The vast majority of home insurance claims go through routinely, via the insurer's own channels — and that's how it should be: the claims line and the online portal are the fastest route. The broker's role begins where the routine ends: with claims that get stuck, go round in circles, or become disputed. This article sets out exactly when and how I get involved — and what you can do in the meantime.
- For a routine claim, the insurer's claims line is the route — most claims close there smoothly, with no intermediary needed.
- The broker steps in for stuck or disputed claims: helping where they can, backed by the policy terms and the documentation.
- If a dispute remains, the formal route is also open, in order: the insurer's complaints process, the MNB's consumer-protection procedure, and the Financial Arbitration Board.
The division of roles: why the insurer comes first
The primary route for reporting a claim is always the insurer's claims line or online claim-reporting portal: that's where the claim number is issued, that's where the process runs, and that's where a well-documented routine claim closes fastest (the process is set out here). Putting an intermediary into this stage isn't a shortcut, it's a detour. The broker's part around a claim lies elsewhere: at the point you take out cover, making sure no gap likely to cause a dispute is left in the policy in the first place — and then, if the claim does get stuck.
What counts as a stuck or disputed claim?
A few characteristic patterns from practice: repeated, contradictory rounds of supplying missing documents; silence with no substantive explanation, where the status of the claim doesn't change even when you ask; a partial or rejecting decision whose reasoning looks questionable in light of the policy terms; and an interpretation dispute, where the two sides read the same clause — a definition, exclusion or limit — differently. At that point what's needed isn't administration but argument — and that's a different kind of work. What you can do in the meantime: ask for a written status update by referencing the claim number, and keep a note of when, with whom, and what you discussed — all of it becomes useful evidence later.
How do I help at that point?
First, reconstructing the case: what was submitted, when, and what response came back — which is why it pays to keep a record of every submission. Next, analysing the policy terms: precisely which provision the decision relies on, and what that provision says when set against what actually happened. Finally, reopening the case with the insurer in a structured way: questions put in professional language, referencing the specific clauses of the terms — in my experience, a good share of cases get resolved at this level. I don't promise an outcome, because no one can honestly promise that; what I do commit to is knowing your case and helping you through the discussion with the insurer and in preparing the complaint — before the Financial Arbitration Board and in court, it is no longer me who acts, but you or your legal representative (a lawyer). The foundation is always a well-documented claim — which is exactly why the checklist exists.
If the dispute remains: the formal complaints route
The steps, factually, in order: a written complaint to the insurer's own complaints process (insurers are required to operate a complaints-handling procedure) → the MNB's consumer-protection procedure, if you disagree with the outcome of the complaint → the Financial Arbitration Board (Pénzügyi Békéltető Testület), whose procedure settles contractual disputes by agreement — and, as a last resort, the courts. Which forum applies depends on the situation; here too, I help prepare submissions and organise the documentation. Most cases, though, are resolved well before this stage — and the most effective way to resolve a dispute is to avoid one in the first place: knowing the exclusions and limits at the point you take out cover. Have a question about a claim that's currently in progress? Let's talk it through.
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