Minnesota weather is nothing if not unpredictable. Minnesotans know that a sunny day can quickly change into a hail, wind, or thunderstorm that can cause all types of damage to homes, buildings, vehicles, and properties. While most storms roll through quickly and may not damage property, there is always a handful that results in branches or trees falling or hail damage to property. For Minnesota homeowners who have dented roofs from hail or broken windows from falling branches, here are five tips to ensure your damage is quickly repaired.
Assess Damage for Emergency Repair
The first concern for homeowners should be whether there is any damage that needs an emergency repair. However, to the untrained eye, damages may be hard to spot, which is why we will perform a thorough, complimentary inspection of your property’s exterior for any damages that would be covered by your insurance company under a no-fault claim. If we do end up spotting damages that are applicable to your coverage, then your next step would be to file a claim with your insurance company.
Call Insurance Company
Homeowners who have damage to their home from a storm should call their insurance company to file a claim. Most likely the insurance company will want to send out an adjuster to inspect the damages and provide an estimate. To make the process run more smoothly, we like to meet with your adjuster on-site in order to go over damage costs together. If it turns out that the adjuster disagrees with what we believe you are entitled to, you can request a new adjuster to come out and we will meet with them as well, if necessary.
Getting Your Claim Approved
If, after pursuing the claim, your insurance company is unable to pay the full “Replacement Cost Value,” you won’t owe us a single penny for the time we invested in your case. At the same time, if your insurance company does agree to pay the claim, that’s when the fun begins. Depending on what is covered by your claim, you will be able to browse and choose from a selection of different colors for your home’s new siding, pick out the style of your new roof’s shingles, as well as determine any other design or functional changes that fall within your coverage.
Dictate Price of Repairs
The next step is dictating the price of repairs and sorting out any pricing discrepancies with your insurance provider. Think of it in the same way as when you go into the doctor’s office for a check-up or procedure—you pay your deductible, then the doctor takes it up directly with the insurance provider to work out any pricing differences or disagreements. In this case, homeowners can carefully compare the two and note any discrepancies. It is important to reconcile the differences and obtain approval for the needed repairs before beginning the project with your contractor.
Beginning and Finishing Your Project
Once the first insurance check is paid, we will deliver the building materials and assign a crew to begin construction on your home repairs. Once all of the repairs are successfully completed and approved, we will submit a “Final Invoice” to the insurance company, which they will then release the final check to you (including “depreciation” plus supplements). After you have received the final insurance check, you will then forward the payment to us which will mark the completion of your storm damage repair project.
It is important to find a quality, local Minnesota contractor with a reliable reputation to complete storm damage repairs. That said, Minnesota homeowners with storm, hail, or wind damage can trust our team at Signature Home Services, LLC for fast, reliable repairs. Contact us right away for a free estimate on storm damage – we serve the greater Twin Cities metro area for emergency home repairs and more.
