Before you start thinking about making a San Jose Home Damage Insurance Claim, it would be helpful for you as a homeowner to understand the basic nature of your standard homeowner insurance.
A standard homeowner’s insurance policy will insure the structure of your home as well as your belongings in the event of a destructive event, such as a fire, hurricane, or other kind of natural disaster or accident.
Standard home insurance policies are usually ‘package policies’. This means that the coverage is not only limited to the damage to your property, but also covers your liability for any injuries and property damage to others caused by you or members of your family, including your pets.
Apart from homeowners insurance, you also have insurance for condominiums and co-op- apartments which also covers your belongings, liability, and but only certain parts of the interior structure as defined in the by-laws or proprietary lease.
Renters’ insurance provides similar property and liability protections to those who rent their homes instead of owning them.
Your home insurance also provides coverage for additional living expenses (ALE) coverage. This reimburses the extra costs of living away from home if you can’t live in it due to damage from an insured disaster.
The actual extent of the coverage would be determined by the insurance policy that you have. However, the coverage can be divided into the following categories.
This covers the cost of repairing or rebuilding your home if it’s damaged or destroyed by fire, hurricane, hail, lightning or other disasters as listed in your policy. Most policies might also cover detached structures such as a garage, tool shed, or gazebo. The value for such damage is generally about 10 percent of the amount of insurance you have on the structure of the house.
Your personal belongings like furniture, clothes, and the like are covered if they are destroyed due to any of the insured disasters. The coverage ranges from 50 to 70 percent of the insurance you have on the structure of the house.
You will also get coverage for items stored off-premises. Expensive items like jewelry, furs, art, collectibles, and silverware are covered, but there are usually limits. To insure these items to their full value, you will need to get a special personal property endorsement or floater and separate insurance for the item for its officially appraised value.
You should also know what is not covered under your standard, HO-3 insurance.
This includes earthquakes, sinkholes, and other earth movements.
This includes damages caused by floods and tsunamis.
Includes overflows or backups from your sump pump, sewer system, or drains. To get coverage for these items, you would need to buy separate insurance policies.
Damages caused by termites and insect damage, bird or rodent damage, rust, rot, mold, and general wear and tear will not be covered.
Damage caused by smog or smoke from industrial or agricultural operations is also not covered.
If something is poorly made or has a hidden defect, then that would be excluded from coverage.
Before you make San Jose Home Damage Insurance Claim, you should consider a few important factors. You can safely make a claim if you fulfill the following criteria.
If the cost to repair the damages is less than your deductible, then you can make the claim. For example, if the estimate for repair is $10,000 and your deductible is $5,000, then you can call the insurance company and make the claim.
When your home suffers a loss so great after a disaster or accident that it becomes practically uninhabitable, then you should make a claim.
Insurers take your claims history into account when deciding on what to charge for your premium, or whether they should even cover you at all. Statistics show that if you have previously filed a claim, then there is a high chance that you will file more claims in the future. Insurance companies tend to avoid that. When you do need to file a claim, try to keep some space between them if possible.
At Resto Pro Inc, we help you in almost every stage of the process of making a claim. Not only does it make it simpler to get the claim, but it also reduces the stress on you as a homeowner. Here is the process that you need to follow and how we help at certain crucial steps.
The first thing that you would need to do is to report the crime to the police without any delay. You need to get a copy of the official report as well as the contact details of all the officers that you speak with, as that might be required by the insurance company.
Once the police have done their job, you can give us a call. If you don’t need to call the police, then you can call us right away. We would understand the nature of the damage and perform our assessment.
Resto Pros Inc would call the insurance company on your behalf and thereby officially starting the claims process. After the call, we will know whether your claim will exceed your deductible, and the expected time frame of getting the claims processed.
Once the claim has been filed, they insurance company will send you the claim forms which need to be filled. We would help you fill the forms in the right way. You would only need to sign at the right places.
Next, we will need to schedule the inspection by the insurance adjuster. The adjuster is hired by the insurance company, whose task is to assess the damage and then file the report. Based on that the insurance company will calculate the coverage that you are entitled to.
If you need to make any temporary or emergency repairs, then take photos or videos of the damaged area and then carry on with the work. We will also make sure that the work is properly documented and that all the receipts are kept safe.
It is important that we keep a list of the damaged and lost items. If possible, then we would collect all the receipts for them so that their exact value can be ascertained.
If you need to relocate or put up at a hotel, then we would help you get reimbursed for that as well. The costs will be covered under your Additional Living Expenses (ALE). Once the check is ready in your name, we will make sure that it is delivered to you.
Next, we will negotiate with the insurance company to make sure that you get the maximum coverage. We will make sure that all the damages are categorized in the right way so that you get coverage for them.
| Stage | Time | Actions |
| Reporting the claim | 1-2 days | · Contact your insurance company to report the damage as soon as possible.
· Provide them with as much detail as possible, including photos and videos of the damage. |
| Assessment | 1-2 weeks | · An insurance adjuster will visit your home to assess the damage and determine the cost of repairs.
· Be sure to provide them with any necessary access to your home and answer any questions they may have. |
| Documentation | 2-3 weeks | · Provide your insurance company with any necessary documentation, such as estimates from contractors, receipts for repairs, and any other relevant paperwork.
· Keep track of all communication with your insurance company during this stage. |
| Settlement | 1-2 weeks | · Your insurance company will provide you with a settlement offer based on the cost of repairs. Review the offer carefully and negotiate if necessary.
· Once you agree on a settlement, your insurance company will provide you with a check to cover the cost of repairs. |
| Repair | 1-2 months | · Use the settlement check to hire a contractor and repair any damage to your home.
· Keep all receipts and invoices related to the repairs. |
| Finalization | 1-2 weeks | · Notify your insurance company when the repairs are complete.
· They may send an adjuster to inspect the repairs and ensure they were done correctly. · Once everything is confirmed, the claim will be finalized and closed. |
Note that the timeline for each stage may vary depending on the severity of the damage, the complexity of the claim, and the policies of your specific insurance company.
The state of California requires all insurers to process the claim within 40 days. However, you are most likely to get the claims settled before that, depending on the complexity of the claim.
Yes, all insurance payments will usually be made in full. However, if you are liable to get ALE payments, then a separate check will be made out in your name and the amount will be deducted from the final payout.
We might be able to get the value of the damaged item assessed and use that in the claims. However, that would depend on the policy that you have. Speak to us to know more.