How to Protect Your Hurricane Insurance Claims

Did you know that close to 10 full blown storms develop over the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and   Caribbean Sea regions each year? That’s a lot of destruction blowing around for anybody’s convenience.  More than half of these storms muster enough strength to qualify to become hurricanes. The saving grace is that most of them lie centered over the ocean with little impact on the United States. Sadly, some hurricanes do cross over and strike the coastline, though this happens just once in about three years.

It is bad when you are caught in the eye of a storm. It is worse if a hurricane strikes you because during a hurricane there is extensive damage to infrastructure, homes, businesses and public buildings are ravaged and sometimes razed to the ground. Even if your home is not knocked down, flying debris can smash windows and doors and allow tons of water powered by strong gusts of wind to rush into your home causing extensive and irretrievable damage. Huge trees get uprooted and if they fall within the periphery of your home, can cause damage to whatever remains standing. Depending on the intensity of the hurricane, massive bridges can get washed away and entire stretches of roads could go missing.

 

Here are a few precautions you can take to protect yourself.

·         Ensure that your property is properly secured, install storm shutters on all windows

·         You could also board up the windows using marine grade plywood

·         Fortify the roof and put additional rivets to fasten the roof to the main tress

·         Ensure trees are planted a good distance away from your homes

·         Ensure storm water drains and rain gutters are free of chocking debris

·         Be ready to evacuate when directed by the local authorities

·         If you live in mobile homes or any other temporary structures, get out immediately

·         Come down to the lower floors if you live in the top floor of a high-rise

When it comes to claiming insurance, you need to get pictures of damages to your home on the outside and inside on film.  Ensure that you have enough photos of the water before it can drain away. It is important to show the level to which the water has risen inside your home. You need to call your insurance agent immediately to put in your claim. In case you are covered for flood insurance in a separate policy, you need to call your flood insurance agent as well.  The agent needs to prepare a Notice for Loss form and a loss adjuster will be available to help you with the procedures. The loss adjuster needs to assess the extent of damage to property and create evidence to help you with your claim. Check if there is provision to get a portion of the claim amount as advance payment to help you tide over the crisis.  If all your records are clean and in order, the entire process gets simplified and the settlement is effected quicker. It would help if you are able to locate original bills for the goods that were damaged in the flood, as this makes the procedure simpler.

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