How To Handle Your Personal Property Claim After A House Fire
Did you recently have a house fire that caused a lot of damage to your home and your belongings inside it? If so, you'll need to know how to handle your personal property claim with your insurance adjuster.
Estimate The Damage
The easiest way to deal with your personal property is to allow an insurance adjuster to estimate the damage that was caused. Insurance adjusters can make this estimate in a few different ways to ensure that it is as accurate as possible.
If the home is still in a state that it can be walked through, an insurance adjuster will actually take a look around and make educated estimates based on what they see. They'll be able to tell what kind of furniture and appliances you have, which will make up the bulk of your personal property claim, and give you a depreciated value for them based on what they think the age of the items may be.
Unfortunately, not all homes can be walked through after a fire. In this instance, information is used based on previous claims with a similar house and family size to estimate the damage. Of course, those items you replace with new items will be reimbursed, so many people are still happy with this option.
Itemize The Damage
The other option is to itemize all of the items in your home that were damaged by the fire. While this is the best way to ensure that you get the maximum value of what was damaged in your home, it can be incredibly tedious and time-consuming to do.
When people can walk through their homes, they will literally list all of the items that were damaged and need to be thrown away. This involves going through the home room by room until everything is documented.
If you can't walk through the home, then it is best to sit down together as a family to try to visualize each room and list what you remember. Have everyone start together on the north wall of the room and work your way around it clockwise. Try to picture what was in each room together so that you do not miss a thing. All of those items will then be listed on the form for your personal property losses, and you'll receive a depreciated value of what the item is worth.
Reach out to your insurance agent for more information about claiming your personal property losses.
For more information, contact a home insurance service in your area.
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