Would You Know What to Do If Your House was on Fire?

The other day I left my house to pick my kids up from school but I couldn't get out of our house area. One of the houses was on fire; flames were shooting up out of the attic. I just couldn't believe this, coming up over the hill and seeing fire trucks, rescue units, ambulances, and hoses dragged all over the street. You always see this on the news but if you have never seen a house on fire with your own eyes it's hard to get an idea of what kind of emotion you feel. It was obvious I wasn't going to get to the school on time. After waiting thirty minutes I was finally able to drive out of our neighborhood to pick up my kids.

I guess I have been one of the lucky ones that have never seen a house fire in person before. As I saw the flames reaching for the sky coming out of that house, my mind went blank. Then when I was able to get around the fire trucks to pick up my kids, my emotions kicked in. As I drove by the owners of the house were standing on the driveway hugging each other. Come to find out, no one was home at the time the fire started. It could have been far worse.

Now everyday you leave and/or enter our housing area you have to pass right by this house. Everyday you see the owners taking what they can out of the house that is salvageable. Items that are not salvageable are thrown in a pile; the back deck, siding, burnt wood, window glass that the fire men had to bust out, the front door where the firemen had to bust down to enter the house, tables, chairs, etc. This makes you think of your own possessions that you could loose. What would you do?

Everyone thinks about what they would do in case of a disaster, including myself but do we all really know what the process is? I really don't. Yes, I have thought about all my processions that I would loose either by the fire or by the water damage. I have some family heirlooms that couldn't be replaced and of course, all the pictures that have been taken of my children as they were growing up. These items are irreplaceable but so are lives.

So I have done some checking with our insurance company to see what the process is incase we ever had a disaster.

The first and most important thing to do is to call your insurance company right away. Now our insurance company is government but I'm assuming that all insurance companies are the same as far as calling first. If you have any kind of personal property insurance you should check it at least once a year and see if it is up to date especially if you have added something to your property within the year. Most people don't even know what their insurance covers they just know that they have insurance.

The next thing, our insurance company gives us several names of companies that come in to clean water and smoke damage. Some times water and smoke damage can be worse than the fire itself.

After you have lined up one of these companies you should start taking all items out of your house that is salvageable. You might think that a lot of items are no good but you would be surprised what the cleaning company's can do now-a-days, so talk to them before you start. Make sure you open all windows and doors for ventilation.

During this process you should keep a list of the items that are no longer usable. You will need this to give to your insurance agent.

Your insurance company will send an agent out with in 24 hours and start on the inspection of your property; you will have to be there. Your insurance agent will have forms that you have to use in order for your claim to be filed. These forms will also help you determine what the damage of your property is.

While all the clean up is being done, you will have to work with your insurance agent in finding a contractor to start the rebuilding of your home. You insurance agent will work with you in determining the amount that you have to pay and what they will pay. Also the contractor that you use will have to be one that your insurance company recommends. Most of the time insurance companies have set up accounts with contractors in your area that they use.

Once the clean up is finished make sure you board up all windows and doors that were damaged after the fire. This will help with anyone trying to inter your home, like curious neighbors. But it will also help protect from the elements, which can make the whole situation worse.

The next step is to call your mortgage company and report the fire. This is one thing that I never would of thought of. Mortgage companies have to be told because the fire just brought your value of your home down. Don't worry though, once the house is rebuild the value does go back up.

These are the main items that our insurance company told me but they did list other little things that you can do to make the process go faster.

Take pictures and lots of them, of everything!
List of destroyed items.
List of damaged items.
List of items that weren't affected.
Date and time of fire.
Rooms that the fire was in.

If you are staying in a motel room and eating out, make sure you keep all receipts. This includes all items that you have to buy that you no longer have for every day living.

There are some other things that you can do and that is to keep a record of every item that is in your home. The easiest way of doing this is to take pictures of everything and put these pictures on a cd. This is what I have always done. I have 2 cd's that have everything that is in our home including what is in every closet, drawer and cabinet. Each time we buy something new I add it to the cd's. Oh yes I even have pictures of our cars and the front, back and sides of our house.

The main thing is to check up on your insurance policy every year and work closely with your agent. If a disaster occurs your emotions with go up and down so you will feel a little better if you are prepared.