Filing Your Home Insurance Claim - Essential Documentation Checklist

Summary

• This post should offer a comprehensive checklist of documents and evidence needed when filing a claim, such as photographs of damage, receipts for valuables, and records of home improvements.

ACV vs. RCV

Let’s talk about what it takes to handle your homeowners claim with a seamless and fair settlement. Generally speaking, your insurance carrier will pay you in two stages.  The first stage is called an ACV (Actual Remember you can always increase your personal property limits on your policy. (Cash Value) settlement.

ACV in layman’s terms is the amount you get after the age/depreciation is taken out. Please note that most standard homeowner polices are RC, (Recoverable Cost), policies. Therefore, your second payment will be the amount of depreciation taken out of your first settlement once you have replaced the damaged item.

So, make sure you know the age of what was damaged and the approximate date that you acquired it.  The older something is, the more depreciation will be subtracted from its value.

Please be aware that if you have a mortgage, or lienholder, on your home, that lienholder could also be an additional payee on any payment or check you receive. Which means, they will also be required to endorse any check or draft.

It would be a good idea to contact your lienholder as soon as you file a claim to ask about what their process might be, if an endorsement is required by your insurance carrier.

🏠Strategy for your structure...

As I have said before, in order to get indemnified, or set back to how you were before your loss, you need to be proactive not reactive! Let’s bullet point several of the proactive strategy’s starting with your home or insured structure.

• Know, and if possible, have documentation the age of your roof. If you recently replaced the roof, be sure to let your agent know and document that conversation.
• Keep receipts, or paid estimates, on any repair, replacement or upgrades that were done prior to your loss. That will aid your insurance adjuster in knowing the price of the components used to do the repairs, or replacements, as well as assuring the correct ACV payment.
• I would advise having a contractor you trust give you an estimate on the damage, and if at all possible, you and your contractor should there when the claim representative arrives to do his estimate.
• ALWAYS remember that the insurance companies claim representative will be giving you an estimate, and that it’s not final or sealed in stone! What he gives you is exactly what the word estimate implies, he is estimating on what he sees on the surface.
  • If warranted, the insurance carrier will always consider issuing supplemental payments on what they, or even your contractor, might have missed after getting into the repairs.
  • In the case of needing a supplemental payment, make sure you take photos, copy receipts and have your contractor do a supplemental estimate as well with exact measurements and material that was required.

This was a brief overview of a structure you have insured, so let’s now talk about your personal property; anything you could load up and take with you, if you moved.

🧸 Let's talk about your personal property

This is where the contention begins on many claims, because the insurance carrier will need to have some type of proof that you actually had any item. If you toss a damaged item into the dumpster with no photos, or if it is totally destroyed in a fire, the burden of proof of ownership rest on you.

What is mentioned above about ACV/RC, also applies to personal property.  Let’s bullet point some things you can do that will help immensely.

• Use your phone and go into each room and video everything in the room. Open cabinets and video everything. Simply upload that video or those photos into the cloud, or on a thumb drive that you keep off property.
  • This helps in several ways: first it will remind you of what you had in order to put it your loss inventory list that the insurance claim representative will request be requesting from you. Second it will prove to the insurance carrier that you did indeed own those specific items.
• When dealing with personal property prior to a loss, make sure you visit with your agent about limits. Most insurance policies will have limits on guns, fine art, jewelry, furs, silverware, and many type of collectables.
  • This means you need to make sure you have them covered by either increasing the limits on the policy, or even purchasing a rider, an additional policy just for that expensive item. Your agent will be able to determine whether that is necessary or not.
• Where I have seen most of the problems with getting reimbursed is with specialty items $1,500.00 and up. A good example is a Michael Kors purse that may have cost $2,000.00 and was damaged beyond repair. Proof of ownership will be required from most carriers. Always have photos of the items, as well as photos of the purchase receipt.
• Try to have an idea how much personal property you have prior to purchasing your policy. Most policies will automatically assign an amount based on t, he value of your home. For example, if your home is valued at $100,000.00, then the insurance company might assign a 30 percent amount which would be $30,000.00 for personal property.
  • So, before you go to purchase your policy, know how much personal property you need to cover. Once you video or photo everything, it always adds up to much more than you think. Remember, you can always increase your personal property limits on your policy if you purchase another expensive item. Your agent will tell you if more coverage, or a rider, should be purchased.

Remember, dealing with insurance companies on a claim is like playing chess; you need to anticipate your next move.  You know what they need, so beat them to the punch, and have the documentation.

Also, you will hear me say this time after time, after a loss, take photos and more photos.  That is so easy to do these days, and that one step will save you time, money and grief during the claim process.