Preparing Your Home Insurance Claim

You have just been robbed or - worse - your house has caught on flames from lighting during a vicious storm. The first thing on your mind might be: what should I do now? Where do you start? How do you begin to remedy the situation? The answer is, if you have home insurance, is to prepare and file your homeowner's insurance claim. There are four steps which should allow you to do this successfully.

Immediately notify your insurance company of your home insurance claim. The sooner the better, some home insurance policies have a deadline as to how long you have to claim from them. Make sure you have the name and number of your agent somewhere where it accessible. Once you have called them, discuss what steps you need to take to getting everything done and done the right way.

As soon as you get a chance to survey the damage done to your house, borrow a camera or video recorder to document the damage done to the home. This should be coupled with a written record of all the damage that has been done. If you were extra careful when you filled out your home insurance, you would have videotaped your home before. This past evidence can be used as proof of what you lost in the accident. It might be easier to claim for these items this way.

Since it takes a while for a claim to be filled, try and do temporary repairs that will prevent greater damage to the property. While this might seem unnecessary, it is important. Keep the slips of the materials you used during this repair work so you can be reimbursed. Also keep in mind that the price for the objects should be reasonable in order for your insurance company to reimburse you. They won't pay for supplies that are double then what they could have gotten them for.

Try and remember everything that was lost due to the accident. If there was a robbery, go from room to room and try and remember everything that was lost. This process will go even quicker if you had a list of inventory that detailed all of the items you had within your home. This way you can compare what has gone missing and what needs to be claimed on from your insurance company.

The last is not a step but rather a requirement: try and be patient. Depending on the damage to your home, it might take a while for everything to sort it self out. The most important thing is to keep in touch with your home insurance company and keep communicating with them. If they are dragging their legs unnecessarily, by all means complain and make yourself heard – report them to the relevant authorities and push for the service they owe you. 

In situations like these, you have to keep calm and remember: you have home insurance, so at least you're covered. A new day is dawning and you have to look forward.

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