As a client of Tenerife Insurance Services S.L. the important thing to remember is that we are here to help you through what can sometimes be a difficult period, so feel free to contact us at any time to ask for guidance or an update with an ongoing claim.

Please click on one of the following links which are a guide as to the steps you need to take to make the resolution of your claim as hassle free as possible;-

• Make any temporary repairs necessary to minimise the damage or loss getting any worse.
• Use the "asistencia" telephone number to get an assessor out (900-243-657).
• Obtain and keep any bills associated with these repairs.
• Take photographs of the damage done before the temporary repairs are carried out.
• Get 2 estimates for the cost of the repairs to be completed / made permanent.
• Keep any damaged items as they may need to be seen by the assessor ("perito").
• Advise us of the problem as soon as possible.
• Come into our Head Office in Las Chafiras to complete a claim form as soon as possible.
• If you have any original receipts for items that have been damaged or stolen please bring these with you.
• If the total claim is for a relatively small amount the item(s) affected may, at the insurance company's discretion be replaced or you will be offered a sum of money.
• If the claim is for a larger amount an assessor will be arranged to go and inspect the premises and make a report.

• All robberies must be reported to the police as soon as it has been discovered. 
• You will need to make a denuncia at the local Police station.
• Bring this report into our office so we can forward it to your insurers.
• If you have lost any credit cards  advise the card issuer as soon as possible so the card(s) can be cancelled and new ones reissued.

• One of the most common claims is for water leakage through the roof.  Unfortunately, more often than not, this type of claim will be rejected as it will be assessed as resulting from poor or insufficient maintenance of the building.
• If the water has leaked from a broken pipe or a neighbours property then your insurance company will claim from the Third Party.  Whenever possible please provide the name and telephone numbers of these people, which can be simply the community administrator for the block of flats that you may live in.

• Call the Fire Brigade ( Bomberos ). 
• Take photos of all resulting damage.
• Either ring the Liberty 24 hrs Assistencia number or call us to start processing the claim.
• Do what is necessary to secure the premises by professional tradesmen.
• Keep any and all receipts for any work carried out.

For example, if the rainfall is measured at more than 40 litres per square metre or the wind speed exceeds 96 kph.

We at Tenerife Insurance Services S.L. will work closely with your insurance company to facilitate any claims so affected, but the process does take longer than normal because of the number of claims that are usually submitted as a result of the natural disaster and because the process must be followed quite precisely.  Any delay in the submission of any relevant paperwork will naturally create a further delay in the processing of the claim.

• All claims affected by an Act of God will be paid out by the Consorcio and cannot legally be paid by your insurance company.  This inevitably means the claim takes longer to process but we and your insurance company will assist you to the best of our abilities.
• If you cannot get insurance for a particular vehicle e.g. because of your age, the Consorcio MUST insure you.  The premium charged can be very expensive and you must provide a letter from at least two insurance agents or companies that verify that they are unprepared to  insure you.  If we cannot insure you we will give you a letter to take to the consorcio.

The Windscreen company will ask you for a copy of your policy schedule and drivers license and will contact your insurance company direct for payment of the bill.  You do not need to complete a claim form.

If you take your vehicle to an unauthorised dealer, you are still entitled to submit your bill ("factura") to the insurance company but you will first have to settle the bill in full.  You must then bring this into the Las Chafiras office as soon as possible after the repair has been completed so we can forward it on to the insurance company.  They will then send you a cheque for the cost, LESS the first 75€ of the total.

NOTE : You do not suffer any reduction in your No Claims Bonus for making a claim for a broken windscreen.

Whenever possible,at the time of the accident, do as much of the following as possible;-

• Get the name, address and telephone number of the other people involved in the accident.

• Write down the registration number, make and model of any other vehicles involved.

• Get the name, address and telephone number of any witnesses.

• Take a photo of the positions of the car(s) and damage done - most mobile phones can do this now!

• If you cannot take a photo, make a diagram of the positions of the vehicles and any street signposts or road markings.

