Claim Tip 1. During Your Claim Process — Obtain Details Of Your Home Building – Take the time to inspect and document as much of the claim damages you can yourself. If not, hire someone to do it for you. Take photos of each damaged room and even each undamaged room in your home or building. Start by taking an overview picture of the room with the worst damage. Then, take close-up photos of the claim damage from the ceiling down.

For example; overview photo of the entire room. Then overview photo of the damaged ceiling, the close up photos of ceiling damage. Continue with an overview of the walls, then close up photos of the walls. Next, take overviews of the windows, then close up photos showing any damage to the windows. Continue with the doors, and finish the same way with the floors.

Work your way around your house or building to your left (clockwise). Before you enter the next closet, hall, or room, take an overview and proceed as explained. This is a very easy way to organize and keep track of which photos belong to which rooms. (No pictures or close up pics of any contents yet, just the rooms.)

Claim Tip 2. During The Claim Process – Document Your Belongings/Contents – Next task will be to document and inventory your damaged belongings (clothing, furniture, electronics, appliances, etc.). Start by revisiting each room again in the same order you did before.

Take overview photos of each piece of furniture, each electronics item, pair of shoes, shirts, pants, etc. Then take close-up photos of any damage on that individual item. Write each item down on a Contents Inventory Form. Using the same format of photographing and organizing your room damage photos, you should use the same format to organize your contents. For example, take an overview photo of your master bedroom, then work your way to the left (clockwise) around the room. List and photograph each item, on each wall until you arrive back at the doorway where you began. Using this clockwise inspection process you will not miss or forget items you own that have suffered damage.

Once you have documented all items within your master bedroom, continue the same process in the master closet, then the master bathroom. Once completed, move to the next room of your home or business and start with an overview photo of that room. This keeps the rooms and contents within them organized. Your inventory sheets should list the name of the room at the top of each page. The list is now in line with the photos in an organized manner and sequence.

Claim Tip 3. During Claim Process – Review Of Your Policy – Insurance claim victims should set aside some time to review their insurance policy. Most policyholders are unfamiliar with basic policy information, such as:

• How much coverage they have on their home or building.
• How much coverage is available for their contents (furniture, clothing, etc.).
• How much coverage they have to stay out of their home for hotels or to rent a business location, rental home or even rent furniture

Surprisingly, most policyholders have no idea about any of this basic information. Unfortunately, for most, their policy has been damaged by the event. In such instances, you can visit your agent and request a “certified true copy” of your full insurance policy and all its endorsements. It is also recommended to request that your agent explain how much coverage you have available in your policy.

Claim Tip 4. Before or During Claim Process – Consult With A Professional – Your insurance company sends the insurance adjuster they assigned to your claim to inspect your claim damage and generate estimates on the amount of damage they think you have incurred. It is extremely important that you have that same exact process conducted on your behalf. How do you know the insurance adjuster assigned by your carrier has completed their job thoroughly and correctly? Should you be willing to forfeit tens-of-thousands or even hundreds-of-thousands of dollars by not taking the necessary steps to be sure?

Your insurance adjuster should explain all the insurance claim coverage that is available to you under your policy. However, this type of detailed explanation is rarely disclosed or offered to you. Often, this lack of disclosure is conducted on purpose, and on other occasions, it’s also done on purpose. Did you read that? Forgetting to advise you of certain coverage is usually withheld until you ask. More often than not it’s done on purpose. This is your home or building, it’s your belongings, it’s your money, and it is your coverage because you paid for it. You must educate yourself to ensure you’re being fully compensated for the fire damages you have suffered.

With all this being said, you should consider hiring a insurance claim professional. The insurance company has their hired adjuster — shouldn’t you have your own hired adjuster? A Public Insurance Adjuster is someone who can look out for you and look over the shoulder of your insurance company, their estimates, their inventory lists, the amounts they have allotted and your amount of loss. You need to know by obtaining the assistance needed to obtain the real-world costs and valuations required to repair or replace your damaged property.

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