking it as part of the credit package. This is not acceptable and if you fall into any of these categories you may be eligible for PPI compensation. The unfortunate thing with PPI is that you might not have known that you had it. Lenders would often build PPI premiums into monthly repayments so that consumers were not fully aware of the costs and charges.

If you have had a loan, mortgage or credit card it is strong advisable to check if you were sold this costly insurance. If you are not interested in carrying out an investigation yourself you have the option of using a dedicated claims management company. They can give you a free no obligation review of your case to uncover any potential mis-selling. A claims management company will offer you a no win no fee service for reclaiming mis-sold PPI and they will deal with all matters relating to your claim from first contact onwards. You might not be aware of it but you may be entitled to PPI Compensation.