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Our first order of business is to make sure the property owner understands the need to take the proper emergency remediation steps. An agreement needs to be made with the insurance company adjuster so there is no misunderstanding on the scope and price of the emergency services.
If a black water loss has occurred to personal property there is a very good likely hood it may be beyond salvaging. If a regular water loss has occurred a general rule of thumb is that hard goods may be cleaned. Often soft goods will be stained and thus not restorable. It is a good idea to wait a few weeks after removing hard goods from the damaged building to see if they have cracked and split from the water damage.
We cannot stress enough the need to have agreements if possible with restorations firms and the insurance company adjuster before the work begins as we often see billing for this work that can at times be shocking and border line fraud. If this happens the typical response from the insurance company is that you signed the work authorization and you have to pay the bill and deal with the charges or fight it on your own.
Understand what you are signing when presented a work authorization from a water remediation firm as this can possibly be used to lien your property and might in fact be an assignment of some of your insurance policy limits.
This is a decision that needs to be made based on the facts of a loss. We do not encourage or think it advisable to file claims for minor losses. Once a claim has been filed your loss will be sent to a central index bureau and an CLUE report will be on record. On the other hand if the loss is not manageable through your own efforts then consider calling a professional public adjuster to guide you through the process.
No this is a water loss that is covered if you have a water peril in your policy. A flood as defined by the National flood Insurance Program (NFIP) usually involves two properties that are jointed or a two acres area that is flooded. Homeowners and commercial properties policies generally have an exclusion for a flood and coverage must be purchased from the National Flood Insurance Program or from the private sector through an excess flood policy