Hurricane Harvey has done a huge amount of damage to our homes and businesses. Unfortunately, most standard homeowners and renters insurance policies often cover wind damage, but not groundwater flooding! Typically if you don’t have flood insurance, you will have to submit an insurance claim and if you happen to get rejected, FEMA will want that rejection statement in order to proceed on helping you. The Federal Emergancy Management Agency (FEMA) offers grants to victims of this natural disaster!
To make it easier, here’s a link to FEMA!
https://www.fema.gov/nfip-file-your-claim
We wanted to remind you of what is important when filing an insurance claim. Here are a few tips!
- Contact your insurance company as soon as possible to report the claim.
- Document your losses with pictures and videos. If possible, write a list of damaged personal items. Make sure to include the date of when the pictures/videos were taken.
- Keep a good record of anything that you spend to make immediate repairs to secure your home, as well as receipts for hotels and meals if you can’t return home right away.
- Check with your insurance company before discarding damages. Typically, you need to show them to an adjuster first, but always take pictures before to help with claims.
- Keep a claim notebook with contact information of the people you deal with from your insurance company. Make a list of everyone you speak to and note the date, time, and issues that are discussed.
- Keep in touch with your insurance companies. At this time, many people are filing insurance claims and want to stay updated on their reports. ask the company when you can expect to be contacted by an insurance adjuster. This process could take anywhere from a week to 6 months depending on the claim. The best way to do this is signing up for email alerts. This will provide you when your estimate is available and when the payment is sent after you report your claim.