Best Flood Damage Claim Public Adjuster In Chicago, IL
Dealing with a flood or water damage claim at your property is a messy enough situation. The task can be overwhelming and daunting. You will be staring at a million details needing your focus and attention simultaneously. You need a public claims adjuster on your side, NOT your insurance company adjuster that is biased. Knowledge is power, and power is leverage, getting you 35% more on your flood damage claim.
What are Flood Damage Claims
Floods are the least predictable type of disaster that can damage your home. Some homeowners can salvage their homes by disposing of some furniture and appliances, others find themselves faced with up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in home repairs. Same goes for Chicago business owners. Even after you’ve spent money on repairs, mold can still develop in places where water damage cannot easily be seen, such as inside the walls.
Unfortunately, your homeowner’s insurance may not fully cover flood damage claims. Many victims of flood damage do not find that out until it is too late. While some may qualify for disaster relief assistance, these often fall short of the actual costs of repairing a badly damaged home and making it safe and functional again.
Harris Claims Services will work on your behalf to make sure that you receive the benefit of their years of experience to obtain a fair and complete settlement. Our experienced and dedicated public adjusters, structural engineers and other experts will not only assess the damage from the flood but will also determine the full damage from the hidden water, mold, mildew, and fungus, that your insurance company may have overlooked.
What You Should Know BEFORE a Flood Claim
Dealing with your insurance company during or after flood damage is a very frustrating process involving several calls, emails, letters, and documents. Make sure that you keep track of all communication, including copies of all documents and post office receipts for mailing. Take as many detailed notes as possible, including the date and time of every phone conversation and face to face meeting. Do not put it off to the next week. Write it down while it is fresh in you mind.
Keep all original documents of everything that you’ve filed for your flood damage claim in case your insurance company wants proof of a document for any reason. Take inventory of everything that you have in your house so that you won’t have to rely on memory in case of some catastrophe such as a flood. Walk through the house with a camera or a video camera and carefully scan each room inside and outside of your property. Take out and individually photograph valuables separately. Lastly, keep the photos, video, and inventory in a safe place outside of your house or in a digital cloud. Better yet contact Harris Claims Services and let us do the leg work for you.
What You Should Know AFTER a Flood Claim
During a flood disaster, contact your insurance company as soon as possible. Most if not all insurance policies require that you file a claim immediately. Contact your insurance agent immediately to get your flood claim process started. The insurance company will require you to submit a “proof of loss claim,” which should include the following information:
- Date of loss
- Type of loss or damage
- Location of damage
- Any related injuries
- Others involved
- Condition of the home
- Description of damaged contents
- Whether or not temporary repairs are necessary
- Police report
- Let Harris Claims Services assist with review of the facts and Proof of loss
What Harris Can Do for You
During the claim, your insurance company will send out their company adjusters to calculate the estimate of the cost of replacing any damages from the flood; however, these adjusters work for the insurance company and will make decisions in the insurance company’s best interest, not yours.
Even if after hiring your independent contractor you are unable to reach an acceptable settlement, consider hiring a public claims adjuster. We are independent adjusters that are retained and paid to negotiate with the insurance company for you. Some people fear to do this because of the extra cost, but this can be worth it. Really the cost is outweighed by the increase in the amount paid by the insurance company. Our adjusters at Harris Claims Services can help get you significantly more than you would have otherwise received. We call it the Harris Advantage. It is simple, we release your stress, settle the claim, increase the claim thereby covering our fee and earing you more.
Our team of dedicated disaster specialists and public adjusters work ONLY for the policyholders and victims, NOT the insurance companies. Our team ranges from public adjusters to accountants to attorneys and contractors, with specific knowledge in flood disasters and claims.
We offer emergency assistance to our customers and their families through Chicago Board-Up Services, our sister company. There, customers are provided with a full range of emergency services to assist and protect the most important investment in a disaster victim’s life.
Our Flood Damage Claim & Restoration Package includes the following:
- Building & Structure Board-Up
- Water Removal and Extraction
- Flood Relief
- Window Replacement
- Generator Services
- Building Estimate
- Negotiation & Settlement Content Estimate
- Business Loss Estimate – Negotiation & Settlement
- Building Estimate – Negotiation & Settlement
- Contents Estimate – Negotiation & Settlement
- Contents Pack Out, Cleaning, & Storage
- Temporary Housing
- Building Restoration & Complete Repair
- Legal Claims Services & Litigation
- Legal Review of All Insurance Policies
- Legal Consultation During Loss Negotiation
The Entire Flood Claim Process
Our team of flood damage loss experts handle every single phase of the insurance claim settlement procedure through and including the repair and restoration process.
PHASE 1 — Claims Adjustment: Adjust, Maximize, and Settle the Claim
During the first phase, HCS helps manage the preparation, negotiation, and settlement of all claims covered under the insurance policy. Our staff of experts reviews your policy to confirm that all claims have been maximized and accounted for before closing any settlement, including numerous clauses within a policy that can increase the recoverable amount.
Harris Claims Services will move as quickly as possible to meet policy requirements to evaluate the facts and prepare the claim. Our prompt service helps preserve evidence that may otherwise be overlooked or destroyed by an insurance company adjuster. While it is our office which will prepare, support and negotiate the claim, the ultimate decision to accept is the owner.
PHASE 2 — Repair & Restoration: Construction & Restoration of Damaged Property
Once there is a verbal settlement agreement between HCS and your insurance provider, we’ll begin construction immediately. We won’t wait for the insurance company to issue the settlement checks, which can sometimes take months from the date of the flood.
If our customer decides to keep Harris Claims Services to perform the flood repairs or restoration after Phase 1, then there is no building adjusting fee, and work is done based on the amount agreed upon by the insurance company.
We will guide you through every phase of the entire process to ensure that your flood damage claim has been paid in full and your property is restored to a pre-catastrophic condition, if not better.
Flood Damage Claim Costs & Fees
The fee for our public adjusting services is paid from insurance proceeds; therefore, there is no out-of-pocket expense to the policyholder or flood damage victims. We charge between 7% and 10% of the insurance company’s claims settlement with you. Our team has helped policyholders obtain on average 20% to 200% more from their claims, so our fees are offset by the larger settlement that is obtained by using our services.
We want you to understand how our staff of public adjusters works for you and how we can relieve your stress in this challenging situation. Let our public adjusters put our years of service and experience to work for you. Call us TODAY at 847-329-8444!
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