If your house or commercial property is damaged or destroyed by a disaster covered by the property insurance policy, contact your insurance provider as soon as possible to file a claim. Once you have contacted your insurance provider, arrange for an inspection by mitigation and restoration service. The insurance adjuster will visit your property within a few days after filing the claim.
If several structures around where you live were also affected by a major disaster such as a severe storm, flood or wildfire, you will have to wait longer for the insurance adjuster. United Water Restoration has a network of damage cleanup and restoration companies throughout North America. This means that you can get our services regardless of where you live in North America.
All you have to do is to contact us and we will connect you to experienced and skilled professionals who specialize in the kind of disaster that has destroyed or damaged your home or commercial property. Companies in our network are reliable and will visit your property to inspect damage within hours and offer a detailed estimate of cleanup and rebuilding costs within the shortest time possible. Here are the steps to take after your home or commercial property is damaged or destroyed:
Schedule an Inspection
Technicians sent by a local or regional restoration company will visit your property within hours. On the other hand, insurance adjusters will visit your property within days after filing the claim. This means that technicians respond faster than insurance adjusters. When you call United Water Restoration, we will call you back and we will send technicians to inspect your property on the same day.
Experts can assess the damage to your property more accurately than non-professionals. Besides, experts know how to prevent additional damage. In cases of a major fire or water damage, experts can identify the risks of ongoing structural damage or any other damage that needs to be fixed as soon as possible to prevent additional damage.
Document Damage
It is a good idea to take photos or record videos of your damaged house or commercial property. A restoration technician will help you document important aspects of damage as he or she knows the most important aspects that should be documented. Ensure that the photos or videos capture the condition and appearance of damaged areas before cleaning up or before any work starts on your property.
Show your insurance provider the documentation and clear descriptions of any mitigation measures taken so far. You should also consider listing partial and full losses, gather proof of purchase for damaged contents and look for and turn over recent photos of videos of the property before it was damaged.
Mitigate Damage
As a property owner, it is good to try as much as you an to mitigate damage. If your property is damaged by a fire, you can mitigate the damage by boarding up holes or breaches in the roof or walls to keep out precipitation and debris. When dealing with water damage, pump out standing water or dry the areas with clean, treated water from a broken pipe. Other types of property damage may require professional help and the use of specialized equipment and tools.
Insurance companies usually consider mitigation measures when processing and settling a claim. If a property owner did not do anything to mitigate damage, the insurer will consider more aspects of damage as uncovered perils. Mitigating damage is therefore very important and is something that you should do to support the settlement of a claim that will cover cleanup and restoration costs.
Get an Estimate
There are many reasons why it is a good idea to have your damaged property inspected by a trained technician. One of the major reasons is the fact that a trained technician can be accurate in identifying property damage. Technicians collect information that is used to calculate an estimate that can be given to a property insurance company.
This estimate can help you know the amount your insurance policy will cover. Even though planning and anticipating partial or full loss costs when taking out homeowners or commercial property policies, riders and endorsements is very important, it is not possible to anticipate the type of damage your property will suffer. An accurate estimate can help you know how much an insurer will cover and whether there are any out-of-pocket expenses needed to clean and restore your home or commercial property.
If your property is damaged by any disaster, contact United Water Restoration as soon as possible to enable us to inspect your property within the shortest time possible. When a technician visits and inspects your property before an insurance adjuster visits, primary and secondary damage will greatly reduce. An accurate estimate that takes into account the extent of property damage and cleanup and rebuilding measures can help a lot during the processing and settling of your insurance claim.