This is a biggie and the best advice you are going to hear. Take lots of photographs. A picture is worth a thousand words. One picture can be worth thousands of dollars if it shows damage that no other picture shows.
Insurance adjusters take pictures, but they will not share them with you. The insurance company does not want you to have pictures. Why? Because it shows the damage and when it shows the damage--they owe you. If you don't have a picture of the damage-then the insurance company may claim that you have no damage.
Before you move anything. Before you pick up anything. Before you do anything else. TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES. Take 5 pictures of every room in your house. Show the ceiling and each wall along with the floor and furnishings. Take a photo from one angle and then take one for the other side of the room. You want to show everything within those 5 pictures.
Go around your house and take a picture of the front, right side, rear and left side of your house. Take pictures of any fences or outbuildings that are damaged.
These photos that you take will help your public adjuster or attorney if you get to that point. The more you document--the more successful your claim will be.
Everyone has a smartphone. You can use your smart phone to take pictures.
PLEASE PLEASE TURN the phone SIDEWAYS so the picture is the same shape as a television screen or a computer monitor! Don't take a straight up and down photo! Why do people do that?
