Cooking Fire Damage
While Mother Nature is on her own campaign of disaster and damage, you may find yourself filing for a claim that has nothing to do with her. This damage may be caused by an unfortunate cooking accident. According to the National Fire Protection Association, approximately 300,000 – 400,000 thousand home structure fires occur each year in the US. The leading cause is found to be attributed to cooking equipment related issues, accounting for 43% of all residential home fires.
A cooking fire could swallow up your home, but if you aren’t lucky enough to put it out with your trusty fire extinguisher, the damage to the kitchen can be vast. The most important matter is that of safety. Take care of yourself and others. Once the dust or soot has settled and it’s safe to emerge into the area in question, it’s time to get to work in identifying the damage. Soot removal, deodorization, structural damage restoration & repairs are all things that should be on your priority list.
Whip out your camera and document every inch and don’t just stop at photos. Videos will lay out more context in the image and help an insurance company capture the full scope of the damage.
After a cooking fire loss, here are some policyholder tips to keep in mind:
– Acquire an incident case number from the fire marshall. They should have this and it will come in handy.
– Make sure that your local fire department has deemed the site safe for entry. You don’t want to do any of the investigating if there’s danger afoot.
– Take photos & video
– Locate your property insurance policy
What is the extent and scope of damages to my property?
What is the initial proposed cost of repairs and restoration?
Does any of my property damage need to be brought up to code?
Do you have an estimated timeline for the period of repairs and restoration?
What are benefits under the insurance policy contract?
What are my duties and conditions under the insurance policy?
How long will it take to receive any payment for my claim?
Should I make arrangements for temporary living?
How do I keep my tenant?
Do I have coverage for “Loss of Use” or “Additional Living Expenses”?
How long can my claim settlement take?
The adjuster will be able to answer some of these questions and do the real heavy lifting. More so, they will fight to get you the amount of money you need to fix the damage and if you’re lucky, maybe a little extra. Also, maybe would like to see a more specific trend to let the public adjuster do the work. Make sure you call the public adjuster first!