When a Claim Not Being Paid is Actually a Good Thing

Insurance is one of life’s necessary evils. Most of us pay for our insurance in the hope that we will never need to use it but if you are ever unlucky enough to suffer a claim you will see which policies are worth their weight in gold.  A common misconception is that Insurance Companies will find any way to wriggle out of paying a claim. At Professional Beauty Direct we are proud of the claims service provided by our nominated underwriters and firmly believe that any valid claim should be settled promptly and fairly. However, in the case of a claim made against you by a disgruntled customer that is completely unfounded, you would of course not want that to be paid if you have done nothing wrong. We have a great success rate in defending such claims, so we wanted to share a round up of some victories achieved in protecting you, our valued policyholders, against unfounded allegations of negligence from your customers. 

Salon owner Miss A received a claim from a male client who received a full body wax. There was no actual injury other than the customer alleging that the waxing was painful and left him red for a day or so.  It was apparent that he simply experienced a normal waxing side effect but threatened to expose our policyholder on every available social media platform and review site. Strangely the claimant wanted compensation but not from the insurers, only if it came from the policyholder herself. He would tell us he was not vindictive but just wanted justice. With the help of our client, we were able to evidence that all procedures were carried out correctly and therefore the claim was successfully defended, protecting our client’s reputation and business. 

We received a claim from a customer who had scuffed her brand-new designer boots on the steps of our policyholders premises, when exiting following her treatment. The customer felt that our policyholder should reimburse her for the cost of the boots however the step at the entrance was of a standard design and was not defective or sharp and was easily visible to all. The damage was entirely due to the failure of the claimant to take notice of the step and lift her feet correctly. The claim was therefore denied, and nothing was paid to the claimant. 

Certainly, a lot of the claims that we successfully repudiate, we can do so because our policy holders keep a record of the treatment through consultation cards and follow patch testing requirements correctly. We recently received a claim where a customer had a reaction to a patch test and then claimed for the injury sustained as a result. We pointed out to the claimant’s solicitors the whole point of a patch test is to indicate if a reaction is likely to occur and therefore it is always a possibility that a patch test would lead to a reaction. The claim was eventually dropped, the claimant received nothing and our policyholder was reassured that it was proven she had worked with the utmost integrity. 

In all these cases, the claim not being paid was in fact the ideal outcome.  Liability claims can run into thousands of pounds in settlement and legal expenses, which you do not want to have as a mark against your good name. We work hard to try and ensure only valid claims are paid to keep your premiums low. With our policyholder’s help in keeping good customer records, patch testing where required and following contra-indications we can keep protecting you from deceitful people looking to make some easy money. 

If you’d like cover with Professional Beauty Direct then please call us on 0345 605 8670 or visit our website www.professionalbeautydirect.co.uk where you can run through quotes and buy instant cover online.