Now on your side.
Steve Smart ran the legal side of AIG UK, one of the world's largest insurers, and then its consumer distribution business as CEO. He knows exactly how a claim gets refused, and how to argue it back. smarterclaims puts what he learned on your side.
Steve Smart has spent more than forty years in general insurance, and he's seen it from every side. He started on the underwriting floor at Lloyd's of London in 1980, working as a broker and then an underwriter, before qualifying as a solicitor and practising in the insurance department at Dentons (the biggest law firm in the world).
In 1999 he became General Counsel (the Legal Director) of AIG in the UK, where he spent a decade on the senior management team of one of the world's largest insurers. He ran its legal and company-secretarial functions, advised the UK board, and then served as CEO of AIG's consumer distribution business in the UK.
His standing in the industry runs wider than any one company. He was Chairman of the Legal & Regulatory Committee of the International Underwriting Association (IUA) and has served as a Committee member of The Bank of England's Financial Markets Law Committee. He is a regular insurance-claims voice on LBC's Money Hour.
Across those four decades, Steve watched the same disputes come up again and again, and built the library of arguments that smarterclaims now runs on.
Thousands of genuine insurance claims get refused every week. Not because there is anything wrong with them, but because of a technicality, indecipherable small print, or a box that wasn't ticked. Insurers have teams of specialists to help them minimise claims exposures, using an array of tactics and legal tools. Most honest people don't make insurance claims regularly, so when they do need help they have little experience in how insurance works, which makes them vulnerable. This has only got worse now that most products are bought online, meaning there's no one on your side if something goes wrong.
Many people simply give up, and this has always troubled me.
The truth is that a great many of these refusals can be put right, if you know which arguments to make and how to make them in an articulate way. That knowledge has always existed. It has just never been on your side of the table.
The aim of smarterclaims is to rebalance this by giving you just the right amount of know-how, just when you need it, to argue your case effectively. I've taken forty years of understanding about how these disputes really work (the excuses, the arguments that can overcome them, all underpinned by the law and the Ombudsman decisions behind them) and built it into a tool that writes your case for you, for a fraction of what it would typically cost. I can't promise you'll win every time, but you'll stand a better chance if you know what arguments to make and how to make them.
— Steve SmartSteve doesn't read your case. The system is built so he doesn't have to. Here's how forty years of experience ends up on your side.
Steve has documented the refusal patterns that come up again and again across the different types of consumer insurance, and for each one, the arguments worth making and the law and Financial Ombudsman decisions that back them up. He reviews and updates the library so the arguments stay sharp.
When you drop in your refusal letter, the system matches your case to the right pattern, picks the arguments that fit, and drafts the letter, applying Steve's know-how to your situation. You review the analysis before you pay. You send the letter yourself. Steve's expertise is in every letter, so you never wait for his diary.
Steve is a frequent commentator on consumer insurance, most often on LBC, explaining how claims really work and what you can do when one is refused.
Hear Steve in the studioRecent segments with Clive Bull on LBC
Which? confirms that a number of leading insurers don't follow the rules that are there to help you, and that their small print is unfair and lacks transparency. smarterclaims explains the arguments you need to overcome their excuse, and writes the letter you need to fight back.
Source: Which? consumer research, cited in its 2025 super-complaint to the FCA
The Corona Crew panel
Part of The Sun's Corona Crew panel, providing dedicated advice and answers for workers and households facing financial, employment and travel challenges.
Read on The Sun
Contributor
Contributes specialist guidance on insurance claims, rejected claims, policy wording and exclusions, evidence and causation, complaint strategy and Financial Ombudsman escalation.
Read on ConsumerWise
Tell us what happened. It's free to check, and you'll know where you stand in 60 seconds.
Describe your case → £49.99 · No account · Minimal questions · Money-back guarantee