In case your home is flooded, you will most likely need to purchase homeowner’s insurance to cover damage to the building and personal property. Before purchasing homeowner’s insurance, determine if your water damage is already covered by your homeowner’s insurance policy or if it is not. Call your insurer to report the damage. Also, if necessary, hire a contractor to perform the cleanup.
How to Determine Water Damage Home Owners
Before purchasing a home insurance policy, determine first if your water damage and home owner’s insurance policy cover flooding. This varies from insurer to insurer so checking your current policy first is important. Most home insurance policies also cover water damage in the walls, floors, ceilings, doors, windows, and appliances. Some also covers flood in certain areas such as the basement, attic, or garage. In order to know how to get insurance to pay for water damage to your home, contact your homeowner’s insurance company or your insurance broker.
If your water damage has already been covered by your homeowner’s insurance, call your insurance agent immediately to report the damages. Take photos of your rooms, bathtub, furniture, etc. Before leaving your home, take photos of the damage areas of your walls and ceilings. Be sure to take photos of your appliances, cabinets, beds, etc. Bring these photos to your insurance agent. He/she can then determine whether your coverage includes damage like this.
Kinds of Water Damage that Covered by Insurance
There are several different kinds of water damage that may be covered by your insurance. One type is due to a sewer backup. Check with your insurance companies to determine if they cover this. Also check to see if your company offers such services. Sometimes they can adjust the amount you pay for flood damage to a point that will make your premiums more affordable.
Flood damage can come from both underground and surface sources. An adjuster will look at photos you took and determine which category applies to your situation. If you live in a high risk area, they might decide to include flood damage with your homeowner’s insurance policy in addition to your other insurance policies. They may even decide to combine your flood policy with your other policies. In order to find out what your adjuster will decide, you will need to take photos of your home after it is flooded. Your insurance company will send you pictures and you will need to submit them to them.
Process Water Damage Insurance
Once the adjuster has photos, they will want to speak with you and discuss the specifics of your situation. The type of damage, whether it is structural or physical, is important information the adjuster needs to know. They need to know the kind of foundation on which your home was built. They will also have to know what kind of flood damage you have experienced. Next, the adjuster will want to talk with you about how much your home insurance policy will cover because this is a part of what they will compensate for in your claim.
After all of this information is received and analyzed, the adjuster will decide whether or not you will get a total coverage or a liability coverage policy. Liability coverage typically covers the cost of rebuilding your home minus the amount of money the policy holder is willing to accept as compensation. Total coverage, on the other hand, means that if your home gets completely destroyed, the insurance company will cover the cost of restoring it to its original condition. Of course, the premiums for these policies are higher than the policy to get a liability only policy, but since the damage to your property could potentially be extensive, it is usually a better deal overall. Finally, you may have to go through an appraisal before the company pays out any monies. This is to determine the true worth of your house, and it can also determine how much you will receive after your insurance company damages your belongings.
When water damage happens, it is important to contact a home insurance company as soon as possible. The sooner the company responds, the more likely you are to get your possessions back. There’s no sense in allowing the water damage to worsen, and the longer you wait the less likely your belongings will be recoverable.