In the unfortunate event of fire and smoke damage to your home and contents, are you prepared to make a proper home insurance claim?
Fire damage can completely change someone's life. Whether it's a single room or an entire house, the effect can seem overwhelming. You may return and find all your belongings either completely destroyed or heavily damaged.
The smoke from these fires settles on almost everything in your house and forms a thick blanket.
All of the installations in your home are likely saturated with smoke, covered in foam from the fire, and most of your furnishings probably need to be replaced, if not all. This article will tell you what steps to take and how to proceed after a fire breaks out in your home.
What should I do immediately after a fire?
The first thing you should do is always document. If you have home owner's insurance and you make a claim against your insurance company for damages If you have a home owner's insurance policy, it is likely that your damage will be covered by this policy.
Generally, home owner's insurance policies cover damages caused by fire and smoke. Of course, every insurance policy is different but generally, the contents of your home will be covered in the event of damage.
In order to properly document the damage, you need to make sure you have the date the fire started, what damage was done, the property address, photos of the damaged property and a police report that references the incident.
[Click here for more information on what to do after a house fire.]
Should I be repairing the property?
You should definitely contact a fire restoration company and have them on board at a minimum in your home.
This keeps the weather out and ensures that the home is protected while you wait for complete repairs.
Fire damage restoration workers will document everything they do and you should keep all receipts to document the money you paid to have the home inspected. Depending on the extent of the damage, the company may want to tarp your home to prevent any further damage.
Will the amount of damage affect my fire and smoke damage claim?
Depending on the level of damage done to your home, an insurance may label your damage claim as partial or total loss. Insurers will take different approaches to these two different levels of damage in a fire and smoke damage claim.
For starters, the difference between the names of partial and total loss is already quite clear.
Partial would mean that the home had slight to moderate damage from the fire and smoke but the structure is still salvageable. Only total loss will be considered. Total loss and not worth the effort of saving.
In case of partial loss, hidden fire and smoke damage. Such damage can include things like ash and smoke residue in improperly cleaned ducts or inconspicuous parts of the structure or damage to the ducts of a home's air system that will reduce air quality.
Partial loss claims are also likely to be delayed by insurance companies as they are ranked lower in priority.
With a total loss fire and smoke damage claim, the insurance company will consider your home to be damaged to such an extent that attempting to repair it would be unnecessarily costly.
Sometimes there can be a dispute about what an insurance company and a person filing a claim consider to be a total loss which can complicate the process.
Will my insurance company give me what I need to repair my home?
not usually. Most people believe that as long as they pay their monthly premiums on time every month, they will be covered no matter what happens. is not the case.
You need to know that the goal of the insurance company is to pay as little as possible. Like every business, the less they have to pay, the more profit they make.
So, don't expect everything to be automatically covered when you talk to an insurance agent. They may offer you less than you're worth, and at that point, you should consider legal action.
Should I hire a lawyer to file a home owner claim?
Hiring an attorney may be necessary if the insurance company is refusing to pay the full amount of your claim.
It makes sense to expect an insurance company to pay for all damage done to your home.
Why else would you pay them? You certainly would not pay them with the expectation that they will only cover half or a quarter of your losses in your time of need.
If you are having difficulty finding an insurance company to pay the full value of your claim after fire damage, please contact Geoffrey Pfeiffer at Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA.
The office number is 727-451-6900, or you can contact us online by filling out this form.
Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA has the necessary experience handling home owners insurance claims and will work with you during your time to ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a free consultation