6 EASY STEPS TO REPORT YOUR WATER DAMAGE CLAIM
The long weekend is coming up, and you take the opportunity with your family to go to Disney to have a good time with your kids. To make things perfect, you got an unbeatable deal on Groupon for a 3-park weekend and you can’t wait to de-stress from your stressful week. The best part is, the hotel is all-inclusive and the breakfast is top notch.
You come back, all-relaxed, and the first thing you find the moment you open the door is your house is completely flooded. Welcome to every homeowners’ nightmare.
This narrative is all too common and it happens way more often than you might think. Many times, families leave their home for a short weekend and come home to find their flooring squeaky, carpet soggy, and their furniture crippled. Just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, they’re scrambling their priorities, their kids, their spouses, and their jobs to get their lives back in order. Perhaps the hardest part is dealing with the uncertainty of whether their property will ever be covered.
Fortunately, we have you covered. We will walk you through every step of the claims process – with articles, videos, tutorials, sample forms, and even scripts to make sure you get your property and belongings replaced as early as possible.
Today, we’re going to discuss the first step of filing a claim when there’s clear evidence of water damage. Note, a claim for water damage can be small as a failing pipeline to as large as a completely flooded house. While each insurance company will have their own nuances, the general guidelines are identical.
Let’s begin:
-
Upon discovering a water leak, immediately TURN OFF THE WATER SOURCE. Depending on where you live, you will have to locate the main water line. For many homes, this is near your air-conditioning unit. For a condo or apartment complex, ask your landlord, homeowners association, or even a neighbor to help you immediately turn off the tap.
-
Next, TAKE PICTURES and carefully DIARY your damages. Insurance companies will hound you from day one to find any reason to deny your claim. Fortunately, credible pictures and a consistent narrative will always give you leverage in early negotiations. In the best possible scenario, take pictures and write down exactly what you see is damaged. Bonus points for describing with accuracy what the damages are (i.e. the walls are completely soaked, there is an unbearable odor, etc.)
-
Take measures to PREVENT FURTHER DAMAGE. Insurance companies will always try to tell you, that you didn’t protect your property from further damage. Again, do your best and record your work. If you turned off the water source, write it down. If you moved your belongings away from the flood, write it down. If you called your neighbor, plumber, or family, write it down.
-
REPORT THE LOSS to your insurance carrier as soon as possible. In most cases, you can find the reporting number online. Simply dial, follow the prompt, and report the claim. Here’s the catch. Insurance companies must write down everything you tell them. Remember when you wrote everything down? Good, tell them. Tell them how you moved your electronics into a dry spot. Tell them how you called your plumber who came by to check the leaking pipeline. Tell them everything you did, and tell them you have pictures to prove it. You’re building a record, and the more you give them, the less likely they are to strong-arm you along the way
-
Depending on the severity, you might need to call an emergency water mitigation (EMS) company to perform dry-out services on your home. In other words, these are the professional guys that will suck the water out of your drywall before mold starts growing in your house. Generally, insurance company have dedicated 24/7 hotlines for you to make the call. If you believe your water damage is severe, MAKE THE CALL.
-
Finally, MAKE A LIST of everything destroyed or damaged, and keep a paper trail of any expenses you’ve incurred, repairs made, or property replaced. Reporting a claim is you building your case, and explaining to the insurance company why you deserve to be paid for everything damaged or lost. Florida law is insured-friendly, which means your effort will be rewarded in huge dividends when there is a clean record.