If your home has suffered a fire or a flood, the process of restoration can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Many people don’t know exactly what to do in the event of severe home damage and resort to calling their insurance company right away. As it turns out, there might be a better way to go about things. Contacting a disaster relief company first can actually save you a good chunk of money.
Below we will explain the steps that you should take immediately following home damage:
Step One: Safety First
The very first thing you should attend to is any emergency that might be present. Make sure that everyone in the home is completely safe and that there is nothing inside the home that can cause danger. If it seems that the home is dangerous, you should vacate the area and call the local authorities.
Step Two: Assess The Damage
If the home is safe to enter, then assess the damage. Get a feel for what is broken and damaged, but don’t start cleaning anything yet. If you start to clean or salvage personal belongings, this can complicate things with your insurer.
If you begin to clean, you’re not helping; what you are doing is destroying important evidence that shows your insurer exactly what was damaged and how it was found.
Once you thoroughly assess the damage and take photographs, you should be able to answer these questions easily:
- What type of disaster occurred? (flood, fire, etc.)
- Where did the majority of the damage occur?
- Is the home secure? (Are there holes in the windows or is the door damaged?)
Step 3: Contact a Local Restoration Company
Since many insurers charge very high deductibles for the cleanup work, paying out of pocket to a disaster relief company may end up being even cheaper. Depending on the type of and extent of the damage, paying out of pocket may end up being cheaper.
Once you evaluate how much it would cost to employ the help of a restoration company like Lone Star Pro Services, you can then more easily decide whether or not you want to make a claim with your insurance company.