A house fire can be a traumatic personal event and a difficult thing to handle long afterward. In tough times, you may not know where to get help.
There are many things a family needs after their home have been lost in a fire or a natural disaster. There are also different types of help they can get for different issues that will make it easier to manage it all.
Emergency Assistance: Red Cross
The Red Cross is an organization that can provide immediate help after a house fire or during a natural disaster like a wildfire or flood. They often provide assistance in helping families meet basic needs such as:
- Emergency accommodations
- Emergency food, such as vouchers or a meal
- Basic clothing
- Personal services such as first aid or temporary care for children or elderly relatives
The Red Cross provides help in the immediate aftermath to make sure you are safe and have a space to prepare for the next steps.
Filing Your Insurance Claim: Public Adjusters and Insurance Lawyers
After a fire, filing your insurance claim should be one of your top priorities. Insurance companies require you to contact them in a timely manner. In the case of a fire, you should almost always expect to file an insurance claim.
At any point in the insurance claims process, you can hire someone to help with your claim, and it is often a good idea to do so if you have a major claim. You will want to hire either a public adjuster or an insurance lawyer.
You may be wondering: what does a public adjuster do? They can help in several ways:
- They can help you understand complicated language in your insurance policy.
- They can make sense of communications with the insurer, help with paperwork, and make sure you meet deadlines.
- They can assist with negotiations with the insurance company if you disagree about how much your claim should be worth.
You may experience a smoother process if you hire help from the get-go, but they can also be brought on when you receive an offer that you are not happy with.
Advanced Funds: Your Insurer
Your insurer can also provide help by sending a cash advance on your claim. You may want to get a cash advance to pay for things like staying in a hotel or a rental while repairs are completed on your home. A cash advance is taken out of your final settlement, but it can help you avoid going into debt right now. A cash advance can also be used to begin replacing some of your lost personal belongings.
Documenting Your Belongings: Friends and Family
While it is recommended that you have a home inventory in case you ever need to make an insurance claim, not everyone has one prepared when a fire happens.
A crucial part of the insurance process is creating a list of all the belongings lost in your home and giving it to the insurance adjuster for review. Before you finalize this list, you want to make sure everything has been listed. For this task, it does not hurt to turn to family. Ask them for any photos of your home that they may have or if they can help you remember lost belongings.
Get help after a house fire. In addition to friends and family, there are organizations and professionals who can assist with the many obstacles you will have to face. If you have not made an insurance claim before, they can also take away some of the burdens you face as you go through this new process.
