How to File an Insurance Claim for Hurricane Damage

The entire eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast of the United States is annually subjected to the possibility of quite devastating hurricane damage. Even if you do not live near the immediate coast, the effects of these storms can be felt hundreds of miles inland. This is why it is important that you a) have hurricane insurance, and b) know how to file an insurance claim for hurricane damage.

Because of the enormous costs that can be inflicted on the home owner, National-Hurricane-Center has compiled a short guide to filing an insurance claim for hurricane damage. Though things may change depending on the region you live in, this guide will serve as a useful tool in ensuring that after the next big storm hits, you’ll be armed with the information necessary to recover your hurricane damages.

• Make sure you have hurricane insurance. Hurricane insurance is often covered under many home insurance policies.
• Make sure that you double check this well in advance of anticipated hurricane damage. Policies will not be honored if you purchase them two days before a hurricane hits.
• Make sure that you have flood insurance. Hurricane insurance only covers wind damage. If you live on a flood plain, or near an inundation zone, the wind is the least of your worries.
• Review, Review, Review. Even if you have hurricane insurance and flood insurance, make sure that you know them as well as possible. This will prevent you from having issues when you file an insurance claim for hurricane damages.
• Take photographs both before and after the storm. Doing so will offer visual evidence of your losses and help your hurricane insurance claims along. If you have no proof that your window was blown out by the storm, who’s to say that you didn’t do it yourself?
• Keep receipts of all hurricane related repairs and provisions that you made to your home both before and after the storm hit.
• As soon as possible, contact your insurance adjuster to inspect your home for hurricane damage.
• Complete a proof of loss form for your insurance adjuster to detail the extent of damage inflicted by the hurricane to your property and help insure the payment of your hurricane damages.
• Don’t get rid of any damaged items before your hurricane insurance claims adjuster comes and looks at them.