How to Speed Up a Home Insurance Claim After a Flood, Fire or Other Disaster

Pro tip: If you’re hit by flooding or another disaster, you can also reach out to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for financial assistance and direct services. Hauber received almost $3,000 in aid from FEMA.

A wildfire near Yosemite National Park destroyed more than 125 homes July 24, 2022.

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Prepare for the adjuster

Once you file a claim, your insurance company will assign an adjuster to assess the amount of your loss. Pull together a record of the value and purchase dates of the items in your home ahead of time. Take photos or a video of your belongings in and around your home once a year and store that information online or with an out-of-state friend or relative. After a disaster, collect receipts for your living costs and, if possible, repair estimates. “The more you can document your property losses before the adjuster arrives, the faster the claims-filing process will go,” says Douglas Heller, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit advocacy group.

When the insurance company adjuster arrives, be sure to point out all the damage and provide the adjuster with detailed notes, documentation and bills for any emergency repairs you may already have had done. Don’t hesitate to ask questions, Heller says. Is the adjuster an insurance company employee or someone brought in from outside? How much experience does the person have? Adjusters’ backgrounds may affect their understanding of the costs of rebuilding in your area.

Pro tip: Verify the identity of the adjuster and any other workers that come by. Ask for, and confirm, a contractor’s license. During natural disasters, scammers often show up, as well as fly-by-night contractors asking for cash down for doing repairs.

Contact your mortgage servicer

Homeowners who are still paying off their mortgage often don’t realize that their insurer will put the mortgage servicer’s name on a settlement check to protect the lender’s financial interest in the property. So call your servicer right after filing a claim to learn what you have to do to get your lender to cosign the check and release the money, says Janet Ruiz, director of strategic communications for the Insurance Information Institute trade group. Failing to do so may delay receipt of your funds from the insurer.

Pro tip: To find the contact information for your servicer, check your monthly mortgage statement for a phone number or website.

Volunteers help clear out belongings from a tornado-damaged home in the Arabi neighborhood on March 23, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Track the claims process

While you may get money up front to cover immediate essentials, it could take weeks or months to get a full damage estimate and full payment. Insurers are often swamped by claims in the aftermath of disasters. You’ll need to stay on top of your claim until it’s fully paid.

If the insurer says your policy excludes coverage of certain damages, or offers an amount that you consider too low, demand that the rep identify the exclusion or limit to your policy in writing, says Gary Baca, president of Counter Point Public Adjusting in Los Angeles. Perhaps the adjuster did not know how to accurately estimate the value of your property; that may require supplying additional documentation or a new repair estimate, Baca says. And if an insurer denies a claim by saying it was flooding, not wind or rain, that caused the damage, you can appeal the denial and supply additional documentation, such as expert reports, including a contractor’s opinion, or photographic evidence.

Pro tip: You may be assigned a new adjuster several times during the claims process. Keep a detailed record of your contact with the insurer so you don’t have to start from scratch, Heller says.

Consider getting help

In some cases, you may want to hire a public insurance adjuster — an independent adjuster who works for you, not the insurer, and represents only you in your claim. This can make particular sense if the insurer is offering much less than you think you deserve, and if you’re finding the negotiations and paperwork too complicated to handle. “If you’re displaced from your home — especially seniors who are very vulnerable — it can be ­really helpful to have an expert assist you,” Baca says. In return, you’ll pay a fee, often on a contingency basis and typically capped at 10 to 15 percent of the insurance payment. (Some states have no caps.) To find a public adjuster, go to the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters website (napia.com). Ask for references and check that the adjuster is experienced, as well as licensed in your state (though some states don’t require licensing).

Pro tip: If all else fails — for example, if you believe that your insurance company has broken the terms of your contract — consider hiring a plaintiff’s attorney who specializes in insurance law, as well as filing a complaint with your state’s department of insurance or, for a flood claim, with FEMA.