House fires are a more common incident than you might expect. Every year, there are approximately 20,000 structural fires in Canada, the majority of which are residential. While every household should have a fire safety and prevention plan, few have a plan for what to do after a fire happens.
A significant part of recovering from a fire involves your home insurance claim. Through this claim, you should receive the help you need to pay for repairs and belongings that need to be replaced.
You don’t have to tackle the fire insurance claim process on your own. You may want to consider hiring an insurance claim lawyer. For larger claims, it often makes sense to get the help of a professional.
An insurance lawyer will guide you through each step of the insurance process, negotiate with the insurance company on your behalf, and tackle any issues as they come up. These are some of the ways they can help in a variety of claim types.
The extremity of a residential fire determines whether or not hiring an insurance lawyer would be a good idea. A small kitchen fire may not warrant professional help, especially if the insurance company seems amenable and cooperative.
However, in the case of a total loss, you could be looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in structural repairs. An insurance lawyer could increase the value of your settlement considerably in cases like these.
You may have a smoother process working with an insurance lawyer from the very beginning of the process, but it’s not too late to get their help after you receive an offer from the insurance company.
When there’s a wildfire, insurance companies tend to face a flood of claims, as entire towns are often impacted. In some cases, they have pressure to minimize the amount they pay, even if it should be covered under your policy. An insurance lawyer can help push back when the insurance company makes a low offer or tries to avoid paying for something that should be covered.
Fires are not the only reason you may have a substantial home insurance claim to make. Flooding, storms, damaging winds, and other natural disasters can also cause substantial damage to your home.
Before you file a claim, it’s important to know the details of your insurance policy. Not all types of damage are covered by basic policies. For example, after Hurricane Dorian in Nova Scotia, most affected homeowners could claim expenses related to wind damage, but there were more questions when it came to water damage.
An insurance claim lawyer can help you negotiate with the insurer if you disagree about the source or nature of the damage caused by other extreme weather events. Discovering that you aren’t covered for the loss can put you in a difficult financial position.
Photo: pressfoto via Freepik
