Flooding may be the “new fire”, but fire damage remains a major challenge

People in the insurance industry often refer to flooding as the “new fire.” Fire related damages and claims were one of the most frequent claims, but in recent years, flooding has become much more common. That being said, fire is still a deadly beast and we have seen it strike our customers. Peter, who owns and operates an auto repair business, experienced a fire at his facility. He was badly burned and required numerous surgeries. His doctor prescribed him a large dose of painkillers.This was a few months ago and Peter has not yet returned to work. As he recovers, he has filed a claim with his insurance company. Unfortunately, in his current state, heavily medicated on painkillers and disoriented from his injuries, the claim process is overwhelming him.What’s more, insurance company personnel are frequently very busy. They handle many claims and cannot always devote personalized service to every customer. As an advocate for our customers, we take it upon ourselves to provide that high level of service.When he filed the claim, Peter had made a statement to his insurance company after he left the hospital. In his original statement, Peter explained that the contractors owned the equipment and materials in his shop. In his updated statement, he said that he owns them. The insurer did not like that he changed his statement and requested information about Peter’s contractors.However, Peter is still foggy from the medication and there is too much information coming at him as the claim proceeds. As a result, he frequently calls us in order to resolve the many questions he has.He requested to go through his policy line by line in order to understand his coverage. During this process, we identified some gaps in his coverage that we will help him address.Next, we spoke with the adjuster assigned to Peter’s claim to better understand where the claim was at and what they needed from Peter. They sent us a long email with a lot of detail which provided important background information and context.But it would have been too much for Peter in his weakened state. Therefore, we distilled the key points from the insurer’s request and sent Peter a compact, easy to digest email with bullet points outlining the information he needed to provide.Once all the information was complete and processed, the insurer issued Peter his payment that covered his profit and business interruption losses. We wish Peter a full recovery and will continue to advocate on his behalf so that he doesn’t have to worry about insurance.Contact us today to reduce your worry and get going on the things that matter most to you.