You don’t always have to put your insurance company in the driver’s seat of your insurance claim. If you feel comfortable or confident you can do as good or better job yourself on some or all of your repairs – you can simply ask for a quote on and take a payout. The payout will not be as much money as the insurance company will pay to a professional contractor to perform the work, but in some instances the payout provides the flexibility necessary to get the type of job done that you really want. Below are three different methods of processin insurance claims
#1: The “Traditional” Method
The traditional method follows a certain process. You do your best to mitigate your damage, you take tons of pictures and document as much as you can, you contact your insurance company and file your claim, and then you wait for instructions on what can be done, what will be covered, and who you can hire to get the repair and restoration job done.
This may take time. This is a process. But there are measures and safeguards to ensure that the job is done right, and to everyone’s satisfaction.
#2: Take a Partial Payout
You must go through all the steps above, but when it comes to the time when the damage has been assessed and the repairs have been estimated, you can ask to have a payout for certain element of the repair job. For example, if the roof and also the floor needs to be repaired, you can ask for a contractor to repair your roof, but you can take the payout on the floor and do that job yourself.
Note: If you are going to go with a payout option – make sure you do the repairs. if you don’t, you wont be covered on future claims.
#3: Take a Full Payout
If you have a grand vision of what you would like to re-build on your property, it may be a good idea to simply take a full payout on your insurance claim and use that as a downpayment towards your “bigger and better” project. Sometimes this payout may be at a bit of a discount to the value you would have received if you had gotten your property repaired and restored, but sometimes it still makes more sense to take the money and start over.
Unfortunately, you are often forced to make these types of decisions while you are under a bit of stress because you have just experienced a disaster. Further, the sooner you make a decision and set the process in motion, the sooner your situation can get resolved. Some homeowners make one decision when under pressure and then down the road face regrets that they should have done things slightly differently. It is therefore always a good idea to take a little bit of time dreaming about all of your options, and form a “bigger picture” of what you really want your property to be like in a number of years. This will help you make any final decisions on what repairs you would like done in the moment, and what aspects or projects you would like more flexibility on.