One of the awful things that can happen to home is fire damage. Fire causes extensive damage to your property. After the damage, it is more horrific, and every homeowner wants their home back as soon as possible. The process of claim is referred to as the time that a policy holder notifies his/her insurer about the occurrence until the problem gets fixed. In this article, we will discuss the basic process to make an insurance claim.
- Call the insurance company and report the claim: Once the fire is doused by the firefighters, call your insurance company and report the claim. Most of the insurance companies require you to give prompt notice about the claim.
- Make a list of things that were damaged and destroyed in the fire: Your insurer may require you to submit the list or summary about every that had happened leading to fire. This includes the things that were damaged and destroyed due to fire and also include its value.
- Protect your home from further damage: Take some steps to protect your home from further damage. For instance, if the fire have destroyed a portion of your roof, ensure to give necessary repairs to make sure that the inside of the home will not incur further damage.
- Provide additional information: Once you have assigned a claim representative to work with, you will have a central point of contact with the insurance company. Work with the assigned representative to find all the necessary and additional information, if any and get the claim speedily.
- “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”: When there is an issue of home insurance claim, these words hold especially true. According to the institute of insurance information, there are three important things you should do before filing a claim and they are –
- Understanding insurance policy thoroughly. If you have questions, talk to the insurance agent and know everything so that you have a better understanding.
- Knowing what is covered and what is not. If you are unsure about what is covered in your policy, ask your insurance agent.
- Learning the process of filing an insurance claim in advance and familiarize yourself with the process so that it will be easier for you in future.
Best way to handle such situation is to prepare yourself for it. This will actually help you easing your fears and anxiety.