Step-By-Step Legal Guide:

Property Damage
What if you or someone close to you
suffered from a tragic loss, such as a
house fire, flooding, struck by
lightning?

How does one ensure they get the maximum amount of compensation from their insurance
company? Ball & McCann have those answers.

According to the National Fire and Protection Association, U.S. fire departments responded to
responded to an estimated 1,298,000 fires in 2014. With winter months quickly approaching, the
average household is even more susceptible to fire loss due to heating, candles, and excess
electrical usage. Ball & McCann offers step by step guidelines on how to handle sudden,
unfortunate events, and offers advice that will ensure you and your family obtain the highest
possible value from the insurance company for your property damage claim.

Step 1: Safety First.

Call 9-1-1 immediately. The well-being and safety of you and your family should be of the
upmost concern. Make sure all of the people and pets in and around the fire are as far away as
possible from the house, so the hardworking firemen and law enforcement personnel can do their
job and ensure your safety.

Step 2: Contact Your Insurance Agent.

Submit a formal claim with your insurance company. Be diligent in keeping comprehensive
records of all of your communications. Take pictures and videos of the home, and take notes on
every conversation that you have and record who that conversation was with. Begin taking
inventory of all the personal property items within the house so your claim to the insurance
company is thorough and complete.

Step 3: Insurance Company Will Send an Independent Adjuster to Investigate Your Claim.
Next, your insurance company will send out an "independent adjuster" to evaluate the
claim. Don't be fooled by the name, an "independent adjuster" is hired and paid by the insurance
company to provide favorable results for the insurance company at your expense. Provide the
independent adjuster with as much information as possible related to your personal property
within the house, and any other information that you believe will add value to your
claim. However, do not accept their findings as the definitive right answer, they are paid to find
things that would hinder coverage of your loss, and are trying to save the insurance company as
much as possible.

Step 4: Determine Whether Your Insurance Company Will Cover Your Claim.
If your insurance company determines it is going to cover your claim, the proceed to Step 5. If
your insurance company determines it is not going to cover your claim, then immediately contact
the law firm of Ball & McCann to assist you. The longer you wait and the more you allow the
insurance company to delay your rightful coverage, the more difficult it can be to appeal their
decision without the need to file suit.

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Step 5: Hire an Entity to Represent Your Interests.
Once an independent adjuster evaluates your claim, assuming your insurance company is going
to cover your claim, you are given the decision to decide how you would like to protect your
interests. You are given three options: (1) Handle the claim yourself; (2) Hire your own "public
adjuster"; or (3) hire an attorney, such as Ball & McCann, LLP to represent your interests, adjust
the claim, and work with the insurance companies and contractors to ensure that your home is
replaced to the same like kind and quality as it was prior to the occurrence. At this point, be
cautious of public adjusters, contractors, and restoration companies soliciting your business, as
there are strict statutory restrictions on the time period and the manner in which they can solicit
your business. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the law firm of Ball &
McCann, LLP so we can answer any questions you might have regarding your claim.

Step 6: Negotiate Values.

Once you file the claim, you will receive an estimate from the independent adjuster hired by your
insurance carrier to bring your property and personal items back to the condition it was prior to
the date of loss. There are two different methods of compensating a policyholder to bring them
back to pre-loss condition: One is to pay the Replacement Cost Value (RCV) and another is to
pay the Actual Cost Value (ACV).

If you have an ACV policy, your insurance carrier will estimate the value of damages, and
deduct your deductible and the value of depreciation. Depreciation, or "hold back" is the
decrease in value from all causes, including age, and wear and tear. Once the depreciation is
deducted, then you obtain the Actual Cash Value (replacement cost with new property of like
kind and quality minus depreciation) and your claim is settled.

If you have an RCV policy then you are in a stronger position. RCV is what it would cost to
replace the items at today's cost or market value. Thus, if you have an RCV policy, not only
will you get the Actual Cash Value check (replacement cost with new property of like kind and
quality minus depreciation), but you will also get another check that accounts for the difference
between the ACV and the RCV once all contractors complete repairs on the property. However,
most insurance policies require that the replacement of the items or the restoration of the
property be completed before they issue the remaining depreciation or hold back proceeds and it
usually must be done within a certain time period as outlined in your Policy. That time frame
can be anywhere from 90 days to six months for you to submit a claim for the RCV proceeds,
thus do not neglect to timely submit this claim.

Step 7: Replace Damaged Property Items Within the Timeframe Provided in Your Policy.
As discussed in Step 6, you must actually replace the items or restore the property in order to
submit a claim for the RCV depreciation. Thus, you need to keep detailed receipts and
accounting of all of the items you replaced of your personal property, and ensure you are only
replacing items that the insurance company knows were damaged by the cause of loss. As for
restoring the dwelling or residence, you need to make sure you have an estimate from the
insurance company. Once you posses that you can start researching and contacting general
contractors who will come out to the property and provide you with a estimate to complete the
job.

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I always suggest you do not provide the insurance companies estimate to the contractors prior to
them providing you with an estimate, that prevents them from inflating the total costs and allows
you to get an honest opinion on what they believe it will costs. After you have obtained three or
four contractor's estimates, you can make a decision based on reputation, costs, time necessary to
complete the job, etc. However, at this point I always suggest that you have an attorney review
the contracts and documents before you begin signing any because most times these documents
are inadequate or are missing terms that can be detrimental to a smooth and timely completion
date. If you choose not to hire an attorney to review the documents, at least ensure the contract
provides for the exact price of materials, what type of materials, a start and end date, the contact
information for the contractor, the total price of the job, etc. The more details there are in the
contract the easier it is to hold the contractor to those specifications, but make sure those details
are satisfactory to you and your family.

Also, make it clear in the contract that you expect the general contractor to notify you of every
purchase, every hiring of subcontractors and that you expect a copy every receipt and or invoice
for any of those costs. If they refuse to accept those terms, then they are not the right contractor
for you.

Step 8: Allocate Insurance Proceeds & Require Lien Waivers Before Disbursing Payments
If a contractor requires you to make full payment upfront before the work is performed, do not
sign any contract with them and find yourself a new contractor as they will lead you into nothing
but bad news. However, it is somewhat common to disburse payments as the project progresses,
if you have an additional payee on the insurance proceeds such as your mortgagee (Mortgage
lender) then they will likely require you deposit the proceeds with them in an escrow account.
The mortgagee will then pay either the insured or the contractor at your request but only upon a
showing that the dwelling restoration is progressing as planned and is satisfactory workmanlike
performance.

Before making any payments or receiving any proceeds make sure to contact your insurance
agent to determine if you have an additional payee or contact your mortgagee to determine if
they require you to deposit the proceeds into their escrow account. They will provide you with
the information you need on how to deposit the proceeds and when to deposit the proceeds. One
the job is completed and all of the payments to the contractors have been made, you are now
hopefully back somewhat of a similar position you were in before the property damage
occurred. If any issues come to light at this point in the process you should make them
immediately known and if need be contact Ball & McCann to provide you with assistance.

I hope this brief guide gives you an understanding of the necessary steps you need to take upon
suffering a traumatic event that caused damage to your insured property. In the event you have
are having issues completing the steps above or feel you have been taken advantage of Please
Call Ball & McCann, LLP for a free consultation to discuss the issues you are having.

BallMcCannLaw.Com
Office: (872) 205-6556