Filing an Insurance Claim and Ensuring Payment Is Received.
United Water Restoration Group understands damages to your home are usually unexpected and the costs associated with the remediation work can be stressful and difficult. It is for these reasons that we offer our services and expertise, at no additional cost, in assisting you with your claim.
- UWRG can initiate and communicate with your insurance company at the start of your claim. We have these communications daily and are familiar with what insurance companies need to get your claim started.
- UWRG can communicate with your adjuster throughout the project to help align all parties on the services needed and help determine coverage. UWRG cannot make the determination of coverage from the source of the loss, but is familiar with this type of communication and can assist.
- UWRG can provide the final invoice to your insurance company for the adjuster’s review and can help answer any additional questions your insurance company may have at that time.
a. During this review process it is not uncommon for the insurance adjuster to contact the customer to discuss how the services went and ensure the services on the final invoice were provided. We will provide documentation, including pictures, with your invoice, but it is helpful to be prepared for this communication.
b. Sometimes insurance companies will attempt to negotiate prices during this time as well and quote Xactimate, a software the industry uses to assist in writing invoices. It is important to know that these prices are not fixed prices and Xactimate is clear on them not having the ability to set any prices for contractors. UWRG charges fair market value for our services.
c. UWRG will do everything possible to collect in a timely manner from your insurance carrier and will include you, the property owner, on all communications, but cannot guarantee that payment is received in a timely manner. If this happens, we will notify you that we are approaching the cut off time for receiving payment and may even ask for your assistance with your insurance company. We will do everything we can to help minimize out of pocket expenses.
What To Expect In Getting My Property Back To Normal
Why Use a Professional Company?
United Water Restoration Group is dedicated to educating our customers on the proper way to get your property back to pre-loss condition and the risks of not doing so. In a normal indoor environment, with air flow and the use of an HVAC system with filtration and dehumidification, the surfaces of your building materials, like carpet, flooring, and drywall will generally dry with time. However, what we, as professionals, are concerned about is what you can’t see, like the interior of your building materials, subfloors, insulation, wall cavities, framing, etc. Most of these materials are porous and will draw water into them and possibly cause moisture to become trapped internally putting your property at risk for secondary damages.
Even after experiencing a “small” water loss with minimum exposure of water, it is best to receive an inspection to determine if these materials absorbed the moisture and continue to retain that moisture.
Quick Guide
Step 1: Inspection – Moisture Content Determination
Step 2: Customize Initial Scope of Work – Initial Services Needed Review
Step 3: Sign Work Authorization – Fancy Legal Speak for Agreements
Step 4: Work in Progress – Services to Get Back to Pre-Loss Condition
Step 5: Invoice/Payment – Process for Payment of Services Provided
Step 6: Repairs – Putting Back the Interior of Your Property
Detailed Steps
Step 1: Inspection
The UWRG team will perform the initial inspection of damages to your property with moisture meters. The main goal of this inspection is to determine if you have materials in your property that have higher moisture content than the dry standard in your property. If it is determined that you have above normal moisture content, our team will move to the next step of reviewing a customized initial scope of work with you. **This is the time to ensure you have addressed and fixed the source of the water intruding into your property (broken pipe, roof damage, pipe back-up causing overflows, etc.)
Step 2: Customize Initial Scope of Work
Our certified mitigation team will determine the appropriate scope to mitigate damages according to industry standards. We will go over our customized scope with the property owner of confirmed elevated moisture readings so there is a clear understanding of next steps and initial services to be performed. It is important to understand that once we start to remove some building material, like baseboards, that additional damages could become evident. If this happens, we will review with you any additional services to the scope that should be completed.
Step 3: Sign Work Authorization
If the property owner has not done so already, this is the time to file a claim with your insurance carrier if you wish to process the damage through your insurance company. You can do this by calling your claims hotline or filing a claim online. We are happy to help you in this process and can even assist with that initial phone call. Our team is highly experienced in working with all insurance carriers. Depending on your carrier you may be assigned a claim handler (adjuster). Please provide the UWRG team of your adjuster’s information so we can include them on communications we provide to the property owner. UWRG can help you submit all the paperwork and supporting documentation needed for an insurance claim. The work authorization is needed to give permission to start services in your property and as an agreement that the property owner is responsible for payment even when they are being reimbursed by their insurance carrier. UWRG will often accept terms of waiting for your payment from the insurance company to assist the property owner in out of pocket expenses. For those customers filing a claim, we will communicate with your insurance carrier to determine coverage of your loss, but it is ultimately the customer’s responsibility to determine if your policy covers the services needed.
Step 4: Work in Progress
Our team will begin the agreed upon scope of work discussed in Step 2. UWRG is committed to remediating your property with the least amount of demolition needed to appropriately reach the dry standard of your property. During the drying process there will be equipment set up that could be loud. It is important that this equipment remain on and plugged in until removed from the property. If the equipment is turned off or unplugged we will not be able to guarantee your property is appropriately mitigated as fast as possible. While the equipment is in your property, you will have the responsibility that it is not used or taken by anyone else other than UWRG. Your property and the equipment will be monitored regularly to ensure that we can remove the equipment as soon as possible. Once the dry standard is met we will remove the equipment from your property.
Step 5: Invoice/Payment
Once UWRG has completed your remediation services, we will remove the equipment and ask you to sign a satisfaction form to ensure we have addressed any of your concerns. You will be presented with an invoice of work completed. While UWRG does work and communicates with insurance carriers, our agreement is with the property owner. It will be the responsibility of the property owner to pay UWRG directly for work completed and then receive reimbursement from the insurance carrier. If we have your claim adjuster’s information on file we will copy them on the invoice and all communications as well. Generally speaking, we are willing to wait for the reimbursement check to be received for payment from the property owner to help with out of pocket expenses, however if the insurance carrier is not being responsive to timely payment, we may request the payment from the property owner prior to the reimbursement. For prior determined self-pay customers, we will expect full payment upon the completion of the services.
Step 6: Repairs
UWRG focuses solely on mitigation work and getting your property environment back to an acceptable condition. Once we have removed the equipment and you have signed the satisfaction form, UWRG is completed with the remediation portion of your work. We do not provide services for the repairs that may be needed caused by the mitigation work. We recommend using your trusted contractor for these services. We may be able to provide you with some contractors to reach out to, but cannot guarantee their work. If you are filing a claim through your insurance carrier, it is important to understand that many times the insurance carrier will issue a check, sometimes prior to the remediation services even being completed, for estimated repair costs MINUS your deductible. It is your responsibility to both pay the repair contractor your deductible as well as negotiate the estimated repair amount with either your insurance company or the contractor. Most of the time a separate check will come to either you or UWRG for payment of the remediation services.