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Managing property damage insurance claims in Los Angeles can be cumbersome, time-consuming, and frustrating. Some of the challenges you may encounter include not understanding the fine print of your policy, dealing with an insurance adjuster, and working with contractors. If you don’t have a lot of experience handling property insurance claims, it can be an uphill battle.
Homeowners’ insurance (also known as home insurance) is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. It’s not just because it protects your home and belongings from damage or theft. Most mortgage lenders demand insurance coverage from borrowers for the full or fair market value of a property (often the purchase price), and they won’t approve a loan or fund a residential real estate transaction without it.
Although endlessly customizable, a homeowner’s insurance policy has certain standard elements that indicate what costs the insurer will cover.
In the event of damage from fire, hurricanes, lightning, vandalism, or other covered disasters, your insurer will pay you so your home can be repaired or even completely rebuilt. Destruction or mutilation from floods, earthquakes, and poor house maintenance are generally not covered, and you may need additional riders if you want that kind of protection.
Garages, sheds, or other free-standing structures on the property may also need to be covered separately using the same guidelines as for the main home.
Clothing, furniture, appliances, and most other home contents are covered if destroyed in an insured disaster. You can even get “off-premises” coverage to claim lost jewellery, no matter where it was lost. However, there may be a limit to the amount your insurer will reimburse you.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, most insurance companies will cover 50% to 70% of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of your home. For example, if your home is insured for $200,000, there would be up to approximately $140,000 of coverage for your possessions.
If you own a lot of high-priced possessions (fine art or antiques, fine jewellery, designer clothes), you may want to pay more to include them in an itemized program, purchase a rider to cover them, or even purchase a separate policy.
Liability coverage protects you from lawsuits brought by others for damages or injuries.
It’s unlikely, but if you’re forced to leave your home for a while, it will certainly be the best coverage you’ve ever bought. This part of the insurance coverage, known as additional living expenses, would reimburse you for rent, hotel room, restaurant meals, and other incidental costs you incur while waiting for your home to become habitable again.
Calling your homeowners’ insurance company may not be the first thing you think to do after a fire, flood, theft, or other unfortunate incidents at home.
But it’s important to do it as quickly as possible, both for security reasons and to start the claim process. Los Angeles property insurance claim is not an easy and smooth-flowing process. So, we will guide you through the process of filing a claim, which includes the following steps:
Not all property insurance claims need to be reported to local authorities. A roof leak or wind damage, for example, is not normally a good reason to contact the police. But if it involves criminal activity, such as vandalism or a break-in, or if there is a fire, you need to get the authorities involved as soon as possible.
The same applies if someone is injured on your property. Share all pertinent event details with authorities and keep copies of your reports. When you submit your claim, you will require those.
Most homeowners insurance policies require you to notify your insurer immediately after a storm, theft, fire, injury, or any other incident that may result in a claim, whether or not you intend to seek compensation or not. Your policy will specify what is required and where to start.
Some insurers provide you with the option to contact them online or through an app in addition to giving them a direct phone call. Unless you’re making a small claim, it’s probably best to speak directly with an agent or company representative.
Before you make the call, read your policy to get an idea of what is and isn’t covered, what exclusions and limits are included, and what additional coverage you might have that you may have forgotten about. If it’s been a while since you bought the policy, this would be an excellent time to cool off. Create a list of inquiries as you read the policy.
Filing a property damage insurance claim can be time-consuming and tedious, requiring close attention to detail. But the more thorough you are, the faster you’ll get a deal.
As you move through the process, starting with the incident that led to the claim, keep notes on every phone call and chat you have. That record should include the date of the conversations and the names of the people you speak with, from police officers to representatives of insurance companies and contractors who provide estimates.
Take photos or videos of the damage to your property, including as much detail as possible, and go from room to room if necessary. Now is the time to take out your home inventory if you have one, with photos of the items before the damage occurred, along with their estimated value. This is extremely important if you want to file a property damage insurance claim.
Provide this information to your insurer, along with pictures or videos showing the damage, to more easily identify what’s missing. If you don’t have a visual record from before the incident, you’ll still want to create one that shows the damage and a detailed list of items that were damaged or stolen.
Finally, if your home or property is damaged to the point of becoming uninhabitable or dangerous, save receipts for hotels, meals, and related expenses to receive reimbursement. Most homeowners’ insurance policies include loss of use coverage for these costs.
If you need emergency repairs done to your property right away and waiting will cause worse damage, don’t wait for an insurance adjuster to come. While you shouldn’t attempt repairs that are beyond your ability or that could risk bodily harm, feel free to cover a damaged roof with a plastic tarp to protect it from rain, for example.
Temporary measures like these will protect your home and make it more livable until the professionals arrive, and such measures may be required by your insurance company. For the successful settlement of Los Angeles property insurance claims, the policyholder is generally required to make repairs to prevent further damage. It’s what’s best for you and for them.
Keep copies of receipts for all materials you purchase for emergency repairs, such as tarps, lumber, and hardware. Include the receipts with the documentation you submit to your insurance company when you file your claim for reimbursement.
Since property damage insurance can be complicated, it’s no wonder filing a claim on your homeowners’ insurance can be too, especially if you have extensive damage or a complex claim. But you can avoid some of the pitfalls and worst errors when filing a home insurance claim.
About 5% of insured homeowners filed a claim in 2019, according to the most recent data from the Insurance Information Institute. Just over 97% of those claims were related to property damage (including theft).
