Why You Need Help Dealing With Your Insurance Company After A Fire

Why You Need Help Dealing With Your Insurance Company After A Devastating Home Or Business Fire

Dealing with the losses after a fire in your home or business can be devastating and overwhelming.

Whether you’ve suffered minimal losses in a small room fire, or a complete loss of your property and possessions or inventory, you deserve full compensation for those losses covered by your insurance policy.

If your loss compensation has been denied, or undervalued by your insurance company, Harris Claims Services can help your family and/or business collect the full compensation you’re entitled to in your policy. We are the one stop shop from adjusting claims to full fire repair services.

Fire Damage Is Typically Worse Than It Seems

Once you are cleared to re-enter your home or property after a fire, you may be shocked by the extent of the damage. Your first visual inspection will likely be disturbing. But the secondary damage from acidic soot, odor, water damage and corrosion can be hidden upon first inspection… and very expensive to clean up and remediate. It is important to employ your own team of inspectors/investigators, construction contractors and lawyers, to ensure that such damage is properly evaluated, treated and represented prior to settling with your insurance company. So, while you should immediately contact your insurance company, you have to take all the important steps toward IMMEDIATE cleanup and remediation to prevent longer-lasting effects and deterioration to your property and belongings.

And It’s Not Just The Fire That’s Damaging…

Water Damage will certainly be a major factor, after the fire department has battled to save your property. Anything that may have survived the fire, such as textiles, or structural items like drywall and insulation will have significant water damage. Electrical items such as wiring, outlets and appliances (lamps, clocks, kitchen appliances) may also have been completely ruined by water.

Smoke damage is a certainty, even in the case of small fires. Soot can accumulate and it may seem next-to-impossible to rid your home of the sickening smell of smoke. In some cases, homeowners may choose to throw EVERYTHING away and start over. While this idea may be tempting, doing so can jeopardize your compensation with your insurance claim. It is VITAL that homeowners document every loss. This includes taking photographs of all damaged and destroyed items in the home. This has to be performed immediately, before any repairs. How else can you gauge or prove whether you’re being adequately compensated?

Don’t Be Low-Balled

Take care to thoroughly review your insurance company’s proposed settlement. Insurance companies commonly make settlement offers that are far less than the true value of your losses and they often neglect to account for the hidden damage (such as from soot & smoke) when they’re preparing your compensation package. If you determine their offer is inadequate, or even if you’ve been denied outright, you should contact our team at Harris Claims Services. We can investigate your case with our insurance experts and estimate the full value your claim is worth.

We will champion your interests and fight for your full compensation in court. You deserve the full value of your claim, for which you have faithfully paid your insurance premiums.

Why Harris Claims Services?

Because we’re on YOUR side, we never represent insurance companies, only the property owners. Our team of experts has been fighting insurance companies for more than 40 years! We know how insurance companies evaluate claims and how they attempt to minimize compensation and deny claims. We will fight for you until you receive the full value of your claim adequate for your losses.

Contact Us Today!

Your initial consultation with Harris Claims Services is free. If you choose to hire us, there’s no up-front fees or costs. If we win compensation for you, the insurance company pays for adjusting fees and costs. There is even better news. If you use our sister company to perform the repairs to the property we waive all adjusting fees. So it is a win win situation. All services under one roof and managed by one team Leader, Jason Harris.

So call us today at 847-329-8444 for immediate assistance. We will help you take your first steps toward recovering from your losses and getting on with your life!

Harris Claims Services is located in Chicago and Lincolnwood, Illinois. We’ve helped homeowners and businesses fight their insurance companies after a fire for more than 40 years now.