Storm damage insurance coverage can give homeowners some peace of mind, but you can’t be too complacent. Simple mistakes can invalidate future insurance claims.

Delayed Filing of Insurance Claims

It’s important to file an insurance claim right after an extreme weather event has damaged your home; some policies give you as little as a few days to file a claim.

Even if your policy gives you ample time, it would still be better to file it as soon as possible. Delaying your claim increases the likelihood your insurance provider might undervalue or outright deny it. If, for example, you waited until two weeks to file a claim, the insurance company will have a hard time ascertaining whether the damage was caused by a storm or not, and might end up rejecting the claim.

Failure to Mitigate Storm Damage

The damage to your home can worsen during the time it takes to inspect your home and process the claims. Some homeowners are lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that the insurance company will handle everything. But this is a costly mistake.

Most policies will have a clause detailing the homeowners’ obligation to minimize further damage to their home during the processing of claims. Temporary emergency roof repair measures like placing a tarp over the exposed parts of your roof might spell the difference between a successful and rejected insurance claim.

Lack of Documentation

As mentioned earlier, insurance companies need to determine whether the damage to your house was caused by an extreme weather event or not. You can make this task a lot easier by documenting the storm damage yourself. Besides, you’re the one that knows your house best; leaving this task to an adjuster who may not be as familiar with your home as you are might result in your claim being undervalued.

Once your claim has been approved, it’s important to hire an experienced contractor that can fix your roof as soon as possible. Exterior Building Solutions is a family-owned contractor with more than a decade of experience. To get a free estimate, call (314) 470-8783, or fill out this form. We serve homeowners in Chesterfield and St. Louis, MO.