Damage assessment is a critical part in reclaiming and restoring as much of your property as possible. The initial damage assessment should be performed by a trained restoration professional after you have your property protected and secured. Having the damage assessment completed by a professional will assist your insurance adjuster to get the full picture as to the extent of the water damage inflicted on your home and personal property and will speed up the processing of the insurance claim. It will also help a professional restoration crew formulate a plan to make cleanup go as quickly as possible.
The damage assessor will begin the assessment by looking over the exterior of the house. They will check to see if any water damage has occurred to the roof, gutters, chimney, exterior walls, windows, siding, and will inspect the surrounding areas for any water damage. If there is any evidence of exterior or structural water damage, it will be annotated on the inspector’s report. Next, they will move inside to look over the interior of the home. The interior will be checked from the attic to the basement, paying close attention to possible structural problems and electrical wiring damaged by the water. Some damage assessors will check the interior of the walls for moisture contained within the walls, and ensure other plumbing fixtures were not effected by the water damage. After all interior water damage concerns have been addressed and logged into the damage assessor’s report, they will begin going through your personal property to ascertain the extent of water damage.
You should make a list of all personal property items that you will be claiming on your insurance claim, and documenting all of the personal property damage with pictures is highly recommended. The pictures of you damaged property will help support your insurance claim, and you will have this documentation on your side in case of debate. Add the list of damaged and salvageable personal property to the damage assessor’s report and send copies to the insurance company, and the professional restoration company to assist in forming a cleanup plan.
