Insurance Claim Process For Remodeling After Water Damage

We’ve been talking to you about insurance claims. If you check out our videos, you’ll see a great example of some of the issues you can run into when making a claim for your property. 

 

 

Dry Out Your Home

 

 

When you have any kind of disaster the first thing you do is call your insurance company and a mitigation company, and either dry things out or get stuff out of the house. Whatever disaster you have, you will have to find someone to come out and help you get things out and cleaned up. 

 

 

A Recent Job of Ours

 

 

The example I have to show you and tell you about is one that shows how many things happen after the mitigation company is finished and after the insurance adjuster has made his estimate for your claim. We are currently working on a house in Hurst. The floors in this house are currently covered with ruined backboard. The mitigation company left it ruined, and in terrible condition. Why? Because it was dried out, and that’s their job. 

 

 

Flooring

 

 

There is no way we can put the flooring back onto this subfloor. The subfloor is ruined and will have to go. But if you take a closer look, you will see that the subfloor affects the stones of the fireplace. The subfloor has also affected some of the cabinets, ruining the bottom of them. We will have to remove the cabinets and stonework as well, to replace the subfloor underneath. And guess what? The cabinets and stonework are not on the original insurance claim. 

 

What Adjusters May Miss

 

 

We have to go back and talk to the adjusters and show them the additional items that need to be covered. The cabinets are underneath the kitchen counter. We might be able to remove and replace the cabinets without damaging the countertop, but it might not be possible—in which case the countertop will also need to be covered. 

 

The important thing is to make the insurance company and the adjuster aware of the possibilities. When we come in on a job like this, we often have no way of knowing how things were built. The cabinets might come out in pieces and need to be entirely rebuilt. 

 

 

Choosing Your Contractor

 

 

There will be many things that are not on the initial insurance claim. But that’s okay! The insurance company will offer you a number, whether that’s $10,000 or $100,000 or $200,00. You do not have to commit to a contractor right away. Get a couple of opinions on the work that will need to be done in your home. Make sure the people who come out to your house know what they’re doing, and the know-how to proceed from this type of situation to get you what is needed to be able to put your house back together with the way it was before this whole thing happened.

 

Your Next Step

 

If you need an estimate, give us a call! We’ll be more than happy to come by and give you an assessment and an estimate!