The only disadvantage of destruction caused by Hurricane Harvey is that you cannot prevent it from happening but with some preparedness, you can be sure to reduce the nature of your damages.
As such, when you are a homeowner in Houston, TX, it is crucial that you have a proper home insurance and a flood insurance policy in place. What’s more, you should have an idea of what to do after the hurricane damaged your home.
Secure your home inventory
The first thing to do after a hurricane is to obtain your home inventory. Remember, a home inventory should have been drafted before the hurricane and stored in a safe place. This documentation should include a description of your belongings both inside and outside the house.
What’s more, it should be inclusive of photos before the damage, a serial number of the possessions bought, model types, among others. You may wonder why this document is important, but it helps to make the whole claim process easier. So, if you have a home inventory, ensure that you secure it first as this is the only evidence to help you benefit from a faster-claiming process and insurance reimbursement.
Get an evidence of the damage
After you have gotten your home inventory to a safe place, now begin to gather as much evidence as you can on the damaged items. Here, take photos of the damages to your property and hand write a list of the damaged items. This measure also helps to ease the insurance claiming process.
The reason behind this is that once the after-damage list and photos are compared to the before ones, making a comparison and proving the damage will be much easier. As such, you will make the insurance claims process much easier, as you will have the crucial evidence required.
Conduct the required repairs
By the necessary repairs, I mean only those repairs to prevent further damage. You should not get tempted to start cleaning up or throwing away the damaged items. Only cover up damaged windows and roof to prevent more flooding.
With that done, do not attempt to do any repairs that will affect the evidence the insurance adjuster will take and that you will have after taking the photos. So, endure the damage as it is until the insurance adjuster reviews the cost. Such a measure will give you an easy time claiming for damages since the insurance company will have first-hand information.
Get your family a safe lodging
You will note that you family cannot stay in the same house after the damage. After all, you do not want to expose them to harmful elements. So, immediately after the hurricane and especially when your home is flooded, get a lodging for your members. Check with your insurance agent to determine if you can benefit from a loss of use coverage.
This coverage gives you some financial assistance due to the sudden displacement from your home. So, get your insurer to tell you about this coverage if you are a homeowner with a home insurance policy. You should also review your insurance policy so that you can ensure that you benefit from a complete coverage.
File a claim
Once you have helped your family settle, it is now time that you file a claim. Note that insurance companies can adopt a first-come first served basis. What’s more is that once a hurricane damages your home, it is likely that your neighbors have destroyed homes too, and are all looking up for compensation from the same insurance company.
As such, do not waste any time but file your claims as soon as possible. You might be pleased to benefit from a coverage early if the insurer adopts this policy. The above tips will help you to lessen the nature of your damages after a hurricane Harvey.
Remember, as we had said earlier, you cannot prevent wind and water from damaging your property. The least you can do is to stay prepared and have an idea of what to do after the hurricane. So, ensure that you follow my advice as discussed above, and be sure not to lose a lot of money trying to recover your damages.
