Property insurance claims happen for a number of reasons. It could be a hurricane or tornado hit your home. It could be that a tree fell on your house from a windstorm. It could be a sudden hail storm. It could be a fire. It could be a sudden water leak from a burst pipe.
Whatever the reason, you purchased insurance so that if something happens, you have the ability to replace or repair your home.
The odds are that you won't file an insurance claim many times in your lifetime. In fact some folks are lucky enough to go through life and never have to file a property insurance claim. So you can't be expected to know much about this.
Unfortunately what you don't know can hurt you financially.
1. It is most important that you not put yourself or your family in harms way. Don't risk life or limb on your property. The property can be replaced. You can't.
2. Insurance is for sudden and catastrophic damage. It does not cover long term damage. If your roof has been leaking for several months or years and has damaged your ceiling, then you probably don't have coverage. However if your water pipe suddenly breaks and damages your ceiling then you do have coverage. The moral of the story is to keep your home properly maintained to prevent a denial of claim.
3. Homeowners insurance does not cover flooding. If water touches the ground before it enters your home then the damage that water causes is not covered under your homeowners policy. You would need to have flood insurance for this to be covered. This comes up in every storm. The adjusters are trained in how to determine this. Flooding is never covered under standard homeowners policies. If the storm blows your roof off, then the roof would be covered under your policy even if your home floods from water entering the home that touched the ground first. You would be paid for the roof, but not for the flood damage.
4. You have a duty to mitigate further damage to your property within reason. That means you have to do what is reasonable to protect your property from further damage. For example, if you have a broken window, you need to get something to cover that window so that rain does not enter and create further damage. If you have roof damage, you need to get a tarp on the roof to prevent rainwater from creating further damage. You must do what you can. You are not expected to do anything that you are not reasonably able to do or arrange for. You are expected to call a contractor to put a tarp on your damaged roof to prevent further damage. You are not expected to repair the roof.
5. You need to take lots of photos to protect your interests. (Turn your smart phone SIDEWAYS to take pictures. Your pictures should be rectangular like your television screen or computer monitor.) This is so important. Before you do anything, take lots of photos. Show the damages in all of your rooms from all angles. Show the damage on the exterior of your home. Take one full picture of each exterior elevation (Front, Right Side, Back, Left Side) Before you put the tarp on the roof take photos of that roof. If you hire someone to put the tarp on the roof, then hand them your camera or cell phone and have them take photos of the whole roof including all of the damage. If you don't do this, when the adjuster comes out, he will need the tarp removed. For liability reasons the adjuster can not remove or walk on the tarp. Often (but not always) with your correct photos, he can use those in his report instead of having the tarp removed.
If your power is out, take a photo of the inside of your refrigerator and/or freezer. Some insurance policies pay for spoiled food. Some do not. Some pay for the whole loss. Some pay $500 maximum. If you have a photo of what was in the refrigerator or freezer then this becomes an easy way to get paid for this part of the loss.
Roofers tend to know what pictures to take, but the lack of roof photos is the most common mistake homeowners make. I had a claim in South Carolina several years ago. There was a roofer in the neighborhood 3 days after a hurricane passed through and our policyholder thought it would be a good idea to have a new roof put on before I got there. When I arrived, the new roof had no damage. I asked her for pictures of the old roof showing the damage. She didn't have them and neither did the roofer. Unfortunately the carrier would not pay for the new roof because she could not prove that the roof was damaged and needed to be replaced. A few good pictures of her damaged roof would have gotten the $30,000 roof paid for. There was nothing I could do.
6. If your home is habitable, then do what you can to work around the damage. But do not make any permanent repairs until after the insurance adjuster shows up. Do not discard anything until the adjuster has inspected your claim. If you start to clean up, make sure you have good pictures of what it looked like before you cleaned up.
7. If you have a broken pipe call a plumber and get it repaired if you are still living in the house. You do not need to wait for the adjuster on this. Your insurance does not pay for the repair of broken pipes. However your insurance covers the damage that the broken pipe caused. So fix the pipe--but not the other damage.
8. If you have a tree on your roof and it has breached the roof, you can get it removed to prevent further damage. Take lots of pictures of the tree on the roof before the tree is removed. Your insurance will usually cover having the tree removed from your roof and laying it on the ground. It usually only covers $500 to have it hauled away. Also if the tree fell down and it is not touching your house your insurance company will not pay for that tree. That's why you must have the photos showing the tree on the house of you will not get paid.
9. If your neighbors tree falls on your house--it's your problem. In most cases if a tree falls on your property then it is your problem no matter who owned the tree or where it came from. Your insurance will pay for that tree if it falls on your house. On the other hand if your tree falls on your neighbors house, then it is your neighbors problem and his insurance would pay for the removal of your former tree. Your insurance will not pay.
10. Keep all receipts that you spend money on. If you have to move out of your house then keep the motel receipts. Keep the food receipts. Keep the gas receipts. Keep all of the receipts. Even though the plumbing repair, to fix the broken pipe is not covered, the insurance company still wants a copy of the receipt. Not everything will be covered, but if you have no receipts then nothing will be covered.
11. File your claims as soon a possible. You have a duty to notify your insurance company as soon as practically possible. Don't let a claim sit. An insurance company can deny your claim if you don't notify them as soon as you know about the damage. Late filed claims can be denied and it is easy for the insurance company to deny them.
12. Don't lie to the insurance company or the adjuster. They have extensive databases that they do use to verify things. Don't tell them the roof had no pre-existing damage when you know that it did. Don't tell them that your screen door just blew off during the storm when it's been like that for years. If the insurance company catches you mis-representing your claim, your claim will be denied and you could be charged with insurance fraud.
13. Do not make any permanent repairs until after you have received your build back estimate and check from your insurance carrier. Your claim may be underpaid and some items may not be covered. Wait until you have the money to make the permanent repairs!
14. If your home was flooded or if you had a water leak, then you will need to call a migitation company immediately. Call and file your claim and ask your carrier for the phone numbers for the migitation company they recommend. Then call the mitigation company that same day. The mitigation company will need to come in and remove all of the wet drywall, insulation and flooring. They will put fans and dehumidifiers in to get rid of the excess moisture Failure to do this will result in mold and mildew appearing within about 3 days.
15. insuranceclaim123.com can help determine if your insurance claim has been underpaid with our Avaina 1 2 3 Forensic Audit Report. This report will help your public adjuster or attorney determine the next steps needed to collect the money owned to you. It's a valuable tool for the homeowner and the public adjuster or attorney.
