Study "Improving insurance claim forms"

Form validation

[Text below shown in the "objective reject" condition.]

Thank you for submitting a travel insurance claim. Our Automatic Content Analysis Program has reviewed your claim and concluded that unfortunately your claim will be rejected, based on the following:

"Our travel insurance policy has a maximum journey limit of 31 days and if extra days are required, you must have notified us before starting your journey. From your claim we understand that your journey lasted a total of 37 days and we do not hold a record for a request of an additional 6 days. Therefore, your claim does not satisfy the criteria needed to accept an insurance claim, leading to a rejection of your claim."

"Unfortunately the rejection of your insurance claim means that you will NOT receive the $0.50 bonus."

[Text below shown in the "subjective reject" condition.]

"Our travel insurance policy includes the guideline that you must take care to look after your personal possessions, in particular your valuables. Based on the information that was provided in the claim we have to conclude that you have been negligent in taking care of your backpack, which is of particular importance since several items that were listed in the submitted insurance claim fall in the category 'valuables'. Therefore, your claim does not satisfy the criteria needed to accept an insurance claim, leading to a rejection of your claim."

"Unfortunately the rejection of your insurance claim means that you will NOT receive the $0.50 bonus."

[Text below shown in the "accept" condition.]

Thank you for submitting a travel insurance claim. Our Automatic Content Analysis Program has reviewed your claim and we are glad we can inform you that your claim will be accepted, based on the following:

"Your claim, in which you described a trip abroad with a maximum journey limit of 31 days, met the criteria of our travel insurance policy. You reported the loss of your backpack within 24 hours to the police. Based on the information that was provided in the claim we concluded that you took reasonable care of looking after your personal possessions. This included an extensive search for the items once you realised they were missing. Therefore, your claim satisfied the criteria needed to accept an insurance claim, leading to the acceptance of your claim."

"Well done. You will receive the $0.50 bonus because you managed to get your claim accepted."

If you feel this decision is incorrect or unfair, you have the opportunity to fill in any additions, changes of clarifications below to support your claim. The Automatic Content Analysis Program will then process your feedback to determine whether the decision needs to be adapted.

Click to show/hide information for policy number 6343 7926

A journey is a trip, possibly abroad, that starts and ends at your home address.
There is a maximum journey limit of 31 days. If you require additional days you must contact us before starting your journey.
Baggage cover: We provide cover for up to a maximum of $2500.
The single article limit is $500.
The valuables limit is $800. Valuables are photographic, audio, computer, video and electrical equipment of any kind (including CDs, Mini Discs, DVDs, TVs, electronic games, MP3 players, iPods, personal digital assistants (PDAs), video and audio tapes), telescopes, binoculars, sunglasses, glasses, spectacles, mobile phones, musical instruments, jewellery, watches, furs, leather goods, animal skins and items made of or containing gold, silver, precious metals or precious or semi-precious stones.
Keep your tickets and luggage tags.
Report any loss to the carriers or police within 24 hours of its discovery.
Take all steps to recover property, which is lost or stolen.
Provide us with a proof of ownership for the items you are claiming for to substantiate your claim.
You must take care to look after your personal possessions, in particular your valuables.

Click to show/hide scenario

[Paragraph below shown in the "objective reject" condition.]

You and your partner have just been on a five-week holiday to Europe (from the 8th of February 2014 to the 16th of March 2014). You travelled around by train and stayed in hotels in several cities in both France and Italy. The journey started in Paris, after which you spent some time at the coast in the south of France (Marseille) before travelling to Italy, where you visited Milan and Rome. From Rome you and your partner flew back home to the United States (New York, JFK airport).

[Paragraph below shown in the "subjective reject" and "accept" conditions.]

You and your partner have just been on a three-week holiday to Europe (from the 22th of February 2014 to the 16th of March 2014). You travelled around by train and stayed in hotels in several cities in both France and Italy. The journey started in Paris, after which you spent some time at the coast in the south of France (Marseille) before travelling to Italy, where you visited Milan and Rome. From Rome you and your partner flew back home to the United States (New York, JFK airport).

[Remainder of this text was shown to all participants.]

Unfortunately, on the last day (the 15th of March, 2014), your backpack was stolen. You and your partner were having one last pizza for lunch in a restaurant before travelling to the airport to fly back home. The restaurant, Ristorante Pizzeria il Secchio, was located close to the Termini train station in Rome (Via Daniele Manin, 30/40, 00185 Rome Italy), from where you were planning to take a train to the airport. Because the weather was so nice, you were having lunch outside at a little deck between the restaurant and the street. The deck was shielded off from the street with a 3-foot high fence. You and your partner arrived at the restaurant around 1pm and left around 2.30pm. Upon arrival, you had stacked your suitcase and backpack on top of each other in the corner behind your table, so it would not get in the way. After paying for lunch, you wanted to gather your belongings, and only then you noticed that the backpack was missing. You and your partner looked everywhere in the restaurant, and asked the staff and other customers, but no one had seen what had happened to the backpack. The staff kindly directed you to the nearest police station, where you filed a report of your stolen backpack. As part of the police report, you created a file of items that were in the backpack when it was stolen.

This list involved a photo camera (Canon EOS Rebel T3, $220, 2013), a tablet (Ipad Air, $500, 2013), two travel guides (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: France, $22, 2014; DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy, $22, 2014), sunscreen (L’Oreal Paris SPF 50, $10, 2014), sunglasses (Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses, $155, 2012) and a sweater (brand and price unknown, 2011).

After filing the police report, you managed to catch your flight and returned safely to the United States. Upon return, you contacted your travel insurance company to file a claim for the stolen backpack, which you will now fill in.