Hopefully, residents in Oklahoma City never have to take the time to fill out a homeowners insurance claim. Unfortunately, life in OKC sometimes leads to property damage and security issues.
Housefires might send a traumatized family out into the street. Tornadoes, storms, hail, and floods might all make a home unlivable or carry it away completely. Criminals can take keepsakes or important fixtures from homes.
These and other hardships will force property owners to turn to their insurance providers for assistance, but that process can be needlessly drawn out and frustrating. Knowing what to expect when you file and how to keep an insurer honest might make a big difference.
Filing a Homeowners Claim After Suffering Property Damage in Oklahoma City
- Contact your homeowners insurance provider as soon as you can after damage has been discovered. Your policy will contain information on when you should reach out to your insurer, but most of the time it asks for “immediate notification.” When you are safe and have caught your breath, you can usually call a hotline, contact your personal agent, or notify the company online.
- Protect your property. The instructions in most policies ask you to take action if you can remain safe to prevent further damage to your property.
- Separate damaged and undamaged possessions.
- Provide an inventory of the property that’s been destroyed. Provide another list of the items that have been damaged. The policy may also ask you to note everything that’s not damaged, but this can be tricky. You may not realize something is damaged until further inspection later.
- Note the value of each damaged or lost item.
- Collect documents. Show proof of ownership on every possession you can. Gather any deeds, titles, contracts, and purchase receipts that survived the misfortune. You should save any receipts for repairs estimates you’ve had done and damage you’ve already had fixed.
- Submit a “proof of loss” document to the insurer. The insurer will tell you when this is due. Turn over your documents, any photos, and any video to the insurance company.
- An insurance adjuster will investigate the claim.
- Wait for notification of a rejection of benefits or a settlement offer. According to Oklahoma administrative code OAC 365:15, you should be notified of a decision within 45 days of receipt of your proof of loss. However, insurers can seek delays.
- Accepting a settlement offer. You can sign your settlement agreement and hopefully get a check in short order. But remember, once you sign, you can’t go back to the insurance company to ask for more money when you find more damage or find your compensation isn’t enough later. Contact a lawyer if you want to have your settlement checked out before you commit.
- Don’t accept a Rejection. If you are denied coverage for your damage, don’t feel like that’s the end. If you feel your policy guarantees you support, you can appeal the decision. Speak to a skilled lawyer about your case to find out how you can force insurers to do the right thing.
For the best results, victims of storm damage, a fire, or crime involving heavy financial losses, may want to turn their cases over to a skilled OKC Homeowners Claim Lawyer at the very start.
A Ylla|Gosney Attorney makes sure you receive everything promised in your policy. We can often increase the level of support you receive by making sure insurers assign a fair value to your damage and what you’ve been through.
Contact an Oklahoma City Insurance Claims Lawyer
Not everyone will need a lawyer to file a homeowners insurance claim. But if you have major damage from a disaster and are worried about getting full support when you file your claim, contact Ylla|Gosney for a free case consultation. You should also speak to a lawyer if you’re being underpaid for your damages or if your claim has already been unfairly rejected.
There’s no obligation for this free case review. Our OKC Homeowners Damage Claim Lawyers will sit down with any victim in Oklahoma and help them sort out their best options.
If you require our help to get the support you need, you won’t need any money to hire a Ylla|Gosney attorney. We don’t get paid unless we win your claim for you. Then our fee comes out of the support an insurer is forced to pay to you.
