Claims Zone: First on the scene

Claims Consultant Hayden Pyle is on hand for clients in their hour of need

When flooding has damaged your house, or valuable jewellery is taken in a burglary, dealing with a claim needs to be as stress-free an experience as possible. If there’s been a flood, for example, plumbers and builders have to be brought in – complications that do not make dealing with a traumatic situation any easier.
Fortunately for Hiscox customers, a team of dedicated consultants help with the claims process and make it as simple as possible.
“In many ways, we’re the frontline of Hiscox’s customer services,” says Hayden Pyle, Claims Consultant for London and East Anglia, “and we can offer reassurance and guidance to clients.” This can range from giving the green light to pay a claim to arranging damage repair. “It can also involve hand-holding,” Hayden says. “If someone has been mugged, for example, the claim must be dealt with in a very sensitive manner.”
Hayden is usually instructed by the Claims Team to provide clarification on a loss. By using internal consultants, claims can be paid on site, as opposed to waiting for an external loss adjuster to file a report.
“We always carry our chequebooks with us,” Hayden says. “It’s not uncommon for a household claim to be submitted, a consultant appointed to visit immediately and a settlement cheque issued all on the same day. We can make split-second decisions about liability.”
The variety of appointments is one of the perks of the job. “Meeting the insured is great for establishing client relationships,” he says. “Clients have ranged from City professionals to television personalities and even a very well-known Hollywood film star.”  
Hayden often has to go beyond what would usually be expected to meet the client’s needs. “One lady had a kitchen that had water damage in a small area on a cupboard door,” he says. “Her fitter said that the kitchen was no longer in production, so she would have to get the whole kitchen replaced. I managed to track down one of the two doors left in the country that matched the kitchen and had it artificially faded to fit in with the rest of the room.”
Another occasion saw him turn ghost-hunter. “The client’s expensive painting had fallen off the wall, and she couldn’t work out how it had happened – all the hooks were still perfectly in place. Her only explanation was that, given other recent strange goings-on, it must have been a poltergeist, her reason being that she lived in a converted convent!”
More importantly, however, Hiscox’s flexibility and bespoke solutions are there to help people when they need it the most. “During the 2007 floods, I was writing interim cheques so that our clients could buy replacement clothing and arrange short-term accommodation, which was invaluable,” Hayden says. Even though the company was making big losses on the floods, the safety and security of its clients was the highest priority.