Can anyone give me some tips about dealing with insurance co when theres a house fire?
My Dad’s house just caught on fire yesterday and nearly burned down. I just want to make sure we handle everything correctly – as no one in our family has ever dealt with anything like this. . . Are there any tips anyone can give me? Where he can get extra assistance from? How best to handle the insurance co? Any tips. . . Thank you
February 27th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I accidently erased my lengthier responce by accident, sorry, so in brief:
- Your insurance parameters are already set, but I was reminded, through my own house fire recovery process, I am the customer and it is up to me to ask for what I want or ask the questions I want.
- You may find it necessary to gently remind people that this is your home and you are the ONLY boss in this the process.
- My insurance covered all cost so the financial end was not as hard to deal with, but I did ask for help from the Red Cross who provided us with toiletries and $150 for clothing, very generous organization.
-The most important part of the recovery is you and your families emotional and physical recovery. I went through several month where I would want to cry for no reason and I became concerned I was loosing it, and honestly even writing this bring tears to my eyes. What this turn out to be was my body physical reaction to the emotional stress, so you are not going crazy. remember other people around you are feeling the same stress so now is the time to work harder at not taking out on others if you do the fire is beating you down and its time for a vacation, seriously.
Finally do not measure the fire recovery process in time, recovery is about finding a healthy way to get back what was taken from you while coming out with more than you loss.
February 27th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
Contact the Red Cross – they can provide some emergency assistance.
The best tip I can give you is to cooperate with the insurance company. Each company has it’s own process. So how my company handles things may not be how your company does it.
The insurance company can bring in a restoration company. These companies are turn key. They can handle clean up and re-building. You don’t have to use them, but it can really make things easy if you decide to use them.
February 27th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Same answer for both questions: HE NEEDS TO WORK THROUGH HIS AGENT.
Start dragging out family photos, and making a list of everything you see in the pictures that burned. Or drag out your inventory videotape.
But the extra assistance should come from the agent and adjuster. The agent can handle any issues with the adjuster.
February 27th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
file the claim through the company, If he has and agent, the agent should be there to help answer and keep him informed as to the progress of whats going on. His policy should have coverage for additional living expense to cover a place to live and extra out of pocket expense because he doesn’t have a kitchen. If he has photos of his belongs have them ready if not start trying to recall everything in is house room by room. I am a huge fan of having digital photos room by room stored away from home for this exact reason. You need to just be supportive as it sound you are an know that it will take a little time to get through the whole process.
February 27th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Sorry for the loss. First thing do not get emotionally involved.
2. Insurance will pay for loss of use. Get your parents a furnished house or have them live with you and get paid.
3.Go over the list of inventory the adjusters come up with and make sure the price is good. Only YOUControl the Insurance Money.
4. Be Careful how you rebuild. Get 3-4 estimates for rebuilding and make sure the builders are financially strong. Do not advance them any money. Pay in stages and pay as stages are completed. NO Exceptions.
5. Get the most upgrades you can for the money.
6. Take your time and do not rush.
7. Stay Away From adjusters that charge a fee.
8. Read your policy carefully and do not let the agent push you around. Remember they work for the insurance company and will try to save the employer money.
Good Luck
MSroya – Agent 6yrs and my parents house also burned.
February 27th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
File the claim if you have not done so. Give the insurance carriers adjuster the time to make an estimate of the damages. Ask the adjuster exactly what coverages you have. Also you can start to interview contractors for the repairs. Your carrier may provide you with a name or two. Be careful with them as they work “with” your carrier and do not always have your best interest first. This type of contractor receives most of their work if not all from insurance companies. Be advised who is pulling their strings. If the contractors cannot put the home back to “pre-fire” conditon you need to be specific and ask the adjuster for a supplement. This is an additional payment made to you for repairs. During the course of this you can hire a “public adjuster” who will work with you in an attempt to gain more money from the insurance company. Most insurance companies will not pay fair. Why should they? Most of the people have no idea they can ask for additional money. As an adjuster I see most claims underpaid to the homeowner.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:38 pm
This is a great site man. Thanks. Hey when is the next update?
May 12th, 2010 at 1:43 am
After the Typhoon Katrina incident, we always make sure that our home is always insured that is why we always get premium home insurance. `,,
May 14th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
However, as bad as this sounds, if you know the “tricks of the trade” as it were, youll come out not half as bad as you expected. Age & Gender… Firstly, if your young, your going to get shafted. By young i mean under 25.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:47 am
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May 31st, 2010 at 1:37 am
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June 1st, 2010 at 1:48 am
There was a very similar account on Yahoo News last week. I think that it was penned by a retired war correspondent, wish a could track down the url. He mainly arrives at the same conclusion so I suppose it would be repetitive in any case.
June 8th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
hi we lost our home we have choosen not to rebuild but to do a cash settlement does any one know how this works?
June 8th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
can we sue the goverment due to the home interalation in australia?the installers were no good?
June 8th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I am having problem with the first link. It gives a 404 error?
