When To Claim Home Insurance

By Solange Kristanis


Everyone needs home insurance, even if they never really want to use it. You know it can be stressful, if you've experienced a property loss, whether by fire, water damage or theft. If you experience a loss, the first thing you must do is report it right away to your insurer. The will do a short interview with you to find out what happened and evaluate how severe the damage is. They will usually offer assistance if you need something immediately.

Your personal safety should be your priority. If your home has been severely damaged, remember to stay out of it. Contact the police immediately to file a report, and fix or replace your locks, if your home has been broken into. If there's been a fire in your home, avoid breathing ashes and soot by covering your nose and mouth with a handkerchief or face mask.

You are responsible for mitigating the loss. This means that, with the resources available to you,you are expected to minimize further damage by taking immediate action for emergency repairs or tasks within your control. Try to make any immediate repairs you can, such as putting a tarp over a leaky roof, because you are responsible for preventing future damage. Also make sure you save the receipts from the supplies you use so you can be reimbursed for these expenses.

You will usually need to fill out the required claims form for small and standard claims, and return it within a stated timeframe. You must send the receipts for the items you are claiming on with the form. Try digging out credit card statements which can prove the purchases instead, if you can't lay your hands on the receipts. If you don't have copies of these, call your bank or credit card provider and ask to be sent the relevant months' statements.

Photographs are also accepted as evidence. Essentially, if you provide more proof, your home insurance claim will go faster and more smoothly.

If you allow your home to get into disrepair, you will not be able to claim this on your home insurance. People are often unaware that maintenance is one of the main exclusions and attempt to wrongly make claims for it. Upkeep is not covered by home insurance. A claim on your home insurance to check or replace roofing, relating to maintenance, will never succeed. But, you'd likely make a successful claim if a storm caused damage to your roof.

Remember to keep separate the items that need repair or cleaning. If you plan to throw away items you plan on claiming as damaged, first confirm with your claim representative whether you should do this. Also, be sure to review your policy for specific coverage information if you have not done so on a regular basis.




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