As my regular readers will know making a insurance claim is fraught with obstacles placed there by the insurance company.
These people do this every day and yours is just another inconvenience to there workers.
So lets start.
Phone the company and place the claim remembering to write down every thing you say as they record it for training purposes and they will use it if needed.
Lets say it is for water damage.
Check your policy book and see if is covered. For example. rising water from a creek and
definitely do not let them change the definition as they will do this not to pay a claim.
Definitely not tidal from the ocean.
During any phone call get the persons pay number and first name as this identifies the person you spoke to. If they don't want to comply ask for their supervisor and get there pay number and name.
After the conversation send them an email pointing out the key points as this is the start of your paper trail and can be used in court.
Make the subject the claim number.
This will allow you to pull up all the information in order.
When they ring you say you are busy and to drop you an email if you forget to do this then send them a email confirming the information giving time and date and who you spoke to.
This is more paper trail and you will need this as the months go by as you will not remember any of it.
In my case they have heaps of tools and stuff and this needs to be returned before any settlement can take place. It is best not to let them help you in the first instance regarding clean up as they use your articles to confuse you and they come back rustier than ever.
After the things have been returned ask for there list of covered items and their prices and compare their to your list. It is a good idea to supply your list with prices in the first place as they will use it and yes it does take time.
You need to go threw this list and find out where it is sourced from and weather there is customs duties and import duties going to be charged as this needs to be added to the article.
Then you wait and be patient as " like Rome insurance companies can not be moved in a day"
Remember the bigger the paper trail the bigger the payout.