Feb
28What to do After a Home Fire
Tagged Under : Fire
Almost every home owner has home owner’s insurance, but very few home owners know what to do after they have a fire in their home. Unfortunately, many insurance companies won’t provide you with all of the information you will need to recover from this tragic event.
What to do First
Hopefully your entire house has not burned to the ground. The ideal situation with any residential fire is that you are able to put it out with minimal damage. However, whether there is minimal damage or total damage, this article will be helpful. The information contained within this article pertains to those who just got the fire put out and are standing around looking at everything in shock.
The first thing to do is to call your insurance agency. Day or night, somebody should be available to start a claim for you and start collecting some basic information. It’s important to understand that when speaking with anybody from the insurance company, do not be afraid to list the damage incurred.
Insurance companies are supposed to make replace everything back to the way it was before the fire and to accommodate your needs during this process. This includes several things. First and foremost, if you’ve had a fire in your house large enough to contact the insurance company, then you probably shouldn’t be staying there until things are repaired. It doesn’t matter how large or small the fire was, you need to stay somewhere else for health reasons.
The bright side to this is that your insurance will pay for the cost of staying at a hotel for as long as it takes to repair your home. Don’t be afraid to explain the need for extra rooms if you have a large family or if you would like a place with a kitchen. Any expenses you incur such as room service or internet charged to your room will be your responsibility though unless your insurance adjuster agrees to pay these services for you.
Expenses
Don’t try to save money when eating, buying hygiene products, clothing, or attempting to continue your life. This certainly does not mean spend all of your money and act as if you’re on vacation. It merely means that you have insurance in the unfortunate event that something bad happens. So if you need new clothes because yours have been damaged by the fire, then replace a few outfits. Just don’t buy a new wardrobe. When it’s time to eat, then go out to eat at a reasonable restaurant since you can’t cook at home. Nobody requires that you to have any meals from a fast food restaurant. As long as the cost to eat is reasonably priced, then you won’t have any problems being reimbursed.
Save all of your receipts. Insurance companies have a department specifically dedicated to determining how much stuff costs. You probably won’t be cheated on any reimbursements, but being able to provide receipts for any repair costs or reimbursements you have makes it a lot tougher for your adjuster not to send a check for the amount you submitted. Some expenses should be given to your adjuster before you assume you will be reimbursed for such as extra gas usage, laundry expenses, time off from work, or even daycare. This will be different for each person’s situation and is ultimately up to the adjustor to determine if you’ll be compensated.
Cleaning and Repair
Any amount of residential fire produces soot. Soot is basically the ashes created by the fire. After a fire, it can be found almost anywhere especially if your central heating or air conditioning was on at the time of the fire. It will travel throughout your home clinging to walls, furniture, clothing, and anything else within the structure. A professional cleaning company will be needed to come out to your house to remove the soot and odor because this is not something that can be done on your own.
Your insurance should make arrangements for you to have a cleaning company take care of your house. The cleaning company can show you exactly where the soot has traveled and what needs to be cleaned or replaced. A crew of workers will come clean everything from top to bottom that was exposed to fire and soot to include picture frames, books, shelves, windows, etc.
Other areas that you can expect to have cleaned will be your furniture, electronic equipment, air ducts, carpets, and the walls. Make sure a dry cleaning company specializing in fire restoration stops by to collect any clothing or other textile items such as bedding, curtains, etc. The odor created by the fire will be found in almost everything you own and cannot be removed with normal cleaning. Special chemicals are used by restoration companies to remove this odor and to clean your clothing, and they will return these items to you pressed and hung or folded depending on your preference.
Non Reusable Items
Anything that needs to be replaced or repaired should be covered by the insurance. Obtain a copy of your insurance company’s non-usable items sheet and make several copies. Using this sheet, you will document any items which were damaged by the fire and cannot be used. Examples of these items include food, liquids, medicines, any item with a burn mark on it, and any electronic items that no longer work as a result of soot finding its way inside.
Any physical damage such as burned cords, bedding, clothing, structural damage, flooring, etc. also need to be documented. Be sure to include the number of hangers which were exposed. Any hangers located in an area exposed to soot need to be replaced for health reasons. Other items frequently overlooked are coats, hats, towels, blankets, and shoes. Repairs to items such as walls, baseboards, floors, and ceilings will be covered by your insurance including the price for installation.
You pay your premiums every month so you need to make sure you get the service you’ve been paying for. Anything overlooked or forgotten can be submitted to your insurance company at a later time. Some insurance companies have a date that your claim will expire on and others will not. Ask your insurance adjuster if your claim will expire so you know when everything needs to be submitted by. As well, keeping in touch with your adjuster regularly is important to ensure all of your reimbursement payments are received. Request itemized statements to be sure that everything you claim is paid for.
