Dealing with the aftermath of a home devastated by a flood is a difficult and stressful process. Add to that the details of dealing with your insurance company and a water damage incident can turn into a flat out nightmare. From our water damage cleanup experts at Shambaugh Cleaning in Mansfield, Ohio, here are four helpful tips for filing a water damage insurance claim.
Water Damage Cleanup In Mansfield, Ohio
Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions
Oftentimes, bad experiences with insurance companies are the result of miscommunications and not actual wrongdoing on anyone’s part. Thus, if you notice something that seems amiss or are simply confused about something in the cleanup process, just call your insurance company and ask! They should be more than happy to help and answer your questions. At the same time, however, it’s true that your insurer doesn’t know anything, nor are they impervious to making mistakes so you can’t go wrong by asking for clarification about something.
Make An Inventory Of All Your Possessions Affected By The Flood
The most time-consuming part of filing a water damage insurance claim is documenting the damage to submit as part of your claim. This step of the process includes taking pictures of everything that was damaged. Ideally, you should also have “before” pictures that you can also submit. Either way, put the time in on the front end of this process so you don’t have to go back and make edits to your claim after the fact.
Document Your Living Expenses
In many cases, the damage from a flood will be so severe that you must leave your home for a time. If this is the unfortunate case for you, your insurer should cover the immediate expenses for lodging, food, etc. to save yourself time in the long run, make sure you keep receipts of all your expenses that fall under this category so you can easily submit them as a part of your claim later.
Consider Hiring A Public Adjuster
Unless you specify otherwise, your insurer will send one of their own adjusters out to your home to assess the damage and determine your final claim amount. The problem with this, however, is that the adjuster your insurance company will send technically works for them, not you. This may not make a difference so it may not matter to you which is fine. If you are concerned about this, however, you can file a public adjuster to assess your home instead. This is easy to do and a great choice if you’re worried about getting shorted on your claim.
While filing a water damage insurance claim can seem like a daunting process at first, following the tips above should help you successfully navigate this process. For any questions that may occur throughout the cleanup process, we at Shambaugh Cleaning in Mansfield, Ohio are here to help. Our cleanup experts are available to help guide you through the claim process and even speak to your insurance company if necessary.
