How To Deal With Insurance Adjuster After A House Fire?

Imagine building a house from scratch, raising a family and living years and years there. You got married, raised your children, even got your children married in the same house, and today it is a lot more worth in sentimental value.

What if your haven caught fire? Everything you’ve ever worked for is up in flames. Apart from being devastated to the core, you’re also looking at damage expenses. And the figure doesn’t look right.

If you have homeowner’s insurance, your insurance company will pay the cost of repair and damage.

What is a homeowner’s insurance?

This type of insurance gives protection to homeowners if their house is damaged, needs repair, is caught in a fire or natural hazard, and provides coverage for some of the assets lost or stolen in the house.

Typically, homeowners insurance covers:

• Structure: If the walls and roof of the house have been damaged, the foundation is set again
• Personal property: Any assets you keep within the house will also be covered in case of damage or theft
• Liability protection: Protects other people from getting injured or physically hurt on your property.

Now that you know what the insurance covers, you can have the peace of mind to have financial support during rainy days. But, claiming insurance and filing for it isn’t as easy as it may seem. You could find yourself in worse matters having to deal with an insurance adjuster.

Fire Claim Settlement Procedure

A fire claim settlement procedure can be daunting and could be worse than the fire. Experts advise that as soon as you and your family are safe, you should immediately file your claim. If you waste time doing so, the time frame could pass by, and you could lose the right to claim for any damages.

Note down all necessary information: date and time of the fire, cause of the fire, what assets were inside the house, what got damaged, how much it cost. If possible, keep all receipts, it will only help you in the claim. The more genuine it sounds, the easier it will be for you to get the check without any complications.

Request for an advance if that is possible with the type of policy. If your house is caught up in a fire and you couldn’t pick up any of your belongings, you can ask for the insurance company to issue you an advance check. This could be used to buy essential things like clothes and food until the time you’re relocated. There is a lot of fraud involved while filing for claims, don’t ask for more money or else you will have to pay the difference! Buy inexpensive clothes and live on a budget with the advance you request from the insurance company.

Make sure you have done a personal walk-through of your house. Take pictures and notes of the things that have been damaged by the fire, and if possible, make sure you have the insurance adjuster with you when you’re going through. Point out even the slightest damage and loss. Ask questions.

Getting a second opinion is also very important. The insurance adjuster sent by the company will give an estimate, which may be wrong, and you may not get full coverage. What you should do here is to get an insurance agent in on the case so that they’re able to point out any loopholes.

Keep a continuous check on your case; make sure the insurance company is acting promptly, and that your case is on high priority. Keep calling them for follow-ups and keep checking your status. Delays usually happen because of incompetent staff and people who are just lazy to do their jobs. So you also don’t sit back and wait for their replies, instead be vigilant and careful yourself.

Fire Insurance Claim Calculation

Calculating the right amount of claim can be misleading if you’re not sure how it is done. When you’re getting a second opinion from a trusted agent, get them to calculate your assets’ cost and see how many claims you can file.

The basic formula to do this is:

Claim = Loss Suffered x Insured Value/Total Cost

In most insurance policies, there is an average clause in a fire insurance policy. This means that there is some part of the cost that the insured person will have to pay in case of fire damages.

The best way to find out is thoroughly going through your policy and seeing what it covers and if there is a partial clause in the plan. If you’re still unsure, you should immediately contact the insurance company to help you out with your queries.

Fire Insurance Claims Examples

Ideally, there are two types of fire insurance claims.

1. Residential Fire Claims: When your house is on fire, and you have unfortunately lost so much, you can make a residential fire claim with your insurance company.\
2. Commercial Fire Claim: When the place of business or your work premises catches fire, you have to file a claim with the insurance company to help you pay for repair and damages of the property and assets. If any employees have been injured, they will likely be covered under the employer’s group insurance plan.

Conclusion

Having a fire break out in your house is heartbreaking for many reasons, and sometimes very hard to bounce back financially. Count yourself lucky if you have homeowner’s insurance where the insurance company pays for repair and damages.

You’re already on a severe stage, so the best way is for you to move on and not be upset about the things you lost. Keep your family safe, and whatever can be revived back for you will be done so by the insurance company. Just make sure you inform them as soon as possible to avoid any delays in your case. Ask around and fish for options, opinions, and information. You will see so many people willing to help you out in these hard times.