As insurance companies evaluate thousands of policies during these wildfires, homeowners are faced with the daunting process of recouping their losses. While insurers’ capital, also affected by recent wildfires, continues to spread thinner and thinner throughout each policy, the speed for policy reimbursement will also likely be slowed.

Having as much documentation prepared early will allow for faster reimbursements and final settlements. Keeping all of your possessions itemized before a wildfire damages your home may be a hindsight thought at this point so it is important to take time to record whatever is still readily available.

Be mindful of the fact that insurers will only pay out for what you can prove that you owned.

If you’re missing complete records of everything you lost, which is the majority of those affected, you will need to be creative in order to produce as many records as possible:

- Check your history of purchases through websites you frequent such as Amazon, Home Depot and NewEgg.

- Call department stores to see if they have copies of receipts available in their systems.

- Comb through your bank and credit card statements for all viable purchases you can report.

- Examine older photos of your home at you have access to as most insurers will accept photos as proof of ownership.

Many individuals are scrambling to find necessities to keep them afloat while they struggle to find long-term shelter. Between paying for temporary living expenses, food, hygiene products, clothes, transportation costs, and everything else, it is easy to become overwhelmed and lose track of expenses. Home insurers cover all of these expenses so keeping an organized and detailed list will help recuperate these purchases.

California insured homeowners are entitled to dispute their settlements up to two years after receiving compensation, however, understanding what it will take financially to rebuild your home early will allow for a speedy and methodical plan of action.

Rebuilding a fire damaged house can be very complex, and understanding all costs require you to work with fire damage restoration contractors that know what to look for in estimates.

Homeowner insurers will provide scope of loss reports to outline their payout structures, having an established contracting agency in the area look over the report to give a second opinion before accepting the settlement to ensure the numbers correlate with current construction costs is a must.

The contracting agency may argue that with current demand and surge to costs of material, the insurer’s price may not be enough for a complete build with the same quality.

Reputable contractors will have prices per square footage for a new build that will give you a general estimate of what it will cost to get back to where you were. Accepting a settlement after a second opinion from a contractor will save time, effort, and money by having to go through the initial construction process only once rather than accepting the first offer insurers provide then having to dispute after construction planning has been done.

Completing over three hundred projects in the last four years, Element Custom homes has distinguished itself in the industry by providing concierge-style service at cost-efficient prices.

Training our staff to repair fire damage to homes has taken many hours, great skill and effort.

At Element we value our reputation within the community above all and we back it with our written home warranties on all our projects.

We are committed to rebuilding our community and will help work with you to make sure you’re covered for what was lost.

Use the form we provide to request more information on how Element can help after a disaster.