Make insurance claims after a disaster
If your property was lost or damaged because of a recent disaster, you may be able to make insurance claims for the property. Learning more about the insurance process could help get you money for repairs and replacements.
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1. Immediately after the disaster
The most important thing is to make sure you’re safe and have all your basic needs met. Use the Red Cross’s Find An Emergency Shelter to find emergency shelters near you. Call the Red Cross 24 hours a day at 1-800-733-2767. Shelters are open to anyone. There are no income or citizenship requirements for emergency shelter.
Don’t return to your home until it's safe. Returning to your home to document the damage is an important step to recovering from the disaster. But it can wait until officials announce that it’s safe to return.
It may be hard to see your home after the disaster. It’s common to feel stress, anxiety, and other depression-like symptoms. You can call or text 1-800-985-5990 to talk with a trained crisis counselor at the Disaster Distress Helpline.
Once you are safe, do these things.
- Keep receipts for any extra living costs (like hotels and meals) for as long as you’re unable to return home.
- Call your insurance company to inform them of your loss. Be clear that you don’t know the extent of the damage or how much it will cost to fix. You must follow up with written notice of your loss, including additional documentation. You’ll have time to figure out exactly what was damaged later.
- Learn more about the disaster aid that’s available to you immediately from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Some of this assistance can help you pay for temporary housing until you can go home.
- See if you qualify for any state funded disaster economic and food assistance. Find your local Economic Assistance Office where you can get more information.
- Stay informed about the disaster from local sources. The county sheriff's office webpage is often a centralized point of information for disaster management. This is common for most disasters but is almost always true if the disaster is a fire.
- Start to replace lost documents if your important documents like IDs and titles were lost or damaged in the disaster.
A “public adjuster” could try to offer you their services after a disaster. These are private businesses. They’re not employed by your insurance company and can cost you out of pocket. Check the Better Business Bureau and references before using one of these kinds of adjusters.