If you live in a part of the country where disasters like wildfires or flooding take place often, you will probably want to consider buying homeowner’s insurance. The policy you buy should feature protections that kick in if a disaster, whether natural or otherwise, destroys or badly damages your home. If you don’t have such a policy, it can come back to bite you.
Having the proper disaster insurance policy becomes crucial if you lose everything. Many individuals and families in California face that situation at the moment.
You can take a lesson from them if you don’t have the right policy in place for your home yet. Now, let’s take a few moments to talk about how to get your insurance company to pay promptly after a disaster if one ever happens to damage or destroy your home.
Contact Them as Soon as Possible
First, you should know that reaching out as soon as possible after a disaster damages or destroys your home can only benefit you. Conversely, if you decide to wait for any reason, that will probably delay the moment when you’re holding a reimbursement check in your hands.
You might have a lot on your mind if a fire or some other disaster damages your home and possessions. However, you need to prioritize contacting the insurance company.
If you wait, then that pushes back the date you’ll get the money that’s your just due. Keep that in mind and make the initial contact with your insurance company as soon as you get a moment.
Pay Attention to What the App or Website Says You Need
You probably will find an app or website where you can contact your insurance company after a disaster. Maybe you have a card from them with that information on it. Failing that, you may have some paperwork.
Of course, if the disaster damaged or destroyed your home, then you may not have that paperwork or that card anymore. Find the right way to contact your insurance company online. It shouldn’t prove too difficult.
When you look at what the website says about filing a claim, take note of what the company says you need. Every company might have slightly different requirements.
If you pay attention to what they say they need and make sure you have it handy when you contact them, that should help you. If you don’t have everything that they say they need, that will delay this whole process.
Talk to Someone and Note Their Name and Operator Number
When you contact the insurance company, it is probably best that you talk to someone on the phone. Don’t email the company. If you do, they might take days or weeks to get back to you, and you definitely don’t want that.
By speaking to someone on the phone, you make it much more likely the company will start your claim process without delay. You should also take down the name of the person you talk to. They might also have an operator number. Get that as well.
Take note of what they say about the steps they’ll put on motion that same day. Make sure you get a good idea of what kind of timetable you’re looking at for getting your money. Make the person you speak to give you as many details as possible.
If you don’t think you can remember everything they say, you can always record the conversation with your smartphone. Most cell phones these days will easily let you record a conversation. You might also download an app that lets you do that if your current phone does not have that capability.
Get Lots of Video Footage and Take Lots of Pictures
Many times, to get the money you’re due, you will need to take lots of pictures and video of the damage. You can do that with the average smartphone as well, since they virtually all have cameras these days.
If you need to take dozens of pictures, then do that. Do whatever the person you spoke to said you needed to do. Then, get the pictures and videos to your insurance company without delay.
Follow that up by calling them again to make sure they got the pictures and videos. Again, note the date and time you made contact, as well as the operator’s name to whom you spoke.
If they need you to fill out any forms online as well, do that. You need to keep at this with dogged persistence to get the best results.
Continue Reaching Out Regularly
Once you do everything the insurance company mentioned, you should continue contacting them often. Maybe you’ll annoy them a bit, but that’s not your concern. If you’re homeless or have very little left after the disaster, then the insurance company feeling annoyed shouldn’t bother you.
Keep note of the updates they give you. If they need to send someone out to look at the damage, do all you can to accommodate that. If you need to meet with this person and show them the property, set up a time when you can do it.
Contact a Lawyer if That Becomes Necessary
If you do everything we mentioned, then you will probably get your check sooner rather than later. If you don’t, though, then you can always contact a lawyer who can help you with this situation. Hopefully, you won’t have to hire them. You can always threaten the insurance company with legal action if they’re dragging their feet, though.
If you need to contact a lawyer and have them go after the insurance company, that’s not ideal, but sometimes, it has to happen. Many insurance companies will pay you without any issues, but some will try delaying tactics or to give you less money than you feel you’re due.
If that happens, and you need a lawyer’s help, then contact one who knows about this area of the law.
