When disaster strikes, it's comforting to know that assets are guarded, making homeowner's insurance an essential part of any owner's financial plans. Natural disasters and storms are known for destroying property, so obtaining this kind of protection is vital once a house is procured.
Especially in cases where damage is widespread and many claims may be filed at the same time, so there are things that homeowners need to do to ensure theirs are processed quickly and accurately. Some of these steps should happen before a storm actually hits, so preparation is key to a speedy recovery.
Cataloguing inventory
Filing a claim means listing damages and accounting for lost property, but if people don't have an accurate idea of what they had before a storm hit, they probably won't get as much help as they feel they need. There are easier ways of creating these resources without painstakingly going through the house with a pen and paper. Even cell phones have high resolution cameras on them, making pictures and video much more useful in collecting data. What's more, this will increase the accuracy of statements, as homeowners will have visual proof of what they had and its condition.
The Huffington Post wrote that doing a video walkthrough will show how the house looked, what possessions were in the house and its most recent condition. Having drawers and closets open to show contents can make a huge difference on the final amount awarded, too. The source recommended uploading these files to an online source like Flickr and storing them in a cloud resource like Drive or Glacier, so that they can be recovered later no matter what should happen to physical resources.
Fight for the balance
There are times when an insurance company will try to offer less recompense than what should be due. It's important that homeowners not simply jump at a check and think themselves lucky, the Wall Street Journal warned, as they could be severely short-changing themselves.
The best option in this case, the source stated, is to consult with a public adjuster or financial adviser for input on what should be owed and how to obtain it. These individuals may request a portion of the awarded funds in exchange for their services, but this could be well worth the investment, depending on how much the insurance company is withholding.