A house fire, flood, or storm damage can make you feel pretty stressed. With your home in disarray, and your regular daily responsibilities still needing your attention, focusing on your damaged home is still of utmost importance. If water penetrated your house, it’s vital that you initiate remediation immediately to keep unhealthy mold from growing in your home.
Proper documentation will help you recover losses for the property damage you incurred. It’s tedious, but going over what you lost is a vital step in the emergency restoration and reconstruction process. Here are some tips to help you navigate during this time:
What to Document When You’ve Experienced a Disaster
Pictures Are Vital
When you’ve had a loss, document everything with photos. Everything. Tell the story of what happened through pictures. If water is currently invading your home, take a video of it (as long as it is safe to do so).
- Take pictures of your exterior: If your property incurred wind, storm, or fire damage, take photos of your siding, roof, windows, and other structural damage. Don’t overlook your landscaping, trees, and other valuable aspects of your exterior.
- If it is safe to enter your home, take images of your interior: After a disaster, if the emergency responders and utility companies deem your home safe to enter, go through each room in your interior and take a picture of every piece of damaged property and any structural damage you can see. Take pictures of each room as a whole, and then photograph the room’s walls, ceiling, floor, and anything else that is damaged.
- If areas of your home are unsafe, take photos from afar: Perhaps portions of your house are declared unsafe and are marked off by caution tape. Photograph the area from a safe distance so the insurance staff can get a clear idea of the scope of what you’re facing.
- Remember to photograph your closets: If the contents of your closets were damaged in a disaster, take a picture of the closet with the door closed, and one with the door open. It is important to detail every loss to report to your insurance carrier.
Make Notes on All of Your Personal Property That Was Damaged
Photograph Your Damaged Personal Possessions
In addition to photographing the structural damages your home incurred, it’s vital that you document the damage to your personal possessions with photos as well.
Document Details about Your Possessions
Create a home inventory of damaged property in an orderly way. Get started in one room and write down all the things that were damaged in that room. Include as much information as possible like the item’s original price, when and where you purchased it, and more. Do this in each room in your home that incurred damage. It will be tedious, but it’s crucial to your insurance claim and the restoration process.
If you have receipts from items that were damaged, set them aside. If you don’t have receipts, and the item was a substantial purchase, consider calling the place you bought the item and ask about its purchase history (for your favorite love seat, washer, or whatever the major expense). The more documentation you have, the easier it will be to get a fair settlement with your insurance agent.
Document Your Expenses
If you need to have debris removed, secure alternate living arrangements, or hire a cleaning and reconstruction crew, keep all your receipts to prove your loss to the insurance company.
Note All Conversations with Professionals
Throughout the restoration and reconstruction process, there can be a lot of moving parts. It’s vital that you have a systematic way of keeping track of your conversations with professionals who are key to your recovery from the loss. It may feel like you just got a part-time job you never applied for, but your diligence in documentation will pay off.
It’s stressful to have a disaster in your home, and recovery is a slow, steady process. But you’re not alone. At Longhorn Construction Co., we are available 24/7 when calamity hits. We’re here to help you through the emergency tasks and the rebuilding of your home.
Review Your Homeowner’s Policy
Call your insurance company as soon as possible after disaster strikes. They will have specific protocol for you to follow in the aftermath of a storm, flood, or fire. Next, look at your homeowner’s policy and gain a basic understanding of what it covers, and what your limits are.
Replacement Cost vs. Cash Value
Some policies cover the replacement cost of damaged belongings, while others reimburse the actual cash value only. For example, if your 7-year-old TV stopped working due to the disaster, replacement cost coverage will help pay the price of a new, similar TV. Cash value, however, will account for 7 years of depreciation and pay only what the insurer thinks the TV was worth a moment before disaster hit.
Deductible
Understand what your deductible is. This is the amount of your claim that your insurance company expects you to pay. If a disaster does $20,000 of damage to your home, and your deductible is $2,000, the insurer will pay $18,000 and you will cover the rest. If any direction is unclear, contact your insurance company for clarification. It’s important to know what your part is and what your insurance company’s part is in the equation.
When Disaster Strikes—Our Restoration Services Can Help Speedily
It can feel pretty overwhelming to experience a flood, fire, storm, hail, or other damage in your home. Longhorn Construction Co., we provide professional emergency restoration services for disasters to your house. From water and flood damage, to fire damage and storm/hail damage, our experienced restoration team is available 24/7 to clean up and repair harm to your property. Learn how our water and fire damage restoration services can be there for you when disaster strikes your Texas or Dallas/Fort Worth area home.
Darrell W. Land
Owner, Longhorn Construction Co.