Water Damage: What to Do?

• Stop the water! (It's a great idea to know where all the valves are before you have a loss.)
• Is it incoming supply water, waste water backing up, rain/snow/roof leak, or heating/air conditioning? Broken pipe? A broken pipe on an upper story can destroy the whole house.
• Make sure, again, that the electric supply is off in all the affected areas.
• Get your insurance information. That works better before a loss. (You do have it in a waterproof bag, or stored in the cloud, right? With your insurance agent’s phone number?)
• If you're safe and it's a large loss, call your insurance company. If the loss is caused by a flood, you usually don't have any coverage if you don't have a flood policy. But get started.
• Call a restoration company. In any large loss you should be calling in a restoration company. They have more experience, equipment, and people than you do.
• Take pictures and more pictures.
• Remove all the water you can. Your local fire department may be willing to pump out your basement.
• Don't dispose of damaged items until the insurance company sees the loss. Take more pictures.
• Mold and other damage will happen over time. Your insurance policy has a clause somewhere that requires you to take reasonable action after a loss to make sure there isn't more damage, so keep moving.

Call if you need advise, or if you are not getting what you need from your current insurance company for a homeowners or flood quote. Visit our website at insctrs.com or call Zita Santos-Martinez at (732) 832-4132.

Article courtesy of our producer Glenn Tippy.

Photo courtesy of Travelers Insurance.