Insurance/Contractors/Recovery - What Is It You Need to Know
Statistics say that there are many different possibilities of severe weather in different parts of the country, fire remains the greatest disaster threat to individuals and families. Across every state in this country there families who have been affected by home or apartment fires at an average of 1-2 fires every day. Tragically, every day in our communities at least two families - and in many cases, far more - lose their homes and belongings to a devastating fire.
In 2009 my husband and I woke up to 6 - 7 foot flames outside our bedroom window at 2 a.m. in the morning. It is not something you expect or every want to have to deal with.
Below are a few of the most important things everyone should know and think about before such a life changing event occurs.
The very first thing that you should do before you need your insurance is to video record every single nook and cranny, draws, closets, out building, garage and its contents and I mean every single item, including personal items, electronics with serial numbers down to paper clips. Keep a copy in a safe place off site. All of this trouble will make replacing items so much easier if and when the time comes.
Be sure that you have adequate coverage checking the limits for the Structural and Personal Items. Make sure that you know about any riders that could be attached i.e. limitations for home offices. We were shocked to find out they would only pay $2500 to replace any office equipment. It did not cover even an eighth of the total loss in the office.
Review your coverage every year to make sure to add to your policy anything that you need to add to your policy for coverage. If your family and life style is growing you might need more insurance coverage. Keep a copy of your policy off site maybe in a safety deposit box.
Check to see if your smoke detectors and/or carbon monoxide detectors are up to code and have fresh batteries in them every six months.
Make a list of your credit cards, invoices and bill due dates and telephone number. Two days after our fire I had to start calling all of our creditors to make sure I paid all of them on time. Luckily most of that was fresh on my mind because the day of the fire I had made out all of my bills. Unfortunately I did not mail them so they burnt up in the fire. Keep this list off of site also.
Make sure someone calls the Red Cross Victim Assistance Team in your area. Usually the police or firemen do that for you. Make sure they do that for you. They will help you find a place to stay for a few nights if you do not have a place to go. They are wonderful and very supportive
It takes a few days to make all of the temporary living arrangements and to get the insurance to kick in so plan to have a little extra money and think about temporary living arrangements that you may have available to you. We had to live on-site because of our cattle and horses. But it took six days to make arrangements for and RV and we had to stay in a motel till them. The closest motel was 45 minutes away. Have a trusted family member or friend that could help you sort out all of the arrangements, details and decisions that you will have to make all at once. . It is happening all at once and it is over whelming.
When someone gives you a referral for contract work it does not mean that they are necessarily honest or trustworthy. You need to check them out a bit before you hire them. Everyone deserves honor and respect when they are going through something like that.
Within a couple of days of the fire they will have an investigator on site to determine that cause. They ask lots of questions and had us draw out the lay out of the room where the fire started. It was completely gutted so they wanted to have an idea how the room was used. They wanted every tiny detail of that room and what was in it.
If I every had to do it over again I would ask to see if we could set up some kind of escrow account so that we could review and approve of each payment that went to the contractors making sure that the job was completed to our satisfaction. We had items that were never done but they got paid anyway.
A volunteer firemen told me that she often recommends a fire extinguisher beside the bed in case you have to use it to get out of a room engulfed in flames.
Most of all please take good care of yourself during the recovery. Nurture your mind, body and soul. Recovering from any life changing event can be a daunting task to say the very least.
If you or someone you know is recovering from a fire please feel free to contact me at 1heartlightproductions@gmail.com. for more information on recovering from life changing disasters.
I can't make it all go away but I can tell you what I learned and what it was like for me.
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