What To Do If You Have A House Fire

Burnin’ the House Down

All jokes aside, having fire damage to your home can be devastating. On the ‘light

end’, maybe a small kitchen fire burned the countertop and a wall or

two. On the ‘heavy end’, perhaps a wildfire torched your house, and little remains

but charred wood and ashes.

If the heavier end of fire damage applies to your house, it took a lot more than just

a structure; it probably burned all of your pictures, clothes, important documents,

your children’s toys, etc.

Most house fires, from my understanding, are somewhere between these two ends

and destroy several rooms and most likely the roof and flooring of the home.

Beyond the physical damage to the house, it will also make the homeowner uneasy

about trusting the remaining structure to be at full strength.

Options

‘Light end’ – congrats! Although no one looks forward to a house fire, yours was

relatively small and the repairs will be less costly and time consuming. If the fire

only destroyed a countertop, that’s a decently easy thing to fix. If it’s a little more

extensive than that, check with your homeowner's time-consuming insurance agent to see what steps

are needed and what your options are regarding inspections, contractors, etc.

Weigh your financial options when it comes to filing an insurance claim – if the

cost of filing (premium increases) it might be worth it to pay for repairs out of

pocket.

‘Medium end’ – This covers a wide range of damage - anywhere from a room

being destroyed, to the roof and flooring burned. The first step would be to talk

with your homeowners insurance agent and go over options. You’ll most likely

need at least one insurance inspection. Then you’ll have to wait on their report on

what will be covered and what won’t. Your insurance company should have a list

of approved contractors who can handle the work. Then comes scheduling time for

each contractor and/or inspector to be onsite for work, potential hotel costs for

unknown lengths of time, handling paperwork, and whatever expenses become

necessary in the process to replace home items/appliances.

‘High end’ – The home is either mostly destroyed or entirely destroyed by the

fire and smoke and the loss is substantial. You will definitely want to contact your

homeowner's insurance agent and start the process of filing a claim. You’ll also

need to find temporary shelter, whether that be with family/friends or at a long-

term stay hotel. The total loss of a home to fire can be long-winded and financially

draining. In addition to a large amount of paperwork, there will most likely need to

be a police report, insurance inspections, contractor inspections, estimates, and wait

times for insurance approval/denial, all while trying to replace necessary personal

items lost in the fire and maintain work/school schedules.

Another Option

If you find yourself in a fire damaged home and don’t want to deal with the “fall

out” of needed work/time, consider calling us. We’d love to buy the home and

make sure it is ‘brought back to life’ if possible. We’ll handle cleanup and

contractors, and want to help in whatever way we can.

You can reach us by call or text at 940-255-7227 or by email at

michael@amlhomesllc.com.