Categories Claim Tips

Water Damage Insurance Claims Process

water damage insurance claims process

Water Damage Insurance Claims Process

We are Sorry you are Dealing with Water Damage…but Restorex Can Help!

Water Damage Insurance Claims can be frustrating and stressful if you do not have a professional contractor walking you through the process. Restorex Disaster Restoration specializes in helping our customers with Water Damage Insurance Claims and recovering from Water Damage Disasters.

Before you place an Insurance Claim for Water Damage…Please Read our 3 Secrets You Should Know Before Placing a Water Damage Insurance Claim.

Water Damage Insurance Claims  

The 7 steps below walk you through the water damage insurance claims process.  Below each step is a brief description of what a property owner can expect during the insurance claims process. 

If along the way you would like to know more information, please give Restorex Disaster Restoration a call (317) 315-5071 and we can help answer any questions.  

7 Steps of the Water Damage Insurance Claims Process:

A Water Damage Insurance Claim is “filed or started” by calling your Insurance Agent and telling them that you have “accidental and all of sudden” water damage in your property and would like to place an Insurance Claim. 

If you read our 3 Secrets You Should Know Before Placing a Water Damage Insurance Claim, you will know the Insurance Company will want to know the Source of the Water Damage and a Cost Estimate. 

Why?  Well, the source of water damage, will tell them if you have insurance coverage and the cost estimate will tell them if the damage cost, will be over the insurance deductible, to justify the claim. 

Important: Restorex ensures that our Water Mitigation Services and Repair Services will be covered by the Insurance Claim.  The only out of pocket expense our customers pay is the Insurance Deductible when we are working directly with an Insurance Company.

Now, that the Insurance Claim has been filed and the Insurance Company has confirmed coverage, the Property Owner Hires a Water Mitigation Company to complete the Water Mitigation Services. 

Water Mitigation Services include:

·   Water Removal and Extraction

·   Building Material Removals

·   Structural Drying and Cleaning

The emergency water mitigation services are estimated and invoiced to the Insurance Company after the fact… 

Important: Restorex will document and take pictures of all our services to justify our Invoice to the Insurance Company.  If the insurance company adjusts our Invoice, we will not pass the charges to our customer.

After the water mitigation services are completed and the property is safe and dry, the Insurance Adjuster will inspect the property.

At this point, depending on the Insurance Provider’s Policy, the Insurance Adjuster or a Water Damage Repair Contractor will write a Water Damage Repair Estimate, to return the property to its pre-loss conditions.

Important:  Our team will meet at your home or business with the Insurance Adjuster to answer any questions and to be a voice and advocate for our customer.  We help the adjuster understand the scope of the water damage and make professional recommendations for the repairs. 

The water mitigation and water damage repair estimates are submitted to the adjuster in 2 separate Xactimate Estimates. 

What is Xactimate?  Xactimate is an Estimating Software most Insurance companies use and approve.  Restorex specializes in writing Xactimate Estimates to submit to Insurance Adjusters.

The repair estimate can be written by the Insurance Adjuster or Repair Contractor. 

Important:  Restorex prefers to write the repair estimates when working with our customers because we are better at writing estimates than most Insurance Adjusters.  If the Insurance company requires the adjuster to write the initial repair estimate, we will review the estimate and submit a supplement estimate if necessary. 

After the estimates have been approved by the Insurance Adjuster, the Insurance Company will send payments to the property owner. 

The water mitigation payment can be paid directly to the water mitigation contractor, but the initial repair payment will go to the property owner. 

Important: The Initial Repair payment will be for the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of the total estimate.  This amount excludes the Insurance Deductible and Recoverable Depreciation…Recoverable deprecation will be paid when the repairs are complete.

Now, that the payments have been received from the Insurance Company the repairs can begin!

Important:  Depending on our customer’s circumstances and the repairs needed to be completed, Restorex isn’t always the best option.  We will advise our customers on the best way for them to use their funds to repair their property. 

