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How to file a claim in homeowners insurance?

What is the need to file a claim?

An injury is caused to someone when they are in your property or say when a tornado / hurricane destroy your home, there is a need to file a claim. It is always essential to take in to consideration that a homeowners policy is an agreement between you and the insurance company and a careful perusal of the policy documents will explain the responsibilities of the house owner before filing the claim.

If you happen to be the victim of a theft or your home happens to be the target of hooligans resulting in vandalism of your home, report the matter at once with the nearest police station and get a copy of the police report and keep it safe for future reference.

Contact your insurance company at once

Generally there is a time limit for filing claims and check with your insurance company about that. Ensure whether you are covered and whether your claim will exceed deductible, the time taken to process the claim and should you have to go in for estimates for repairs to structural deformity in your building.

Carryout the urgent repairs

Don’t wait till your claim is settled to carryout the repairs later. Do repair to your home on a priority basis to avoid further damage. Repairs that require urgent attention have to be immediately attended to and the receipts for the expenditure have to be kept safe for reimbursement from your insurance company.

Damaged or lost articles list
It is the responsibility of the homeowner to substantiate to the adjuster about the loss or damage to the property. It would be a good

idea to prepare a list of articles that were available in your home before they were lost / damaged. If possible, take photographs or videotaping the damage caused to your home will add weightage to your claim. Have an extra copy of the inventory for the adjuster’s use.

Keep your receipts safe, should you have to relocate

If the damage to your home is more severe and if you have to take accommodation outside till your home is ready, keep the records of all of your additional expenditure safe so that they can be reimbursed. By default, most of the homeowners insurance policies will provide coverage for the loss of use of your home.

Time to file a claim

It is the duty of the homeowner who has to intimate the insurance company about the damage or loss to the home and then the burden shifts to the insurance company to send the claim form within a reasonable period of time. The time varies from state to state. The claim form has to be filled in properly, completely and returned to the insurance company without any delay to get early compensation.

The claim will be settled usually after an adjuster who visits your home and assesses the damage. The adjuster arrives at a logical amount after assessing the amount of claim and extent of damage / loss to the property. Most of the time, the claim will be settled early. Contact your insurance agent if you have any difficulty in getting your claim settled or contact your state insurance department to get your grievance redressed.

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