As with most insurances, it is necessary to file water damage insurances, since this can help you save a great deal of money in the event that water damage wrecks your home. Generally, water damage is part of the homeowners insurance. In fact, it is one of the reasons why people make home insurance claims. However, not all types of water damages can be covered by your home insurance. Hence, it is essential to know the things that are covered by your water damage insurance before making any claims.
The following is a list of examples of what your water damage insurance does and does not cover:
* The damage caused by water is covered. For example, a leaking dishwasher hose causes your carpet to become soaked in water. The carpet is covered by the water damage insurance, but you have to repair the leaking hose yourself. * Anything that is considered to be accidental, like a burst pipe, is covered by your water damage insurance. * Bathtub overflows are considered accidental, hence it is covered by the insurance. * Water damage due to floods is not covered, that is why you need to get separate flood insurance for this. * Water damage due to neglect and poor maintenance is also not part of the water damage insurance, since the water damage is caused by your own carelessness. * Sewage backups are generally not covered by water damage insurances. * Water seepage is not covered, since this is considered to be a maintenance problem and is not accidental.
Filing water damage insurance claims should be done as soon as you have experienced water damages. You must notify your insurance company about the damages that you are going to claim. Your agent will then instruct you on the step-by-step procedure that you need to follow to claim your water damage insurance policy. During this stage, it is advisable to keep all contact numbers of your insurance company close to you, and take note of all communication that transpires between the two of you.
The next step in filing your insurance claim is to assess and document the extent of water damage to your property. You can make use of a camera to take pictures of your properties, or better yet, a video camera. Make sure there is written documentation accompanying these, and always keep those handy.
It would also help to repair the properties that you think you can fix. Remember that poor maintenance or neglect is not covered by your insurance policy, so you might as well do everything you can to restore the items. Preventing future damage is part of your responsibility, as well as keeping all the receipts you used for these repairs for reimbursement.
You must also create a list of missing and damaged items for replacement. If you have replacement cost coverage on personal properties, you can just buy new ones. This job will be much easier if you have kept an updated inventory of all your properties before the water damage occurred.
Finally, you just have to wait for your insurance claim. Keep in touch with your insurance company so that you are updated with the latest news on your water damage insurance claim. If you have objections on your insurance company, you can also file a complaint in your state insurance commissioner.
Filing a homeowners or water damage insurance can be tedious, but it can help you a great deal in getting your pre-water-damaged life back.
However, water can also do some harm to people and to properties. When furniture and other household items are soaked in water, the different substances and chemical compounds that are dissolved in water can cause damage to the materials. These materials may lose their original quality when soaked in water. Leather furnishings might become brittle due to the exposure to water. Different materials react in their own way when soaked and it follows that the longer a material is soaked in water, the greater the damage to it is. This is the reason why water damage restoration should be immediately performed after a flood.
Many people think that water damage restoration can simply be done by just plugging in an electric fan and pointing it to items that have been soaked in water. This however, is false since the process of water damage restoration is more of a science than just a job. The restoration work is ideally left for the certified professionals, however, if flooding is not too severe, homeowners can work on the restoration themselves if they follow these simple techniques.
When starting the restoration process, it is first important to make sure that the source of the flooding or water is stopped and that no water is coming in. This is practically just common sense since it would be foolish to start fixing water-soaked items when it will just be soaked again.
After making sure that the source of water is eliminated, the next step is to clean up and assess the amount of damaged caused by the flooding. Immediately discard items that are destroyed and cannot be salvaged anymore. For the items that can still be salvaged, separate these based on materials and immediately perform water damage restoration on them.
Documents, books and other paper-based materials should be grouped together. The best water damage restoration procedure for this group is to spread the pages on a mesh (plastic is recommended) and leave them out under the sun. Using a mesh will ensure that air can reach beneath the pages. Place paper weights if necessary to prevent the pages from being blown away by wind.
For leather materials, it is best to wet them again this time with clean water (Always assume that flood waters are dirty) before wiping them dry with a piece of soft cloth. Never use heat to dry leather materials since heat will make them brittle and may produce cracks. Instead, use a fan to dry leather. There are numerous products in the market which are designed for water damage restoration of leather. Choose the products that are water-based. Solvent-based products do more harm to leather during water damage restoration.
Cushions and other upholstered items should also be cleaned first with water and bleach solution before setting them up to dry. A bleach solution will act as a disinfectant as well as an odor-remover to get rid of the harmful, and odor causing bacteria and mold. For lighter cushions, hanging them up in a clothesline and under the sun is most practical.
Both Osmund Aft & Evie Parrish are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Osmund Aft has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Improvement, Home and Spyware. Osmund Aft speaks about homeowner issues for and. Osmund Aft's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.
Evie Parrish has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home, Oral Hygiene and Home. Evie Parrish is a homeowner advocate on water damage for and. Evie Parrish's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.