What To Do After A Fire Pt.1
What To Do After A Fire Pt.1
Act quickly to avoid secondary damage
A house fire is devastating. There is damage to your house and its contents from the fire itself. And once the fire is out, you have to deal with secondary damage—damage caused by smoke and the water and chemicals firefighters use to put a fire out.
Call your insurance professional
You have to start with some phone calls—first, and most important, to your insurance professional or company. Major insurance companies have 24-hour hotlines and will generally treat your problem promptly. Ask your insurance company to recommend at least three fire restoration companies. Choose one to start the immediate work—making your house and property secure, removing water and seriously damaged materials, drying the house and contents and removing smoke residue.
Few of us know exactly what our insurance policies cover. Work with your insurance company agent or representative to find out what is covered, what is not covered and what may be subject to further discussion. Get all this in writing as soon as possible, because it will influence what you do and what you put off until later. Be sure to document any disputed items or classes of items that are supposedly not covered. There are arbitration processes that you can use to get a final determination (short of going to court) of what is actually covered. In general, insurance companies want to find a fair and reasonable scope of needed repairs.
Your responsibilities
You are responsible for notifying all affected parties and arranging for security of the site, rapid drying and smoke cleaning and all other steps needed to minimize secondary damage. To do this you will likely hire a company that specializes in fire restoration.
Your insurance company may suggest specific firms with which they have established relationships.
But it is not only your right to choose the best contractors and to ensure that they do the work promptly and well—it is your responsibility.
You define the scope of the work, with help from your insurance professional and advice from the contractors you select. Make sure that you know what your insurance will cover and what you will have to pay yourself. Your insurance company calculates what it will pay for according to industry-accepted standards.
The right forms
Your insurance company has forms that you must use to help you determine fire damage and losses.
Get the forms as quickly as you can. Filling them out is a top priority.
Work with your restoration contractor to complete them. Your restoration contractor will probably also have forms to complete. Work with your contractor to get those forms completed. Remember that the contractor has experience in documenting everything—and in getting paid.
Call the company that holds your mortgage
You have to call the financial institution that holds your mortgage. Fire lowers the value of your house and affects your mortgage. Properly restoring your house will restore its value, but the mortgage company must be involved until your house is restored.
Choose A Contractor
Hopefully, the first-response contractor that you hire will also be the contractor who does the restoration work.
But securing your home and property and getting the preliminary cleanout and drying done quickly are so important that you may have to settle for less than the best.
You can change contractors once the immediate cleanup is done.
For the work, insist on a firm whose workers are certified by the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification) or an equivalent industry organization. These personnel should be at least supervisors for your restoration. Get this guaranteed in writing.
Poor restoration will leave you with a house that is not a healthy home for your family. Standards for fire restoration are constantly revised.
You want work done to the most up-to-date standard. Ask what industry standards your contractor uses, including the edition of the standards and guides your contractor uses.
If you have to switch restoration contractors, carefully set out the scope of work for each firm. You are responsible for ensuring that everything that must be done is included in the scope of work. Do not pay for, or authorize payment for, work that does not match that scope.
Personal protection
A fire-damaged house can be very dangerous. It may be structurally unsound. If it is, the fire department will not allow you on the site. Contact your fire department to learn about conditions of access.
The fire department may allow a qualified restoration contractor into the house. You may have to contact the police as well, if they are involved. Your house may still have dangerous chemicals produced by the fire or from fighting the fire. The house will be dark, probably wet and likely already be growing mold.
Floors can be slippery and there may be sharp and jagged items lying around. If you are allowed back in your house, wear safety boots, a hard hat, and protection for your lungs and eyes. Your fire department and restoration contractor can recommend proper safety gear. Don’t go into your house alone. Investigate in teams of at least two, one of whom is a professional.
Questions of sensitivity
If you or anyone in your family is sensitive to chemicals or mold, make sure that everyone involved in restoring your house knows that fact. You may have to insist that your contractor take special precautions. Your physician may be willing to write to your insurance professional, contractors or others if you have special needs.
Your insurance may only cover restoration to normal standards, but for an extra fee you should be able to negotiate the right to pre-approve chemicals, products and processes to deal with your sensitivities. If you need premium materials or processes you may have to pay any extra costs yourself.
Securing the site
Your house must be secured to keep the curious and looters out. Usually, this means boarding up windows, securing doors, covering fire, and firefighting holes in the walls and roof.
Protecting your house from the weather is also important. Rain, snow and freezing weather can make matters worse. In freezing weather you may have to drain all plumbing. Normally, your first-response restoration contractor secures your house.
Contact your REALTOR at Coldwell Banker Vantage Realty for more tips and advice on what to do after a fire.
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