Water damage in Miami can strike even at the most unexpected moment, and it is often a costly damage to your property to repair. Water damage can indeed be caused by a multitude of factors. These are obvious ones, such as severe weather, flooding damage, and even busted pipe damage. A water damage, if left untreated, can produce a slew of severe issues, including mold damage and structural fissures. Most of the time, your homeowner’s insurance policy can cover the associated costs with the damage, and an experienced public adjuster in Miami may accompany you in considering the application of submitting the water damage insurance claim.
How to Get Insurance to Pay for Water Damage in Miami
Take photos of the damaged area. Your home rebuilding team will likely take photographs of the damaged area, but you should also take your own. You should take photos of any objects that need to be cleaned or replaced. With water damage, objects that get wet are only part of the loss. Objects in drawers or closets where mold has spread should also be professionally cleaned. Hence, if you later decide to cut ties with this company, you don’t want to be chasing them around for documents.
Call your experienced public adjuster and report claims. When it comes to water damage, time is an important part of it. Mold and mildew can begin to develop 24-48 hours after exposure. So, if your pipe bursts on Friday night, don’t wait until Monday morning to let your expert public adjuster in Miami know what is happening. Unless you’re able to completely clean and dry the area on your own, it makes sense to at least contact a water damage/restoration company. Insurance companies may be unwilling to recommend a specific water damage company, but they should be able to help you identify a few local options to choose from.
Understand your loss settlement. ACV indicates the current market value of your property. After your experienced public adjuster in Miami has evaluated the damage, he will provide you an estimate of how much it will cost to fix it. Depending on the amount of the claim, he will generate a list of line items. Just be aware that the settlement figure may appear to be a little low. Unless your house insurance policy specifies “replacement cost value,” the sum of your guesses (of a figure) is most likely based on an actual cash value, or ACV.
Steps to take after you have experienced a severe water damage in your Miami home
Figure out if you need to leave the home. Most insurance policies include coverage for hotel changes to help someone places to live and sleep, and even dining expenses if you are forced to leave. In serious cases, water damage can lead to unsafe or unhealthy living conditions inside the home. Major flooding can draw household chemicals or wastewater into the mix. The risk of death by electricity may be present. And even after, mold spores can contaminate the air. If you suspect any of these issues at play, ask your expert public adjuster to advise the safest course of action.
Figure out if your water damage is covered by your home insurance policy. The number of water damage in Miami ran faster than the number of losses caused by fires and dangerous storms. Water damage is pretty common, but not every kind of water damage in Miami is covered by a homeowner’s policy. Generally, water damage is covered by home insurance if it is happening by chance, without any planning. In other words, you couldn’t have predicted that it was going to happen. On the other hand, water damage is not covered when it’s the result of a lack of home maintenance.
Get the molds professionally cleaned up. A water damage/restoration company (WD/RC) is often demanded to pump out any standing water and completely dry any surfaces before moisture or mildew spreads. If mold is already present, the WD/RC may need to apply special cleaning solutions, after sealing and ventilating the wet area.
Be prepared to get non-renewed. This does not commonly arise. Many homeowners happily renew their policy with their current carrier, but your insurance provider may decide not to renew your coverage after a significant claim. It smells and appears to be unjust. You pay for insurance in case you want assistance. And then you are penalized for doing so.
The fact is that insurance firms use intricate formulas to determine which risks and consumers are worth accepting. This allows them to continue earning enough money to assist the individuals they have promised to assist. If they guaranteed to aid everyone regardless of loss history, they’d be out of business rather fast.
