Hurricane and other Natural Disasters

Hurricanes and other natural disasters can be a complicated claim at times. It will depend on the insurance company’s adjuster’s knowledge of the type of damage.

Wind, rain, severe hail, tornadoes, lightening and falling trees are some examples of the different types of damages that occur in a hurricane. Some policies have something called anti-concurrent causation claim. They do not pay for claims stated hail along with the claim for wind damage.

So when filing a claim after a storm always state it’s s named (ie Hurricane Harvey) STORM DAMAGE! This will be covered as one incident.

Sadly even if you’ve been paying your insurance company for years they might suddenly deny your claim or only pay a small portion. A public adjuster will be able to get the insurance company to pay what your policy says they will pay. It’s best to let a public adjuster help from the beginning of the claim.  We help identify the many causes and help organize your claim.

Important steps to take before and after:
Before:
1. Review your current policy with your agent to see what is covered. Then follow up in writing to confirm what you heard them say.
2. Make changes asap. Policy changes take 30 days to become effective.

3. Take pictures of all your building or home including contents. Document contents in writing also.

4. Download our  excel contents and fill in the line items. Save all to a cloud format.

After:
1.You can call us immediately and we will coordinate the claim, do the investigation with sophisticated software, document all findings and do negotiations.
2. We will help with advances for housing while your home is being repaired. There are claims that cover food and clothing if you have lost these things.
3. If you have a public adjuster to start, receiving all the money that belongs to you will come quicker. Higher payments are also a great benefit of using a public adjuster.  Sadly the insurance company knows you probably won’t read your policy and won’t know all the damages you really have. A public adjuster knows where to look for hidden damage.
4. With a public adjuster you will be assured of getting the correct payment. You won’t have to “settle” for what the insurance company decides to give you.
5. When the negotiations are done you will receive a check. Once you’ve been paid, then you will be invoiced by the public adjuster. Likewise there are no advance payments to our public adjusters.

If you choose to call your insurance and file the claim yourself, you will meet with the insurance adjuster. The insurance adjuster works for the insurance company. If you do not have a public adjuster you will have to go by their findings for final payment. Remember they are looking at the best interest of the insurance company while the public adjuster has your best interest.

We are here for you.