When it comes to processing claims for disaster insurance, there are a few critical steps that need to be taken to ensure the proper response and actions for the best outcome of the insured. Below are a few key points to remember when processing a claim for storm insurance coverage.

Step 1: Assessing the Damages of Your Home Properly
Assessing the property is the first step to correctly filing a claim. The entire property must be adequately evaluated to obtain an accurate estimation. Not correctly evaluating the property can result in an underestimate or overestimate. Either way, those are two situations you do not want to find yourself in when you are trying to seek relief from natural disasters. To accurately assess the property most efficiently, you should start by taking pictures of the damages.

Step 2: Review Your Policy
Reviewing your policy is a very critical step, keep in mind all home insurances are different. You may believe the first step is to review your insurance policy when trying to file a claim, when in fact it should be second. Once you have taken photos of your losses, notated the damages, and started reading through your insurance policy, you can go through the deductibles and figure out whats covered or not. There are some instances wherein the loss was not above the deductible and the individual filing the claim had to pay the costs to fix the home.

Step 3: Proof of Property Before The Storm
This third step is vital in that you may have all the assessments done, appraised the home and the property in question and fail to show proof of all the items in a state before the damage by the disaster. Having evidence of this will make the claim process much more manageable. It’s imperative to take pictures in advance of all the items of importance in the home beforehand as a preventative measure. Especially if you live in an area where hurricanes often hit or in an area where there are tornadoes or floods as such, then the first thing to be done is to make sure that pictures of all the valuables are kept somewhere safe.

Step 4: Contact The Insurance Broker
The insurance company will more than likely send an assessor out to the property in question. By contracting a public adjuster, they will help you by arguing the claim of you before the insurance company. The Public Adjuster will not seek to protect the insurance but rather the individual or the company that has the claim before an insurance company. Knowing the role of this person will make your claim a lot easier. Many people fail to realize just how vital such a figure is until they need one or is at the mercy of an insurance agent.

Step 5: Knowing The ins and out of the Insurance Claim
Knowing whether the damages done to your home were sudden or accidental is imperative to file the proper claim. See, most insurance companies will try to deny the way the damages happened, and they will always protect their best interest in this case “money.” However, every claim is different; therefore, it is essential to know the correct terminology when dealing with an insurance claim. Understanding your policy and legal jargon associated with your insurance claim and save you many headaches. Its always recommended seeking the help of a public adjuster who specializes in home insurance.

Step 6: Recap The First Five
If you are seeking reimbursement of the insurance company and are attempting to recover the money yourself you can; however, it is not ideal especially when you have public adjusters and attorneys at your disposal who are willing to help. Ensuring that the proper documentation is given, having the right estimation of damages and handymen who are willing to give their professional input on the matter will become the basis of your insurance claim.

Summary
The steps mentioned above has no particular order, but at least you have a firm understanding of the essential information you need to file your claim. Its always suggested hiring a licensed public adjuster to help you file an insurance claim against your insurance company to help to save time and complications which may arise from fighting with your insurance company.