Hurricane Insurance Claim Tips

Do you live where hurricanes come ashore?

How about tornados or flooding?

What happens if your house burns down?

Do you have insurance to cover yourself in case your home is damaged?

Are you SURE you have enough coverage and what exactly is covered?

Do you think it's possible to be out of your home three or more years AFTER the storm has blown itself out?

Be SURE to watch the video below. Imagine yourself in the situation these people are in.

Do you want to avoid nightmares if you make the wrong choices when you're in shock and you just want all the pain to go away?

How can you protect yourself from BAD CONTRACTORS that WILL COME and try to RIP YOU OFF?

Quick Tips:

• Before the storm, take great photos of everything in the home you own. Be sure to put clothes stuffed in drawers out on the bed so you won't get into a fight with the insurance company over what you had.
• Take close-up photos of the inside of all closets and other drawers so the adjuster can see everything you owned.
• Take great photos of the outside of your home to show what it looked like before the storm.
• In other words, have a photo or be able to identify in a photo, EVERYTHING you own.
• Upload the photos to the cloud or some service on the Internet like Google Drive, or Flickr, etc. You don't want your photos on a hard drive in your home that can get ruined by the hurricane, tornado or flooding.
• Have all your sentimental things of great value to you in plastic tubs with sealable lids. Grab these and take these with you when you evacuate. These MUST BE PREPACKAGED. You can't be running around the house trying to find them as you're evacuating.
• Have all important papers and files in similar plastic sealable tubs / containers and throw those in the car or truck before you go.
• BEFORE the storm, contact your insurance company to find out what they will require to make a valid claim. After the storm, you'll be mentally defeated and in shock and will probably make mistakes.
• BEFORE the storm, get a feeling from remodeling contractors what it would cost to gut and rebuild your home. Just get a rough estimate on a cost-per-square-foot basis. It could be as high as $200 or more per square foot. This will help you to decide if you're underinsured.
• Talk to your insurance agent about the BEST coverage. Is it replacement insurance? You may not have the BEST coverage at this time. You could have an economy plan.

The following video shows what may happen if you HOPE all will go well. The people in this video didn't fare well when they passed through the insurance company meat grinder of life.

Look at my Contractor Hiring Guides after you watch this video:

In my February 16, 2009 Special Insurance Alert, I vent about what I discovered about insurance claims.