Recently, a situation came up with an insured that in the end is not going to be happy.  They have reached their policy limit with their personal property coverage.  Now, in retrospect everybody played a part in the displeasure of the client.  The agent, adjuster and restoration contractor all played a role in the communication breakdown.  How can we avoid this happening again?

Usually personal property coverage is only an issue when the insured has reached their policy limit.  Sure, some are annoyed by the process of replacing their contents.  They only get Actual Cash Value for their contents and then will recieve the depreciation that was applied when they actually buy and replace the lossed item.  But things really hit the fan when they are approaching or hit their limit of coverage.  Typically, this happens when the damage to their property was heartbreakingly bad.

Insurance Tips for your Personal Property Coverage:

1. Review your contents coverage every year when you renew your policy.  You can buy and store up a lot of new personal property in a year.  Did you buy some high ticket items?  Did you buy anything that might need to be additionally insured?  It may be time to increase your coverage.  Call you agent and discuss your options.
2. Stay in direct communication with your restoration contractor through out the process.  Things cost money.  The restoration contractor has huge costs they incur when managing your contents restoration.  Their bill is going to be higher that what you will expect.  They are trained professionals and have the technology to restore your property the right way.  Decide on your contractor and have them start the work.  Ask them before they clean anything to go over the bill personally.  This way you will understand exactly how much it is going to cost.  This cost comes out of your personal property coverage.
3. Storage charges add up.  Your contents are stored until your house his ready to be moved back in.  This cost is dependent on your whoever is repairing your home.  The longer they take to repair your home, the higher your storage charges are going to be.  This will decrease our available funds to replace your damaged contents.  Have a plan with your restoration contractor.  You need to know exactly how long the repairs are going to take and stick to the plan.
4. Keep a running total yourself.  It takes extra paperwork but you should know where you are in comparison to your limit.  Sometimes the adjuster is hard to get a hold of.  Some don’t want to give you information until they have everything turned in from you and the restoration contractor.  This will leave you in limbo.  Keeping track of the totals from all parties will help you make educated decisions.

We hope with these tips you can go through your claim with a little more knowledge to properly prepare yourself.  Decisions are going to be difficult but going in with out the proper knowledge will only make matters worse for you.

Its a little overkill but there is a lot to know to be safe.  We here at IP would like to throw out tips to the peeps listening or needing to know what to do in the event of a water damage in their property.  We know some of these to you maybe “duh, of course”, but sometimes people need a structured list to get them through the moment.  Also, some may apply and some may not.  So here we go:

1. Turn off the main water supply.  Especially if the water is coming from your plumbing
2. Shut off natural gas supplies.  Especially if water has covered a portion of your furnace or hot water heater
3. Look for exposed electrial components or wiring and safely disconnect
4. Check for damaged plumbing connections, pipes and standing water
5. Do not enter a room with standing water if the electricity is still on
6. Call a restoration company – no matter what the hour
7. During  cool seasons leave the heat on, in warmer seasons turn up the air conditioning(colder and running)
8. Use as many fans and dehumidifiers to circulate the air and assist drying. (you can never have to much)
9. Remove as much water as possible by mopping, blotting or sucking
10. If possible sweep standing water to the outside or to a working sump pump
11. Do not use an ordinary vacuum to remove water
12. Wipe furniture dry.  Prop up wet furniture cushions for even drying, don’t forget to place foil under legs of furniture to protect again standing moisture
13. Relocate belongings to a dry and safe part of the property
14. Lift hanging draperies off wet flooring
15. Spread out in a dry area: rugs, paintings, books and photos
16. Open closet doors, furniture drawers, luggage, dvd cases to help facilitate drying
17. Hang furs and leather goods to dry separately at room temperature
18. Carpet that has been wet for less than two days can be salvageable and your insurance company will require trying
19. The Carpet padding may be salvageable but a restoration company will help determine that
20. Do not pull up tacked down carpet by hand.  It may damage the backing
21. Valuable rugs may need immediate cleaning by a professional
22. Damage from the water and bacteria growth can begin within hours
23. Do not disturb visible mold growth

Keep in mind, according to your policy, you have to mitigate your loss. If you fail to do these things or fail to have a restoration company do these things for you, your insurance company will not pay for additional damages that occur because of standing water or wet material that was not dried out properly.  We hope this helps get you started though!!

Please let us know if you think we missed something.

Coming up in the tip line…”Fire Damage – Help Tips”