Making A Water Damage Claim Successfully

6/29/2021 (Permalink)

Whether at your home or business, if you have experienced water damage, you will want your insurance to cover it. This can include everything from the extraction of water to drying out and repairing the affected area, and everything in between. More often than not, material decontamination will be necessary – particularly in the case of flooding. How can you avoid being denied coverage for a water damage claim?

Coverage

Not only will you want to make sure you're covered for the initial damage done, but – as just suggested above – for the entire process of getting rid of excess water, drying materials, disinfecting, and more. In order to decontaminate materials affected by the water leakage, or remove them entirely, mold removal/testing may need to be done. You'll want that covered as well. To return your home or business to its original condition, whatever water damage restoration/repair is involved, ideally, you want your policy to pay for it.

Floods Versus Water Damage

In some cases, the words "water damage" will make a claim acceptable and coverable, whereas the word "flood" will not. To make absolutely sure of this, you’ll want to check with your insurance company.

In the mind of an insurance company, a "flood" does not come from inside your home or business (roof leak, tub overflow, air-conditioner overflow, septic tank backup, sewer backup, washing machine overflow, pipe leak, etc.), but from outside your home or business.

Here’s an example: If the river outside your home rises severely and overflows its banks, and from outside your home, water rushes in, “flooding” your home… you may not successfully submit a claim. That's the kind of flood damage that is not likely covered by most insurance policies.

If you can possibly submit a claim and avoid calling the water damage a flood, you stand a better chance of coverage.

Help with Submitting a Claim

If you can find a vendor that helps their clients with insurance claim submission, all the better. Unless a vendor has a relationship with an insurance company, they should be able to help you submit your claim with proper wording for the best chance of being covered. Because some vendors and insurance companies do have a close relationship, however, be sure of this before you contract the service.

Before hiring a restoration company, research them at length. Check reviews, their website, and more. You want them working for your best interests, not that of an insurance company.

Don’t Put Off the Process

One of the most important things to remember when dealing with water restoration post leakage or flooding is that the entire process should be expedited as much as possible. True, you want the job done thoroughly and expertly. But because the longer the water damage sits around, the bigger threat it poses, so you should contract a restoration company ASAP.

Additionally, insurance companies want to know about damage right away, not long after the fact. Wait too long, and your insurance company may try to say that the damage was existing before your claim, there were other contributing factors, and more.

Remember – Time Is of the Essence

When making a water damage claim, time is of the essence. There can be no denying this. When it comes to insurance companies and potential dangers from water damage, there's no time to waste. For this reason, and many more, contact the certified, experienced experts at SERVPRO when you need to deal with water damage and/or water restoration.

Don't put off repairing and/or restoring your home or business one more moment. We are available with 24-hour emergency service to be of assistance when you need us.

Contact us today.