| By Greg Vanden Berge
9/30/2008 Protect the flooded property from
further damage if at all possible. If possible stack valuable items on
top of tables or countertops to protect them from further flood damage.
Notify your insurance company as soon as possible for further assistance
and to have a claim adjuster assessed the damage for the home repairs
now needed.
Try to take pictures of the outside and the inside of the property and
if possible use a digital camera. Take as many pictures as you can do
any damage. Take a picture of the water level on the outside and inside
of the home. If the water has already receded take pictures of
everything you can possibly think of. Try to save these pictures on a
couple of DVDs and give at least one or two copies to someone else to
hold in case you lose your pictures.
Start separating the damage property from the undamaged property to get
an assessment of the items that will need to be replaced or repaired.
Start making a list of the damaged items and do the best you can to
attach a value to them. The value of each item should be what it would
cost to replace them.
For example: your television set is five years old and is completely
ruined. If you paid $250 for the TV brand-new and now you can find one
in the newspaper for $25, you can value the TV at $25 or you can go down
to any place that sells televisions to find a replacement television to
use for your new value.
Here's a simple word of advice to the unscrupulous people out there that
are planning on getting the most money they can from their insurance
companies by filing false claims. I knew someone who lied to their
insurance company and got caught in the process, the insurance company
offered them zero dollars as a settlement or face charges of perjury, in
other words go to jail for lying under oath.
Most insurance companies want to stay in business and aren't out to
screw you. This is just business to them so do the best you can in
assessing the value of your property. Listen to the claims adjuster
carefully and follow their rules and regulations to make the process as
painless as possible.
It's a good idea to take pictures of your house with a digital camera
and save them somewhere, somehow, at somebody else's house or even your
work. If you can go through your house with a movie camera and save the
movie somewhere else this would be even better. If you have both
pictures and video of the house that would be the best. Try to have a
couple of copies of the pictures or movies somewhere else in case there
is a flood.
If you have relatives in another state that you visit frequently, ask
them to store these items for you in a safe place. This is a good idea
for any sort of disaster and can also be used for police reports if
someone was to break into your house.
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