Does Your Insurance Cover Fire Damage?

10/25/2019 (Permalink)

We can't undo fires, but we can undo fire damage.

Although only 7% of house fires start in the bedroom, 73% of house fire fatalities are due to these kinds of fires. Fires that start in the bedroom are nearly always accidents caused by a lack of mindfulness when dealing with heat producing objects. For example, one of the most common causes of bedroom fires are objects like curling irons or straighteners being left 0n the bed or carpet. Even if they have been turned off, these can be hot enough to start a fire for up to ten minutes after being unplugged. Another common cause is smoking in the bedroom, which can be dangerous even when the cigarette has been put out in an ashtray because the ashes can continue to produce heat. 

Even when taking steps to prevent fires from happening, it’s vital to keep inventory of anything that could be damaged in the event of a fire. This is so that if fire does unfortunately occur, accurate assessment of the fire damage coverage can help restore all lost belongings. Personal property is just one of the things that most fire damage insurance covers. It also covers detached structures, like sheds, and dwellings, like porches. So long as there is an accurate fire damage appraisal done of all loses, you then have two options on how to receive the financial compensation for such loses. The first would be actual cash value, which calculates how much the lost items would be worth today and awarding that exact amount in cash value. The other option is a replacement cost, which would replace the item for similar to the value it was purchased for. There are pros and cons to both forms of insurance. While the value of the replacement cost of damaged items would be higher than the cash value, the ability to decide what to do with the cash value is up to the homeowner. 

If your goal is to return your home to the way it was before the fire damage occurred, your best bet would be a replacement cost insurance policy. If you’d rather use the value of the loss items to spend the money elsewhere, whether to assist in the repairing of the home or for other personal needs, then an actual cash value wouldn’t be a bad idea.

In any case, SERVPRO of East Dayton knows fire damage restoration. There’s a lot to think about when picking an insurance policy, but little to think about when picking a company to fix the fire damage. In little to no time SERVPRO can be on the scene. Returning your home to the way it was before is an easy job for a company as widespread and equipped as they are.