5 Important Steps You Should Take if You Sustain Hurricane Damage

5 Steps You Should Take if You Sustain Hurricane Damage to Your Property?

If you visit the websites of insurance companies, you will find a huge gap between what they advise you to do if you have hurricane damage versus what your actual interests are in the event your property is damaged by a hurricane.???

We used to represent insurance companies, and we know their games!? We know that covering the loss and damages and paying out claims for property damage due to a hurricane is not in their best interest. They are, after all, a business and a money-making machine!

Now we represent you, the policyholder/insured. Most often, when there is damage to personal and real property after a hurricane, your interests are not the same as your insurance company, despite what they may tell you.??

Before we get into the steps to take post-hurricane damage to protect your interests in the case of a claim for property damage to your insurance, remember that preparedness for a hurricane in Florida is essential. ? If there is a hurricane watch or warning, make sure you are prepared with the following:

• Make sure you have stocked up on non-perishable food items/canned goods; jugs or bottles of water; toilet paper; flashlights, batteries, gas grill, and fill propane tanks for cooking
• Board up the windows of your home or put up hurricane shutters if you have them
• Bring inside all outside furniture, bbq grills, potted plants, objects, or anything that can go airborne if a hurricane makes landfall.??
• Make sure you have property insurance on your home with hurricane coverage
• Make sure to watch the news to see if there have been any evacuation notices so that you and your loved ones are best protected and safe.? If you are not in a safe area, seek shelter before the hurricane makes landfall.??

But what happens during the calm after the storm?? What happens when there is hurricane-related property damage and you have to make a claim to your insurance??

What steps should you take?

Here are 5 important steps to take in case you sustain hurricane damage to your property.

Take Clear Photographs and Video?

You don’t always need a camera.? Your cell phone can be your best friend when recovering from hurricane damage to your insurance company.? Take clear photos of all damages from multiple angles and with the best lighting possible.? Take videos with your cell phone that shows the extent of all the damages.? Take your time and be thorough.? You can’t take enough photos and/or videos.? ? If your phone is in danger of water-related loss or is at risk of damage, send them to a friend or to email to protect yourself and not lose the photos.??

Create an Inventory List of Damaged Personal Property

Very few people take an inventory of their personal possessions or property until there is a reason to do so.? Hurricane damage to your property is exactly the reason to create an inventory of your property, specifically property that has suffered damage due to the hurricane.? One important aspect of this is that if property that was damaged during the hurricane later causes damage to property that wasn’t initially impacted,?

Serial numbers, brands, sizes/dimensions, descriptions of the property, age, and other details about the property that can support your statement of the property's value are critical.? Be thorough, and don’t think you can have too much information—you can’t.? In a hurricane damage insurance claim, this is one of the big areas of contention—the insurance company will argue that your property isn’t worth what you say.? Having a solid, comprehensive inventory list of damaged property takes a lot of the steam out of their argument.?

And if you still have the receipts of the items of personal property damaged or knew where you purchased the items – even better!

Protect the Property from Further Damage, and Don’t Discard any damaged items

Consistent with the need to not worsen the damage, make sure the insurance company does not have an argument that through your action or inaction, you didn’t protect the property from further damage.? The legal term for this is “mitigate” damage. If you don’t do so, the insurance company will claim you made a bad situation worse and reduce or eliminate any payment they may have made had you taken steps to avoid further damage to the property.? For example, put a tarp on your roof if you are experiencing any leaks to prevent further leaks from occurring.? Dry out or have a restoration company come and dry out any water that has come into your home.??

Do Not Make Permanent Repairs until After the Insurance Company Has Inspected the Property

On the website of one of the largest insurance companies in the US, it advises policyholders after a hurricane has hit to “start repairing storm damage to your property once you have cleaned up your property.”?

Really? Absolutely not!? As long as you and your family are safe and the property is not suffering worsening damage with minutes and hours passing, it is essential to not make any repairs, changes, or improvements to the damaged property until after the insurance company has come out to inspect the damage.?

As hurricane damage attorneys, we have decades of experience and have seen this circumstance cost policyholders millions of dollars.? The instinct is to recover and rebuild as quickly as possible.? We all understand that feeling.? But suppose you fix or repair your damaged property before the insurance adjusters have come out. In that case, you are giving the insurance company the ammunition to use the defense of “we didn’t see the damage, and therefore we don’t believe it was damaged as a result of the hurricane.”

Contact Cernitz Law, the best, most experienced Hurricane Claim Attorneys in Miami, to Help You with the Claims Process-From Start to Finish!

We are property claim attorneys who aggressively and successfully have garnered huge settlements for hurricane damage to property for our clients for the last several decades.?

We used to defend and represent the insurance companies and know all of their games and tricks—and there are no better attorneys to call in case you have hurricane damage and need to make a claim to your insurance company.???

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