Debris Removal After a House Fire

What’s In This Articles

• Introduction
• What To Do After a Fire?
• How Much To Do Debris Removal?
• Don’t Forget to Take Pictures-A Lot of Pictures?
• Should You Get Help From a Public Adjuster?

After a house fire, even a small one, the property owner will likely have to remove damaged or destroyed items. However, debris removal after a house fire can be complicated by the presence of hazardous material, like damaged propane tanks. Typically, insurance carriers will cover the cost of debris removal up to a point. However, how much coverage your homeowners’ insurance will provide depends on the insurance company and the policy terms.

What To Do After a Fire

In the first place, make sure you and your family are safe. Remember, soot, contaminated debris and ash are all hazardous materials that can seriously injure you. Indeed, exposure to these hazardous materials can affect your long-term health and safety. Therefore, do not enter your house until the fire department tells you it is safe. 

Furthermore, report the fire to your insurance company or agent as soon as you can. Certainly, it is a good idea to do so. As a matter of fact, the sooner you report the fire, the sooner you can hire contractors to remove the debris caused by fire damage. 

And you are responsible for removing tine debris. Namely, under the terms of your insurance policy, you have to mitigate the damage caused by a covered loss. Therefore, you should get a contractor and/or a restoration company to remove the debris. Under those circumstances, insurance carriers will cover the costs of a debris removal program-up to a point.

How Much Will Insurance Pay for Debris Removal After a House Fire?

In general, homeowners’ insurance will pay for the cost of debris removal after a house fire. However, most policies have limits on debris removal costs.

For instance, a policy might limit the amount they will pay to a percentage of a claim. Therefore, if a policy has a 10% limit, and the claim was for $70,000 in damages, the insurer will pay up to $7,000 in debris removal costs. 

As another example, the policy limit for debris removal might include additional coverage of $10,000 just for debris removal. However, this additional coverage comes in the form of a rider to your homeowners’ policy. Correspondingly, the homeowner would have to pay an additional premium for that coverage. 

Don’t Forget to Take Pictures-A Lot of Pictures

Equally important, before the debris is removed, take pictures of all the fire-damaged items in your house. Of course, this includes furniture, carpeting, appliances, etc.

In addition, take pictures of the damage firefighters did when they were fighting the fire. Specifically, broken doors and windows, holes in walls and ceilings for ventilation, water damage from firehoses-it’s all part of your claim. 

Similarly, take pictures of the soot and ash throughout your house. Remember-smoke can travel into rooms of your home that were never touched by flames. 

If You Need a Public Adjuster to Help You with Debris Removal After a House Fire, Call AllCity Adjusting

To sum up, we are a family-owned claims company with five decades of combined adjusting experience. Consequently, if there’s one thing we understand, it’s that you need 100% of your claim value.

Notably, insurance companies undervalue your claim 8 out of 10 times. Moreover, they hire expensive claims adjusters to ensure they maintain a strong profit margin. In addition, they have experienced actuaries that help their team of agents challenge your insurance claim’s validity and value.

We Can Help You with Debris Removal After a House Fire

Certainly, having a fire in your home means you have already gone through a tumultuous event. However, now you are going to have to worry about your family’s health and safety. Consequently, that means getting debris, soot and ash and any other hazardous material out of your home. 

We will review your policy so you will know exactly how much of the debris removal cost your carrier will pay so there are no surprises for you. 

Additionally, we can recommend professional fire restoration companies to begin the process of rebuilding your home.

At AllCity Adjusting we work to ensure you get 100% of your claim value. With over 50 years of combined adjusting experience, we know insurance companies and understand where they cut corners. Therefore, we help you build a larger claim, maximize your claim value, and get you back to normal fast.

Finally, don’t get fooled, get the company that gets you more. Call us today at 844.692.3587 or visit our website to find an office near you.