How long does payout usually take?

[taratorit]

I had smoke damage from an attached neighbor's house fire on the 10/1 and submitted my list of items and replacement costs over a month ago but have yet to see any payment.

I didnt have a lot of things in the house, maybe around 600 total items.

How long does the pricing process typically take for a small household?

 

[taratorit]

@taratorit So to answer my own question; payout took about one month from the time my inventory list was submitted. A total of 2.5 months from the day of the fire.

 

[afmtv]

@taratorit Thank you for the update. My building recently caught fire and the info is helpful. Did you have to haggle over any items? Thank you

 

[anamcara]

@afmtv No haggling, but make sure the restoration company doesn't force you to restore items you don't wish to keep. They can make it sound like you HAVE to try and restore them before you submit a claim. The restoration fees can cost more than the actual items replacement.

Also, a company will typically come and itemized your possessions (restoration company in my case), they will be very vague on the description and it's up to you to scrutinize the item list and price, be as detailed as possible.

For example: they will list your toaster as just a "toaster". If you say that your toaster cost $40, they'll compare it with the replacement of the cheapest toaster possible ($6) and fight you on it. It's up to you to modify the description and cost of your toaster to reflect it's actual replacement cost, for example, "Kitchenaid 4-slot toaster with a button for bagles and poptarts, ($40)".

You'll have to do that for the thousands of items you own. I even modified the description for pens, pencils, cooking products, etc... The end result was that my insurer paid me the maximum for my policy.

Hope it helps.

 

[afmtv]

@anamcara THANK YOU! This was my hunch but I wasn’t sure. I appreciate your explanation. This part of the process is a mystery! Very little information online and no one from the insurance company or the restoration company will give me straight answers. Much gratitude for you!

 

[anamcara]

@afmtv I had the same problem which is why I left this post up. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

[marakorpa]

@taratorit were you on a renters insurance claim ? or homeowner insurance claim , cause the agent i spoke today never said anyone was coming to help me with the list of items

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa Renters insurance

 

[marakorpa]

@taratorit hi , wanted to ask you for some questions if possible , i am going through the same thing , my apartment caught on fire few days ago , and the kitchen area all got burn , and the whole rest of the house is covered in smoke from the fire , just filed a claim with renters insurance and have absolutely no idea what to do , this is the very first time having to deal with something like this , any info you can spare would really really help , i have a 2 bedroom apt , with sooo soo many items , a household of 4 , with 2 small babies , dont even know where to start , any advice ??

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa I felt the EXACT same way. Filing a claim was good, even if the fire wasn't your fault. In my case, my insurer had a pool of money needed to replace immediate items, such as clothes, toiletries, food and hotel. Once I got in contact with my claims agent, she helped me find an extended stay hotel and opened a line of communication to send receipts for food, clothes, etc...

I met with a restoration company a day or two later to go over the process. My renters insurance covered the replacement cost of items vs the depreciated cost. This helped as replacing the items costs more money then what I would have got for selling my older, origional items. Some policies have the later.

Make sure the restoration company doesn't insist that you let them try and restore the items you want replaced. This is how they make thier money. They will usually be the same people who itemize your possessions for later appraisal of your payout.

You can also opt to keep items from your home if you don't want them restored or replaced.

Best wishes

 

[marakorpa]

@taratorit thanks in advance for answerin back to me, i really appreciatw it a lot , its lots of stress lately , so far all i have done is calling state farm and just informing them about the fire and the damage , everything next to come is new to me , but there is something that i wonder how is it going to happen , cause the fire department guy who asked the questions , he
told me that nothing from the house should be used , he said you cant use any pf the things upstairs , because of the fire smoke , so what will hapen in this case , any idea ?

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa I beleive that once the items are itemized by the restoration company, they are discarded. Any thing of sentimental value you wish to keep I would have the restoration company clean. They use a variety of methods and chemicals to clean the items and make them safe for your home.

The smoke from melted plastic and and items in your home can be dangerous and carcinogenic. Make sure you don't use any of them unless cleaned by a professional.

Your insurance agent should be contacting you soon to go over the details as they relate to your policy.

 

[marakorpa]

@anamcara so i do really need to get rid of everything , every single item on the house , but then i would need to buy up straight every single thing from scratch , but will the inaurance provide all the coverage to rebuy everything ? i have soo soo many things

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa Usually everything has to go unless restored by a professional.

Payment depends on your policy. Your agent should be able to tell you how much you're insured for. In my case, it was $20,000. There is a separate pool of money they use for immediate expenses like clothes, food, hotel, toiletries, etc. My policy covered about a month of hotel, food and some clothes. Your policy might be different with other members in the house, I lived alone at the time.

 

[marakorpa]

@taratorit we re 4 in the household , me , husband and our 2 kids , i have got a 30 k policy , but i have no idea of the other details , tbh , so the money that are used to pay for the immediate help will be reduced from the total coverage amount , from the 30k ?

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa In my case the money needed for immediate help didn't come from my overall payout.

** it should be noted that the fire wasn't deemed to be my fault, but rather, that of my neighbor. It's possible that my neighbors insurance paid for those expenses through retribution.

 

[marakorpa]

@taratorit oh okay , will
see what happen , i am still
waiting for them to call me about the claim , so far no one has called , nothing , still waiting , thanks for all the info , really appreciate it

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa My fire was late at night, and I submitted my claim around 2am. I had a call by the next morning from my agent.

I'm glad you and your family are safe

 

[marakorpa]

@taratorit so update , they just called today , and asked for a list of inventory, and bunch of other receipts and photos and all sorts of thinga , any idea what hapens nexr now ? how was it in your case ? did anyone from the insurance company came to your house to check the items ?

 

[anamcara]

@marakorpa In my scenario, my insurer sent a restoration company to list all the items in my house. Then they gave me the list to go over and adjust the description and price to reflect what I originally paid.

*see my earlier posts in this thread