Passenger Claims:
Handling a claim
Listen carefully
Even with the best passenger care following an incident, there will inevitably be times when you are contacted by someone seeking compensation. It is important to listen carefully to what the claimant has to say. You should try to establish why they are making a claim, e.g. anger, financial loss or greed, and what their objective is, e.g. recovering out of pocket expenses, replacing a damaged camera, getting a refund etc. Make careful notes about the attitude of the claimant and record your impressions. Identifying the claimant's motivation and objectives are a major factor in the successful resolution of claims. It is important that you do not take any allegation personally and you should try to avoid confrontation and acrimony.
Liability issues
If the claimant is seeking substantial compensation you should start to address the issue of liability. You should try to find out why they feel the incident is your fault and why they feel they should be compensated. Your objective is gently but firmly to put across the message that you are receptive to a reasonable claim if you have been at fault but equally you cannot accept responsibility for matters outside your control.
Further action
Your insurance broker should be advised immediately and a full report passed to the Club as soon as possible. This will enable us to assist you in formulating a strategy to deal with the claim. There are unfortunately no hard and fast rules to follow, each case must be handled differently depending upon the circumstances and the personalities involved. The Club has, however, considerable experience of passenger claims which enables us to resolve most problems quickly and efficiently.