4 Steps To Take When Preparing For An Insurance Adjuster's Visit

3/13/2023 (Permalink)

When you have a homeowners insurance claim, it's important to be prepared. The adjuster will want to know what happened and how much of your home is damaged. You need to be ready with the facts and documentation so that the process can move forward quickly and easily. Here are four steps to take to prepare for an insurance adjuster's visit.

Take photos of the damage.

Before an insurance adjuster visits your home, it's critical that you take pictures of all of the damage. This will help them determine the cost of repairs and how much they should pay out on your claim.

• Take photos of any broken items or furniture lying around your home.
• Take photos from different angles (up close, far away) so that they can see what kind of damage has been done to each item in detail.
• Take photos showing all sides of each piece of furniture or appliance that was damaged by water or fire etc.,

Make temporary fixes to prevent more damage.

A temporary fix is a quick and easy way to repair your home that will prevent further damage. For example, if there is a window broken in your house, you could board up the hole until the insurance adjuster has visited and you can begin making a permanent fix. If your home has suffered from a water leak, another example of a temporary fix could be to shut off the main water supply to prevent more water from damaging your property or place a bucket under a leaking pipe.

A temporary fix does not have to be expensive or difficult; it just needs to hold up until you're able to get a real repair done by professionals.

Keep receipts and other documentation.

The most important thing you can do is to keep receipts and other documentation of everything that happened. This will help you make an accurate claim, and it will also help your adjuster if there are any discrepancies later on in the process.

Create a list of damaged belongings.

Next, you need to create a list of your belongings. This step is also known as creating a "Home Inventory" list. This includes not only the items that have been damaged but also any receipts for those items. You may also want to take photos of these items so that they can be included on this list as well. This will help them determine the value of any damaged belongings as well as how much money is owed by the insurance company.

Be sure to give detailed descriptions of each item on your list--this will help ensure that there is no confusion between similar pieces (e.g., two televisions with different screen sizes).

Be prepared!

An insurance adjuster visit can offer insight into your claim process, so be prepared! Make sure that you have all of your documents ready. An adjuster will want to see receipts, invoices, and other proof of damages before they give you any money on your claim.

If you're in the middle of a home or business insurance claim, an adjuster visit can be a stressful experience. But if you're prepared and know what to expect, it can actually be beneficial for both parties involved. By knowing what questions will be asked, how long this process takes, and how much money could potentially be covered by your policy, you'll have more peace of mind when faced with making decisions about coverage or repairs.

3 Common Pitfalls of DIY Mold Testing Kits

8/29/2022 (Permalink)

Mold Kits Are Subject To Some Big Problems

Some homeowners buy home mold testing kits as a budget-friendly alternative to a professional mold inspection. Others use these tests to confirm their suspicions about mold in their homes before they call the professionals. Before you buy a home mold kit, for any reason, you should be aware that these kits are subject to some big problems.

1. Test Samples Must Be Shipped to a Lab
A typical DIY mold kit comes with a petri dish. You leave the dish open in your home for a specified amount of time, then seal it, capturing any mold spores inside. Next, you ship the sealed petri dish to a lab for analysis. The shipping step is problematic because you have no control over the sample while it’s in transit. For example, your sample could be exposed to extreme heat or cold during shipping; since mold spores are sensitive to temperature, this could skew your test results. Furthermore, the glass slides in most mold testing kits break easily, even with protective packaging.

2. Lab Results Are Often Inconclusive
At the lab, scientists analyze your test sample and generate a report indicating the type and number of mold spores found on the slide. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do with this information. The lab report can’t tell you key information, like:

• the density of mold spores in the air
• whether that density is considered hazardous
• the cause of the excess mold growth
  
  

3. Mold Kits Are Time-Sensitive
The Petri dishes in most home kits contain a testing medium called agar. Agar is inexpensive and widely available, but it has a limited shelf life. Many DIY mold tests do not have an expiration date or a manufacturing date, and you have no way of knowing how long a kit has been sitting on a store shelf in Ashmont, MA.
The problems inherent in home mold testing kits have led trade groups and consumer advocacy organizations to discourage homeowners from using them. Even the best DIY kit is not a reliable substitute for professional mold testing.

Fire Damage and Water Damage: How One Leads to the Other

7/18/2022 (Permalink)

Three Main Contributors to Fire and Water Damage

When business owners consider fire damage, they often think of charred structures and melted computer housings. Still, very few consider the extensive amount of water damage that can occur in fire rescue. To help you understand why such loss is inevitable, it is essential to review the main three contributors to such damage.

1. Rescue Efforts
2. Heat
3. Suppression Systems
   
   

Rescue Efforts

Most water damage occurs as a result of rescue efforts. Firefighters use large, high volume, high-pressure hoses to dose the flames and extinguish the blaze. While some water likely dissipates from the excessive heat, most of it will remain on the floor, ceilings, walls, and cavities of the building, which means that you may want to hire a Theatre District, MA, fire restoration company to help mitigate further loss.

Heat

While it may seem counter-intuitive, heat can also lead to water and fire damage. Extreme temperatures can lead to bursts and broken pipes, which inevitably leads to significant flooding within the property. Therefore, it is often necessary to turn off the water supply to a building following a fire to reduce the risk of water loss.

