We know too well just how daunting all of the fine print, the clauses, the acronyms and the ‘rules’ can be. To help make things clearer we’re using our fancy new website to bring you hot tips and answers to some of our most commonly asked questions. It’s something we’re keen to do because we’re here to help you and this website was built with your needs in mind. So, let’s make a date and do this regularly!

Speaking of dates…a regular question we get when people notify us of a loss is:

“Do we have to provide a date for every property loss?”

The Short Answer:
Yes.

The Long Answer:
Property Cover responds to specified loss events that can usually (and quite easily) be pinpointed to a date and time and not in the case of loss that has occurred over a period of time (ie. deterioration or breakdown from decay, rust, normal wear and tear etc) or unexplained loss or disappearance.

If you do not know when the loss happened it is almost impossible for RMS to verify the circumstances and to assess the loss fairly.

Here are a few real-life examples, taken from our database:

• A strong wind storm on 27 August 2012 between 4pm and 6am caused damage to school fences.
• On 7 May 2011, during a church service, a member of the congregation accidentally knocked a data projector off its platform and onto the ground, resulting in damage.
• On 26 March 2012, between 1am and 8am, a school was vandalized and suffered damage to several windows.

As you can see all of the above cases provided an event date, and because the property and the type of loss event were both covered they all received a payment.

Why is an event date needed?

Providing an event date is a requirement because property cover is there to provide financial protection to the Church from specified risks and events. Property protection is not a maintenance fund to be drawn on when, say, carpet wears through over time or if a rusty tap starts leaking. The cost of upkeep and maintenance of property should be factored in to your entity’s annual budgets. As always, if you’re unsure please talk to us because we want to help.

Of course, there is more to assessing a loss than just the event date and we’ll share more about this in the coming months.