How to file a homeowners insurance claim after Hurricane Helene, Milton

It’s crucial to understand how to file a homeowners insurance claim after a natural disaster. 

Insured losses alone for Hurricane Helene are now estimated at more than $6 billion.

Meanwhile, analysts anticipate that Hurricane Milton could be a “once-in-a-century” storm with the potential to generate record-breaking damage when it makes landfall along Florida’s west coast on Wednesday.

Once you’re safely out of harm’s way, starting the insurance claim process is an important consideration. The sooner you report a claim, the sooner your insurance company can start the process and you can begin rebuilding, experts say. 

“Your adjuster is assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis,” said Shannon Martin, a licensed insurance agent and analyst for Bankrate.com. 

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The processing arm of your insurance company is going to have a “tremendous amount of paperwork and claims coming through,” said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at First Street Foundation, an organization focused on climate risk financial modeling in New York City. 

“The longer you wait, you’re not only delaying the ability to have your claim approved and make its way to you, but you’re lengthening the time in which that claim will sit in the processing pipeline,” Porter said.

Here are three important steps to quickly file an insurance claim after a disaster, according to experts.

Experts recommend including copies of your insurance policies and contact numbers in a disaster preparedness kit, that goes with you if you evacuate and is securely stored, otherwise.

Once a disaster has passed, immediately contact your insurance company to let them know that your home has damage from a recent disaster and you’d like to start the claims process, said Porter. 

If you evacuated, “you can start the claim from anywhere,” Porter said. “You’ll eventually have to schedule with the insurance company to actually review and inspect the damage.” 

But if you decide to wait out the storm in your house, you need to first prevent further damage to the home before calling, said Bankrate.com’s Martin.

A typical home insurance policy has language requiring homeowners to lessen the impact and prevent further damage, she said. 

“Then you can call the insurance company, take pictures of the damage and [move] items into safer locations,” Martin said.