My Pipes Burst, Now What? Part 1
Top 10 things to get your new insurance claim started:
1. Turn Off the Water: Your duty as the insured is to protect your home and part of that is to stop the further damage to the property.
2. Mitigate the Damage: Either do it yourself or hire a company to do it but get that water out of your house!
3. Take an Inventory of All Contents Damaged: Everything not attached to the structure is typically considered personal contents and will need to be accounted for. The structure will come later.
4. Take Photos of Everything! You should have at least 200 photos of what has happened in your home. Make sure you can tell the story by the pictures alone. This includes contents, the damaged area, the thermostat setting, the temperature gauge, the water shutoff valve, the pipe that bursts, all of it.
5. Call in the Claim to the Insurance Company: This is very important. Tell the operator the time, the date, and that it is Water Damage. Do not say “FLOOD” or “MOLD” these words trigger certain guidelines that will limit or eliminate coverage for the entire claim.
6. Collect Your Own Estimates: Do not wait for the insurance company to give you an estimate, go get your own. Tell them how much it will take to fix your house. Tell them how much it will be to stay elsewhere during reconstruction. Tell them or they will tell you.