Suppression Systems

Last, a fire hose and broken pipes are not the only contributors to excessive water buildup in a fire-damaged property. Often, the safety measures that are put in place, like a fire suppression system, can result in flooding as well. While many systems rely on foam or other chemicals, some systems are purely water-based. Also, while there are systems that can coordinate water release to only certain places in the building, other systems do not have such controls, which means that when one sprinkler is set off, all of them go off.
Water and fire damage often appear together after a blaze. However, it is necessary to understand that while such damage is frustrating, it is an essential part of rescue efforts, without which you may not have a commercial facility at all.

5 Benefits of an Electronic Claims Service

6/28/2022 (Permalink)

When you choose SERVPRO, you get the benefits of electronic claims services.

Five Advantages of Using an Electronic Claims Service

When remediation and restoration services are needed in Waterfront, MA, all parties involved want that insurance claim to be as uncomplicated as possible. When you choose SERVPRO, you get the benefits of electronic claims services. Below are five ways that service helps the claim from beginning to end.

1. Enhances Efficiency
Any insurance agent knows the massive amount of documents involved with any claim. Oftentimes, these documents must be seen by multiple people in multiple locations. Instead of having to mail them, you get the freedom to the information with a few clicks. All authorized people can view the documents and submit changes if needed. This may include uploading photos of damaged items or changing the estimate of damage.

2. Accessible to All Parties
Since all information related to the claim is in one location, everyone involved can easily find what they are looking for. This information can be accessed from anywhere, which further ensures that everyone is on the same page throughout the process.

3. Ensures Insurance Claim Accuracy
By storing data in a digital format, you get the peace of mind that the information is up-to-date and accurate. Instead of having a paper trail to file, which may or may not have been filed correctly, you get instant access to real-time information.

4. A Secure Method
Electronic claims eradicate the need for a large paper trail, which may easily be misplaced or missing documents. Since all the photos, insurance information, estimates, timelines and other related information are saved in an encrypted file and backed up, it eliminates the potential for misplaced claims.

5. More Convenient
Whether you want to double-check something or want to check the progress of the process, electronic claims make that easy and convenient. They can be accessed from any device and any location.
Everyone involved wants the insurance claim process to be as smooth as possible. Choosing a provider with electronic claims helps make that happen.

Ensuring Smoother Damage Claims for All Parties

4/26/2022 (Permalink)

We can get your business back up and running.

All Parties Benefit from Smoother Damage Claims

When a commercial property in South Boston, MA, is faced with mold, water or fire damage, getting back to normal doesn’t have to be a confusing and complicated process. Although a large loss may require time for a certified mediation and restoration company to complete, choosing the right one makes the claim process smoother for the property owner and insurance adjuster.

Trusted Claims Services

When choosing SERVPRO, all parties get peace of mind that they are working with an established, certified company that has the expertise to complete the restoration and established procedures to ensure the insurance claim avoids unexpected bumps in the road.

Itemized Inventory: An itemized list of all losses is provided in a detailed report that includes photos.
Claims Information Center: This is an online, one-stop shop for all aspects of the project. It includes a job file with vital, up-to-date information such as to estimate details, related paperwork, pending and completed jobs, cost data and performance comparison.
Trained Professionals: While the details are important for the client and insurance adjuster, so is that knowing trained, certified professionals are completing the work. All franchise technicians adhere to IICRC standards and complete ongoing training.

A Support Network
While the work is being completed, the technicians are backed by an extensive support network. The Customer Care Center works to promptly handle claims, implement best practices and maintain a strong relationship with national accounts. From filing documentation to providing any necessary documentation, it is dedicated to making the entire process go as smoothly as possible. That network also includes reliance on 1,700 franchises across the United States and Canada. No matter where a large loss happens, 24/7 help is available to respond to an emergency.
When damage happens, the client is focused on getting back to business and the insurance adjuster is focused on the numbers and ensuring the claim is done right. Getting help from the right restoration professional makes it easier to achieve both and get the situation back to “Like it never even happened.”

How Do Insurance Agents Use Claims Inventory Systems?

2/18/2022 (Permalink)

The SERVPRO Claims Information Center makes it easier to ensure that accurate information is available about types of damage

SERVPRO Claims Information Center

A claims inventory system can help insurance agents keep track of claims in progress, estimates and data. There are several ways in which the SERVPRO Claims Information Center makes it easier to settle an insurance claim.

Accessing Individual and Aggregate Data

Whenever restoration professionals issue a new estimate, this information is uploaded to a corporate database and becomes available to insurance representatives. Resources such as the Claims Information Center make it easy to review individual files. Agents and adjusters can also access several types of data for the purpose of comparison:

• Causes of loss
• Job file costs
• Response times
• Types of claims
  
  

All of this data is available for counties, states, regions and nationwide. An insurance agent can also easily compare the performance of a company to other mitigation and restoration services in a region or across the country.

Managing Claim Information

As an insurance claim progresses, an online resource makes it easier to add to, complete or review data. This can help insurers and restoration professionals ensure that all of the necessary information is available to other parties. This may reduce the possibility of miscommunication, which can unnecessarily prolong the claim process.

Reducing Processing Times

An online resource that is easy to access can speed up the process of preparing, processing and settling claims. The availability of individual and collected data in one place can allow for less back-and-forth communication between agents, adjusters, insured parties and mitigation and restoration services.

All of these factors can make an electronic claims inventory system a useful feature for insurance agents and adjusters. Whether or not representatives have worked with similar systems in the past, the SERVPRO Claims Information Center makes it easier to ensure that accurate information is available about types of damage, restoration services and estimates related to an insurance claim for damage at a residence in South End, MA.