June 19th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Great design, i found your blog on google. pretty post, hope to read you again!
July 26th, 2010 at 1:10 am
I own a house that I rent out. it caught fire and burned completely inside. I do not wish to replace this home. Do I have to rebuild .I want the check and pay off my fathers estate and sell the land seperatly.
July 31st, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Our family room and my husband’s basement workshop were destroyed by fire several months ago. We opted to get the repairs done by our insurance company’s vendor. The repairs are nearly done but this company is now asking us for mortgage company’s name and our account number. They also want to know if our mortgage payment is delinquent.
They said they need this information in order to get paid. Why would they need such personal information. FYI, our mortgage company does not pay our home owners taxes or our home owners insurance. We pay that ourselves. Can you think of any reason why we should give this company this information. I’m very concerned %(
July 31st, 2010 at 6:10 pm
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August 16th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
i always apply for home insurance whenever i bought a new house, this gives additional level of security~–
August 24th, 2010 at 8:53 am
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August 29th, 2010 at 6:36 am
Your insurance and the terms under which they will pay is already set out in the signed insurance contract. Having said that, don’t assume that the person you are speaking to at your insurance company knows everything there is to know, or is aware of any extra items which may be covered, etc… as the customer (and a paying one) you have the right to ask any and all questions, and especially if you’re not certain just what may be covered and what may not be covered, etc..
Don’t let yourself be intimidated. You are the paying customer!
August 30th, 2010 at 10:21 am
thanks for the info man
September 17th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
1) If you need to place to live due to fire, don’t pick cheap place but get comfortalbe and good size of house until restore your house because insurance will pay you rent and furniture certain amount of emergency food supplies.
2) Don’t hire an insurance adjuster right away but few you could choose one what you think is best.
3) To choose a construcion company to rebuild your house: 2 to 4 different co. to estimate and you could chooes yourself and give them starting work right away. To make sure sufficient budget to repair ot rebuild for building, plumbing, electrical work, wall, floor, counter-top, doors, windows and cupboard etc. Don’t let adjuster makes decision but every by you.
October 19th, 2010 at 6:09 am
just like health insurance, home insurance is quite important too and should be prioritized’`~
October 19th, 2010 at 8:14 am
Remember the ins. company is a profitable company the ins. adjuster works for who? They have preferred venders which works for who? The insurance company. I had an issue with my claim a ins. adjuster came and offered me 7,554.05 for clean up, repair and damage content. I know that wasn’t enough we went back and forth for weeks. So I hired claims consulting. We settled for just under 51,000. I would recommend them there web site is claimsconsulting.com. if not get a public adjuster that will work for you. I hope I helped someone out good luck thanks
November 1st, 2010 at 2:16 am
Changing your perspective can change how you approach a situation completely. It’s your ideas that trigger your emotions which drive how you behave. You can’t control what happens to you, however, you can control how you react to it!
December 12th, 2010 at 11:48 am
I am an adjuster and some of these posts are just ridiculous. You will not be shafted because of your age. I have been doing this a while and I have never taken advantage of anyone. I don’t care what lawyers and other yahoos on this site say. We do the best we can with what coverages you have. If you did not pay for the better coverage then we can only handle what we can in the parameters of your coverage. I recommend making a detailed list of all your belongings for your adjuster. The agent cannot help you as much as you think. They can stand in for you if your adjuster is being a jerk. Don’t get me wrong there are bad adjusters out there. Most will help you and walk you through this step by step. One piece of advise is to not say everything in your home is a year old or less and not have any documents showing this. This will just make your adjuster mad and he may try to shaft you by depreciating your items to the max. Be honest with your adjuster and answer any questions he/she may have and ask ALL questions and you will turn out just fine.
March 1st, 2011 at 10:03 am
To: Michael the Adjuster. My Mothers home burnt down and she was arrested for arson. The fire marshall said there is two start points. She said she did not start the fire in two spots or on purpose.??? She did actualy start the fire but with the certains by accident and tried to get it out. (she says) She does have a history of suicide so there is mental issues we think may have played a role in this. If she was not in the right mental state of mind, is it possible the insurance will step in and pay the morgage off.
March 1st, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Let me tell you all first hand from being both a claims adjuster and now a public adjuster, insurance companies WILL and DO offer initial low settlements to their insureds ie: State Farm, Allstate as noted in the well known book Delay Deny Defend. Also note the large lawsuit made against the noted companies when they hired a consulting firm to help them make their claims centers more profitable and no longer customer service centers. Check me online, google State Farm law suits, Allstate Katrina lawsuits etc. They are still getting hammered, you are not in good hands and they are not a good neighbor. People reading this, please please please if you have a sizable loss at all HIRE A PUBLIC ADJUSTER, make sure you get an ETHICAL reputable adjuster but hire one. Ive worked on both sides and I handled claims in the heart of Hurricane Katrina take my word for it, check what Im telling you and if Im not telling the truth, disregard what I say.
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