A fire can cause extensive damage throughout your home. Smoke damage can ruin carpets, blinds and furniture, and flames can destroy virtually any part of the home’s structure. Many people don’t think about it, but your property may also suffer extensive damage from the thousands of gallons of water or fire suppression materials dumped on the fire as well.
Your homeowner’s insurance policy typically includes fire insurance which will pay for fire damage to your property, as well as other losses associated with the fire. But it is important to be smart about how you approach the process.
The first thing you will do after your home has sustained fire damage is to call the insurance company. Typically, they will send out an insurance adjuster to assess the damage, as well as to estimate the cost of the needed repair. The insurance company also will refer you to one of their preferred contractors to do the work.
Unfortunately, a homeowner has to realize that the insurance company is motivated to pay out as little as possible. They may not include the totality of the damage, only including the most obvious issues and the cost of your destroyed personal property such as furniture.
If you go this route, you may find yourself with a smaller settlement than needed in order to effectively cover all of the work and restoration that needs to be done.
Instead, you may wish to contact your own independent professional. Without any motivation to keep the recovery costs low, the contractor can work meticulously room by room to document and tabulate every bit of damage – no matter how small. You can then approach the insurance adjustor’s quote with an informed view. This allows you some leverage to get the settlement you deserve which will cover all of the needed work – and not leave you stranded short of cash.
Did You Know? Hiring your own adjustor and contractor can result in a settlement up to 35% higher than the insurance company may initially offer.
Once you have reached a settlement with your insurance company, you may wish to work with your chosen fire restoration expert rather than their recommendation. Working with the expert you chose will give you the ultimate freedom and control in choosing exactly what will be repaired, and in what way.
What to Expect
Your home may present safety issues after a fire which won’t allow you to enter the property. The fire marshal may in fact shut the building down. A fire restoration expert will go room by room to understand the full extent of the damage, and look at damage caused by the fire, smoke, soot and water. Fire damage restoration is complex, as you could have additional problems down the road if all aspects of the damage are not remediated properly. Therefore your contractor should be providing a quote based on the current state of the home as well as any damage that may occur in the future.
Check Your Fire Insurance
Standard homeowner’s insurance policies typically include coverage for fire, but the policy may not be sufficient for a major fire. If you do not have fire insurance, or if your insurance is not extensive enough to cover your property, you may need to purchase additional insurance. Remember that the insurance company’s liability is limited to policy value, and they are not necessarily obligated to the amount of your actual loss. Homeowners should keep careful documentation of the details of their property and its contents in order to make a claim more easily processed.
A fire at your home is a traumatic experience, and trying to rebuild can be confusing and expensive. Don’t go it alone – call the experts at Kingdom Restoration for professional assistance and quality restoration services.