If you suffer a loss and need to file a claim, there are a few things you can do to help make the process go as smoothly as possible. These typical mistakes should be avoided.
You might get away with not reading your homeowner’s insurance policy. Because insurance plans can be extremely difficult to read. But that doesn’t set you free. At a minimum, understand what your policy coverage means.
Misunderstanding (or not reading) your policy can lead to disappointment and almost always results in a poor customer experience during the claims process.
This is one of the worst mistakes a homeowner can make even before a loss occurs. It’s not having adequate coverage.
If you don’t have adequate insurance, you could find yourself in a significant financial hole. A thoughtful conversation with an insurance agent can help you avoid these mistakes. The bottom line is that a policy’s exclusions can come back to affect you.
Another claim mistake that starts long before you have any damage: not having a home inventory. This thorough inventory of your belongings will be especially important if there has been significant damage. If you have to work from memory, you may forget some items and not include them in your claim.
Sure, you will remember the furniture in your living room. But will you remember all your kitchen utensils and items stored in drawers and cabinets? A home inventory will make your claim easier and faster.
Property insurance is for unexpected damage, not for problems you could prevent with regular maintenance.
Neglecting the maintenance of your home can cause problems that will not be covered by home insurance. For instance, damage caused by an unexpected water line rupture is covered. But an insurance claim for a roof leak that you didn’t repair could be denied because you didn’t take steps to stop the damage.
Most errors in home damage insurance claims are the result of miscommunication. When filing a claim, homeowners can often be unclear in describing the damage to their property.
Misreported claims by the owner often result in delays, which can bog down the entire claim process. Homeowners should be as clear as possible about the damages when filing a claim.
Do not delay in filing a claim. It can cause more damage to your home.
The damage doesn’t get better over time. Reporting a claim as soon as you can helps get repairs done faster, cutting down on the amount of time the insured deals with the repair procedure.
It might take months to resolve large and expensive claims because of their complexity. In the meantime, you may be dealing with multiple insurance adjusters and reams of paperwork.
If you have extensive damage to the home, you may want to hire a public adjuster early in the process. This is someone who works on your behalf to deal with insurance company adjusters, to make sure you have the correct documents, and to meet deadlines.
A typical fee for a public insurance adjuster is between 10% and 20% of the insurance settlement. Since they will help you get your due and reduce your stress, it may be worth it.
Failure to document damage is the most common error. The key is documenting as soon as the damage is found.
Photos are your friend when filing a claim. Ideally, you’ll have “before” and “after” photos showing the extent of the damage to your home. This can greatly aid in the processing of payments.
Here are four types of insurance claim services which we provide for our clients.
Significant damage to your home may lead to filing a compensation claim with your insurance company. Unfortunately, the insurance company will understate the amount they are willing to pay, and because of this, you could end up covering repairs out of pocket.
Moreover, successfully settling a property damage insurance claim in Los Angeles is not a straightforward process.
To avoid this, you’ll want to hire a public adjuster to help you file and handle your claim. Following are the reasons why you should hire a public adjuster:
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We Work For You |
Your insurance company, while it may be willing to pay your claim, will try to protect its profits. The insurance adjuster that they will send to check your property is not on your side. They will try to minimize the property damage insurance claim so the insurance company can pay less. When you hire a public adjuster, you are hiring someone who will work for you and look out for your interests, and not the interests of the insurance company. |
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Maximize Settlement |
Your public adjuster will work to maximize the amount of money you will receive for your claim. We know how much your damages are worth and what can be included in your claim to help you maximize the amount you will receive and minimize or eliminate out-of-pocket costs. This could make a big difference in the amount of money you receive from the insurance company. |
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Remove Emotions From The Claim |
You are likely stressed and worried about damage to your property. All of this can lead to mistakes when filing the claim or settling for a smaller amount just to be done with it all. When you hire a public adjuster, we don’t have an emotional bond with your home and can work hard to help you get more for your claim. |
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Experience And Education |
You probably don’t have much expertise in managing insurance claims. You might not be particularly familiar with local insurance claim rules, and you probably lack the training necessary to manage the claim in a way that will maximize your settlement. However, a public adjuster does and we will use our experience and education to help you get a larger settlement. |
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Payment Is Made From The Claim |
You will get help without paying the money upfront. Many public adjusters work on a contingency basis, meaning we are not paid until a settlement is reached. Since we will receive a percentage of your settlement, we will work hard to get the largest settlement for you. The more money you get, the more we get paid for the job. |
Although your insurance company will pay the claim, you’ll want to make sure you maximize the amount you get to minimize the amount you’ll have to pay out of pocket. A public adjuster is a critical component in your search for the maximum settlement, as we can help you get more to cover for damage to your property.
Therefore, you should hire a licensed, certified, and qualified public adjuster or claims specialist like Water Damage Restoration Pro. We have a team of experienced professionals fighting for your interests.
Obviously a water damage restoration company. An insurance adjuster can come later to have a look at the damage and offer the kind of compensation.
Flood insurance is not covered under the homeowner’s insurance policy. It has to be a separate flood insurance policy. However, some of the consequences of flooding may not be covered by the specific insurance policy.
Any damages related to hail, rain, wind storm, tornado or snow, is actually covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy. Generally, for all kinds of water damage to the roof, house interiors & exteriors, you can file a claim.
