In the event that you have suffered damage to your property, there are specific steps that you must take to ensure that you can file a proper claim with the insurance company. You can find these steps in your insurance policy, which is why it’s so important that you or someone on your staff has read through your policy. However, we also have several suggestions that go beyond these steps that will help you take your claim in the direction that you want:

• Whatever you do, do not be in a hurry. No matter how badly you would like to settle with the insurance company and move on, resist that urge. If you take your time with the claim process, you will receive a much better settlement in the end.
• No matter what the Claims Representative and/or the Independent Adjuster tells you, they are representatives of the insurance company. By law, they cannot represent the Insured (you). There is only one person who can legally represent you in the claims process, and that is the Public Adjuster that you hire.
• Whatever you do, do not hire anyone immediately without doing proper research. The insurance company’s adjuster may present a ‘preferred’ contractor to you to provide estimates and work. However, this preferred contractor, for all intents and purposes, is an employee of the insurance company. As an employee of the insurance company, they do not have your best interests in mind. Their end goal is to save the company money and keep them happy.
• Before hiring a general contractor, ensure that you have seen and thoroughly analyzed their estimate for what they plan to do and how much it will cost. Whether it’s your business or your home, it’s likely one of your biggest investments. If you are signing anything before you have received a complete estimate, ensure that it is a contract only for emergency repair services. Only provide limited authorization before seeing a complete and detailed estimate.
• Take as many pictures as possible. As soon as you can enter the property following the damage, take as many different pictures as possible from as many different angles as possible. These will be instrumental later on in the process.
• Ask the adjuster at the insurance company (in writing) to provide you with a certified copy of your policy. In this policy, there will be instructions for everything that you need to do. This should be the most up-to-date copy, and the adjuster must provide it to you at no cost.
• From the moment that you first contact the insurance company and adjuster, they are going to be keeping a written log of all of your communication. It is in your best interest to do the same. If you do not, the only record of your conversations will be from the insurance company’s perspective.
• You should also document all communication with your public adjuster as well. By keeping track of all communication, you’re letting everyone involved know that you are taking the situation seriously.
• If there are any broken windows or doors on your property, board them up as fast as possible. This will help prevent theft and additional damage to your property.
• If there is damage to your roof, you must protect it immediately (a tarp or something similar). The damage to your roof will eventually be covered by your insurance, but you need to protect the interior of your building from further damage. That is not your insurance company’s responsibility.
• It is likely that the insurance company will ask you for a recorded statement about the incident. It’s important that you take this statement seriously and that you answer all questions as honestly as possible. While they are recording your statement, request a copy of the statement and have them agree to it. You should also bring your own recording device to the meeting.
• As you are entitled to continue the same standard of living as you were experiencing prior to the damage, do not let the insurance company place you in a home or business that is smaller or of significantly lower quality than what you had before. To keep morale high, whether it’s at home or in your business, it’s important that you have the same quality of space. Although you may not think that it’s a big deal at first, the claims process can drag out for much longer than you think. You will eventually regret letting it slide.
• While waiting for the insurance company to provide you with the certified copy of your policy, ask them to produce a current declarations page for you. With this document, you will know the limits for your structure, contents, and all additional living expenses.
• Do not let anyone touch your damaged structure. Your building should remain exactly as it is until the structural portion of your claim has been processed completely. Changing or destroying the evidence will only hurt your claim.
• Similarly, do not throw away anything that you are claiming on your insurance property. Leave everything exactly as it is until it has been officially processed by the insurance company.

Following these steps is in your best interests and helps to protect you in the claims process. You will never regret being too careful.