It has been said that we experience life-altering events at most four times in our lifetime, and most of this include accidents, natural disasters, fire and debilitating illness. We try as much as we can to prepare ourselves for those inevitabilities and work towards protecting our life and properties from such events. One of the most common insurance policies we have are of course accidents and loss of life and fire for our properties. As you invest your money, time and effort in your business, it is crucial to have necessary business insurance cover for uncertain circumstances.
The occurrence of fires throughout the years have been fairly common, that having a fire insurance is a must for any property that you may own. State laws require that when you build or buy a property, you need to take out an insurance policy on it against fires and other calamities. If you happen to be a victim of a fire in your home or businesses, chances are these are insured and you can make a fire claim.
Fires are massive beasts, it will destroy and damage everything that lay on its path, even with the best efforts of a team of firefighters, most often than not, the fire will consume everything that it can burn and will only then expire on its own. After the firefighters have declared the property fire out, there are still a lot to look into. You need to assess the damage it has wrought to your premises, to your belongings, and even to the structure in itself. Depending on the materials that were used in your property, some will not withstand a fire and structurally may become unsafe.
If the whole building was not burned to the ground, there might be things that can be salvaged, but for most a fire would damage everything. Even if it is not able to totally destroy the building or the house, it will leave on its wake damage from soot, ash and smoke that is still a handful to take in and often these damages are far more difficult to work with than just having to take out all the damaged structures and replace it with a new one. With all of these issues and concerns, you definitely would need expert help on how to file a fire claim effectively.
What
is Fire Claim
If your house, business and or any other property had been destroyed or damaged by fire and you have an existing insurance policy, then you can make a fire claim. A fire claim is the monetary compensation that the insurance providers will pay you for the amount insured on your property. As getting your property insured is a requirement for any real property ownership, chances are you do have an insurance policy. The thing that needs to be ascertained is for how much was it insured and to what extent it was insured.
For example, your policy only covers the main house, and then your backyard gazebo was damaged in a fire, then you cannot make a claim for that as it is not covered in your policy. When you first took out the insurance policy, you were informed of how much the insurance company would pay for the cost of the damage incurred by the fire, it did not however inform you how difficult and complicated it is to make a fire claim.
Imagine having
to deal with the emotional and physical trauma of having your house or property
burned, and then having to think about the many requirements needed for you to
make a fire claim on your insurance policy. And the requirements include
chemical reports, fire investigations and you can expect the insurance company
to counter each report and document so as not to pay the maximum benefit in
your policy. In order to get the most out of your insurance policy, you would
need a fire claim adjuster.
What
is Fire Claim Adjuster
A fire claim adjuster is a licensed public adjuster that have been formally recognized to advocate for the property owner who will be making a fire claim. This expert will provide services that would allow the property owner to maximize the amount they could get on their insurance policy and communicate directly with the insurance company. A fire claim adjuster is authorized to negotiate and deal with the insurance company in behalf of the property owner, this would take the stress out of having to deal with lengthy meetings and arguments.
Hiring a fire claim adjuster is an important step in ensuring that you get the most benefit from your insurance policy. The adjuster will make sure to prepare every form and report that is needed to file the fire damage claim, he or she will also file the said claim, and will make all necessary actions to ensure that you will be compensated appropriately considering the loss that you have incurred due to the fire.
Fire
Claim Services 101
An excellent fire claim adjuster offers extensive services designed to help the property owner get the most out of their insurance policies. The services include a complete listing and assessment of the damaged property and its content, as well as the evaluation of damages that may not be apparent after the fire and also a comprehensive identification of the losses incurred due to the fire, ash, soot, smoke and debris. The fire claim adjuster will also be the key communication point between the property owner and the insurance company.
The services offered by the fire claim adjuster are the most necessary to enable you to file a fire damage claim and these are time consuming. It is even dangerous as they have to be physically present in the burned property to check on what was left from the fire and may become exposed to toxins and chemical substances left by the fire.
Beware of the Fake Adjusters
Fire claim adjusters are legitimate licensed professionals whose primarily goal is to help the property owner in making a fire claim from their insurance providers. Needless to say, they advocate for the property owner and will work for them and not the insurance company. Thus, one should be aware that insurance companies also hire their own fire claim adjusters and recommend them to the policy holder in the guise of speeding up the fire claim.