The repairs have been completed and the final payments can be released to the contractor.  This is when the Insurance Company will release the Recoverable Depreciation to the property owner.

Important:  The recoverable depreciation can be significant on some repairs and will need to be collected from the Insurance Company before a final payment can be made to the repair contractor. 

Categories Claim Tips

Water Damage Insurance

water damage insurance

Water Damage Insurance

Water Damage Insurance is the most common type of insurance claim for property owners.

Water damage can be caused by many different sources and its important to understand what is covered and not covered in a water damage insurance claim.

The 2 most important things for a homeowner to understand, when placing a water damage insurance claim is:

· Was the water damage “Accidental and all of Sudden”?
· What was the Source of the Water Damage?

Understanding these 2 things can be the difference in getting insurance coverage for water damage or not…. we will explain these more below.

Was the Water Damage “Accidental and all of Sudden”?

Most likely this will be one of the first questions the insurance company will ask you when you call them.
The answer is normally Yes…. Most homeowners do not cause water damage on purpose.
Important: An insurance company will only cover water damage when it is “Accidental and all of Sudden”. If they hear the answer “maybe” or “no”… there is a chance they will not cover the water damage.

What was the Source of the Water Damage?

As we mentioned above, knowing the source of the water damage is very important when placing a water damage insurance claim…

One of the 3 Secrets You Should Know Before Placing an Insurance Claim, is to know the source of water damage before you call the Insurance Company.
If you say the wrong thing or they confuse you when they are asking their onslaught of questions, its possible they will provide coverage.

The source can determine if there is or is not insurance coverage.
Learn about the Categories of Water Damage Insurance

Sources of Water Damage

Different sources of water damage include:
· Broken Copper or Water pipes
· Burst Copper or CPVC pipes
· Frozen pipes
· Water heaters leaking or failing
· Sinks overflowing
· Toilets overflowing
· Sump pumps backing up
· Broken water drain lines
· Dishwashers leaking
· Washing machine leaking or overflowing

The list goes on…. But the source of the water damage can “make or break” a water damage insurance claim for a property owner.

Categories Claim Tips

What Type of Water Damage is Covered by Homeowners Insurance?

What Type of Water Damage is Covered by Homeowners Insurance?

There are many types of water damage that are covered by homeowner’s insurance policy when placing a Water Damage Insurance Claim…these coverages can be split into 3 Categories.

3 Categories of Types of Water Damage Covered by Insurance

·  Broken Pipes or Burst Pipes

·  Appliances and Water Heater

·  Drain Backup or Sump Pump Backup

Broken or Burst Pipes

This category includes any water damage that happens because a water pipe or supply line breaks bursts or fails.  A good way to understand this type of water damage is if the pipe or supply line had constant water pressure on it or water flows through it….

  • Toilet Supply Lines
  • Sink Supply Lines
  • Drain Lines
  • Ice Maker Supply Lines
  • Washing Machine Supply Lines
  • Water Softener Supply Lines
  • Refrigerator Supply Lines
  • Dishwasher Supply Lines
  • Bathtub Supply Lines
  • Drinking Fountain Supply Lines

These are covered under the Umbrella of Broken or Burst Pipe and is covered by Homeowners Insurance. 

Water Heater and Appliances

Common types of water damage that are covered by Homeowners Insurance also include Water Heater’s and Appliances. The coverage for these types of water damage is the same as a Broken Pipe or Burst Pipe.
Water Heaters can rust, and the bottom will fall out causing water damage and any Household appliance that uses water can fail or overflow causing significant water damage.

water damage johnson county

Drain Backup and Sump Pump Backup

A drain backup or sump pump backup is covered under in a homeowners policy….But the homeowner should double check and verify.  Sometimes these coverages are left out of policies or missed by an Insurance Agent when the policy is written.  These coverages can be limited as well to $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000. 

Double check your Insurance Coverage before placing a Water Damage Insurance Claim for Drain Back or Sump Pump Backup.

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