• If anybody has suffered any personal injuries the police MUST be telephoned.  Do not be swayed by somebody advising you not to ring.

• Ideally fill out the European Accident Statement form that was supplied with your policy and get the other people involved in the accident to sign the form.

• Even if there is no visible damage to your own vehicle or you do not wish to claim off your insurance you must report the accident.

• If the car cannot be driven, either because you are too badly hurt or the car is too badly damaged, call for a breakdown truck - "the Grua".

• We will need a copy of the driving license of the person who was driving your vehicle at the time of the accident.

As soon as possible afterwards, come into our Head Office in Las Chafiras ( Tel. 922-735-672 / Fax .922-735-841  - open Monday-Fridays, 09:00 until 17:00hrs, excluding local fiesta days and national holidays.) to report the accident so that your insurance company can be informed.

Note : The garage to which you take your vehicle for repairs is entirely your choice.  Therefore the speed and quality of their workmanship is your responsibility.  Neither the Insurance companies nor Tenerife Insurance Services S.L. make any recommendations as to where you should take the vehicle.

Depending on which insurance company your policy is with you will need to ring one of the numbers listed on our USEFUL NUMBERS web page.

If your policy does not included breakdown assistence you will have to call and pay for a Grua, independantly.

• Report the matter to the police.
• You will need to go and make a "denuncia".
• Bring this report into our Head Office in Las Chafiras, so we can forward it to your insurance company.
• The insurance companies will normally wait a minimum of 3 months before they will consider the vehicle has been irretrievably lost.
• As soon as all their investigations have been completed the insurance company will make you an offer.
• If this offer is acceptable we will ask you to come into the office to sign a form and to confirm how payment should be made to you i.e. by bank transfer or cheque.

We hope, as happens in most cases, your vehicle is recovered with mimimal or no damage.

If your policy includes Legal Assistance and you were not to blame for the accident;- 

• Once the European Accident Statement form has been completed we will send it off to your insurance company.
• Advise us of which garage your vehicle has or will be taken to for the repairs to be done.
• A perito will be organised, by the Third Party's insurance company.  This may take more than a few days.
• You will be asked to take your car to the garage you have nominated and leave it there for the day so the perito can assess it.
• If the car is legally road worthy you may take the car from the garage and use it, but you will have to take it back for the repair work to be performed.

         You have two options :

• Firstly, to wait until the insurance companies sort out who is to blame and for them to authorise the repairs to be done, or
• Secondly, pay for the repairs yourself, submit the original bill to us (so we can forward it on to your insurance company) and then wait for the insurance companies to agree who is to blame.  This second option has the advantage that you will not be without your car as long and therefore if you need to hire an alternative car whilst your's is being repaired it will ultimately cost you less.

• Once the vehicle has been repaired you will be asked to sign a release form.  Do not sign this unless you are totally happy with the repair work.
• Once the perito has sent their report to the Third Party's insurance company they will liaise with your insurance company and agree who is to blame and what costs are to be awarded.
• If there are any monies due to you, we will contact you again to confirm how you want the money paid to you i.e. by bank transfer, or cheque and ask you to come in and sign an acceptance of the offer.

If you opted not to have Legal Assistance included in your Third Party policy and you were not to blame for the accident you will have to pursue the recovery of the cost of any damages from the other party yourself.  We have lawyers in our Los Cristianos office who would be able to assist you.

• Once you have reported the claim to us we will ask you which garage you wish to have the repairs done at.
• We will contact your insurance company to arrange for a perito (assessor) to inspect the vehicle.
• Once he has seen the vehicle he would normally authorise the garage to proceed with the work.
• Once the vehicle has been repaired you will be asked by the garage to sign a release form. Do not sign this unless you are totally happy with the repair work.
• At the same time you will be asked to pay the excess on your policy.  The rest of the bill will be charged by the garage direct to your insurance company.
• Make sure you get a receipt for having paid the excess.  If the accident was not your fault, bring the receipt into our office so we can reclaim it for you (This may take a few weeks to come through but if the Third Party have admitted liability you will get it repaid).