These so called fake adjusters will only make sure that the insurance company will pay as little as they could to the policy holder. Make sure to get your own fire claim adjuster who is not affiliated with any insurance company so that your best interests will be protected.
Fire
Damage Claim
In order to make a fire damage claim, one has to have an existing insurance policy that covers fire damage on your house, business or any other property. Without an updated and binding policy, then the chances of being able to file a fire damage claim is close to none. The first thing to do after being devastated by a fire is to look for your insurance policy or any proof that it exists such as a contract or a certificate.
Then you need to examine the finer details of the policy and check the maximum amount you could get for the coverage and what are the conditions in which you can make a claim. No two insurance policies are the same, thus asking other people what is covered in their policies may not be a good idea. Thus, you need a fire claim adjuster that would help you navigate through the legal terminologies and fine print.
Fire
Claim Coverage
Insurance providers offer varied insurance coverage and your policy could either be one or more of the most common types. Coverage for main home or dwelling is the most common, wherein anything that is basically in and under your home is insured. Thus, any damage and future damage to any of those areas can be included in the fire claim. Coverage for additional structures would entail that structures separate from the main house is also included, this could be an outdoor garage, a pool, a gazebo or a separate guest house. If this was also damaged by the fire, then you can make a fire claim on it.
Coverage for personal belongings would entail everything that the family had been using during and in the event of the fire and which clearly belongs to the family. Then the coverage for living costs, which means that the insurance company has to compensate you for your living expenses after the fire since you cannot stay in your own home. Check to determine which coverage you have so you can also file the appropriate fire claims on your property.
Industrial
Hygienist
Even before you can initiate a fire damage claim form your insurance providers, you need to have your home or property assessed in terms of how safe the property is after the fire, and this can be done by a certified industrial hygienist.
A hygienist will conduct three different samplings from your damaged property to ascertain the presence and level of toxins and other harmful chemicals in your home and whether it is something that should be replaced or taken out completely and how much it would cost.
Chemical
Analysis
An industrial hygienist will conduct chemical sampling in the property after it has been damaged by the fire. The testing will be done in three different ways, the first one would be a tape sampling, in which the hygienist would get a sample of the various surfaces in the home to determine the contaminants in the area. The second is vacuum sampling in which the hygienist will get a sample from the furniture, floors coverings, wall coverings and other soft areas which could have been permeated with chemicals and harmful substances.
The third one is air sampling in which the air is tested for any possible chemicals and toxins that could be left after the fire. The samples are then submitted to an independent testing laboratory and the results of which will help determine the overall cost of the damage. This would also make sure that the property owner gets the most benefit from the insurance claim.
Consequently, as industrial hygienists are crucial to the fire claims process, some insurance companies also have their own industrial hygienist and will bring them to the claims process but will definitely not work for the policy owner, but the insurance company so they could pay as little as they could. The hygienist might side with the insurance provider, and the homeowner would be left with paying for all the damage in the house.
Making
a Fire Claim
A fire can have long-term consequences that will make it very difficult for the homeowner to resume their lives and their livelihood. It will really be a setback for them and having an insurance policy against it would help them get back on their feet. However, insurance providers employ tactics that would make it nearly impossible for the policy holder to get the most out of their policies. Filing a fire damage claim is a complex matter, and you need all the help that you can get to make sure that it goes on smoothly and speedily.
You need to hire a dedicated team of advocates who will help you prepare all the documents and evidences needed in making your fire claim. You also need a team who will incessantly work for your benefit and not for the insurance provider so you could at least recover the costs of the fire. Having survived a fire can affect your mental health, which can be manifested in any form such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks and even irritability, emotional outbursts and lack of focus and attention. Most often than not, you are not in a state of mind to deal with insurance investigators, lawyers and representatives who are out to make your life difficult, or in making your fire claim as difficult as it can be.
The Bottom Line:
For your sanity and peace of mind during a disastrous situations and business emergencies, you need to hire a fire claim adjuster and his or her team to do the work for you so you can focus on moving on from the tragedy that you experienced.
