Any damage to your home is already stressful enough. When you start considering all the things you have to do to get your life back to normal it can be overwhelming. At times like these, it is important to understand and accept the new circumstances and work your way towards restoring your home. I wanted to know what to do in case of water damage and what actions to take to prepare for an insurance claim. Leak Detection Pros offered some useful advice, so here’s what you should do.
Safety First
First, make sure that you and your loved ones are all ok. The property and the belongings inside are secondary, but if you can, put valuables like documents somewhere safe. It is crucial to stop any leak and ensure there is no immediate danger to anyone inside or around the house.
Contact Your Insurance Agent
The sooner you call the insurance the chance of getting the claim increases. Before you even decide to commence the restoration process or at least start clearing the affected area, let the agent investigate. This way they will witness the total damage and be able to estimate it on the spot. This is the opportunity to ask any important questions like whether you will be compensated for the living expenses while your home is inhabitable.
After that, you should focus on preventing any further damage. Start on removing the water and drying your home. While at it you should take pictures of affected areas for future proof. If you can find the source of the leak, it is important to save it or take a picture. Create a list of all damaged items with their current market value and reparation or replacement costs.
What You Should Avoid Doing
Certain things might hinder your claim, and that’s why you should reconsider doing some major repairs to your home before filing it. When you start the process of restoring your home, you will gather all the affected items and probably want to dispose of them. This is not a good idea. You should let the insurance go through all the damaged items, and then, with their approval, throw them away. In some cases, your insurance claim denied by the insurance agency, if you fail to do so.
Major repairs can be expensive, and it is important to be patient here while the insurance company finishes their investigation and determines the costs needed to cover all the repairs. If you choose to start repairing on your own, you might lose the compensation.Â
Filing the Claim
Get a copy of your insurance policy and read the information about coverage in case of water damage. Make sure your policy includes coverage for your particular case. Don’t forget to check any deadlines for filing the claim. When the investigation of the insurance company is done you can hire professionals to help you remove the water, disinfect your home, and start the restoration. Try and get estimates of time and money for every process of the restoration. You should also include your contact info, date and location of the damage, all the reparation receipts, or any other receipts concerning any stay outside your home, a list of all damaged items.
Prevention
It’s never too late to prevent disasters. To avoid damage to your home and any repercussions that follow, a smart move would be to perform regular maintenance of your home at least once a year. This way a professional will be able to predict any suspicious breaks that might lead to lengthy and expensive repairs.
