Insurers are taking measures to minimise any potential disruption caused by postal strikes over the next few days, and there are things that insurance customers can do to prevent being uninsured.
The postal strike taking place today and tomorrow is likely to cause a backlog of undelivered items which could take weeks to shift, and among them could be documents and payment for insurance policies.
Insurance companies have plans in place to ensure that customers remain insured during the postal strike, such as using telephone, email, and fax to send and receive documents or payment.
Policyholders and customers will be able to fax documents where necessary, and are encouraged to make payments over the phone by credit or debit card, online, or to set up a direct debit, rather than sending cheques which could take weeks to reach their destination.
Anyone who is concerned about their insurance policy should contact their provider, the ABI suggests.
Renewal terms could be sent by email, general insurance, life and pension policies could be commenced online, by email or be telephone, and where a written documents and signatures are required, these will be accepted by fax.
Where documents such as car insurance certificates or claims payments are concerned, insurance companies will be using alternative delivery systems like couriers, unless a bank transfer can be made for claim payments.
Insures will also be bringing in additional staff where necessary, to deal with any increase in volume of customer enquiries.
There are measures which customers should also be taking to minimise the disruption to their insurance policies, the ABI said, such as checking their annual renewal date on things like car insurance and home insurance, and to contact their insurer if they have been expecting documents that have not yet arrived.
Those drivers waiting for their motor insurance documents so that they can renew their road tax can renew using the online service, which automatically checks that car insurance is in place. Alternatively, faxed or emailed documents could be used as proof of insurance when paying at the Post Office.
In the meantime, policyholders should ensure that they do not drive uninsured, the ABI stressed, as postal strikes are no excuse for breaking the law and will not be accepted by the police as a valid reason for driving without insurance.
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