07/08/2025
Good afternoon everyone! Remember hurricane season officially started on June 1st and there has already been one TS making landfall. Now is the time to get prepared here is a list of things I'd recommend you do for the preparation of your home and valuables.
1. Take photos of the exterior of your home. front right back and left and then take closer photos of windows and doors showing if the frames and panes of the windows for any current damage and of course the seals around windows and doors.
2. If your comfortable getting on your roof, take photos showing overviews of the roof that there aren't any missing or damaged shingles or damaged vents etc. Clean your gutters if needed to assist with proper water run off.
3. If you have fencing and the fencing rest next to the side of your home, take the time to attach the fence to the side of your house. By doing this the fence is now covered under Coverage A vs Coverage B. Reason I say this is that most homeowner's do not carry sufficient Coverage B therefore, by attaching it to the side of the home your gaining extra coverage without the added cost of increasing your coverage B.
4. Review your homeowner's policy to understand the coverages you have for example: Make sure you have wind/hail coverage. Check to see if you have what's called a roof payment schedule which is another fancy term for non-recoverable depreciation on your roof. Check to see if your policy has a matching limitation or exclusions for things related to water or storm damage. If your home is older and if your roof is older than 2006 make sure you have Ordinance or Law coverage this coverage is for damages associated to materials that are no longer to code and therefore, have to be replaced and brought to code without this coverage the carrier is not responsible for the cost to do so. If you don't have certain coverages or have limits on coverage I would get with your agent ASAP and see about getting them changed. A lot of times when we call to complain about our premiums agents will get us a lower premium by limiting or eliminating specific coverages in order to save a few bucks. Now is the time to know this not after the storm hits.
5. Take overview photos of the interior of your home including walls, ceiling and flooring photos. Take photos of cabinets and vanities and especially walls, ceilings and flooring at windows and exterior doors.
6. Prepare a list of all your valuable items i.e. tv's, electronics, furniture, pictures etc. take photos of them and the serial numbers write them down for high value items try to find your receipts take photos of them.
By doing your pre-work this will assist in getting damages covered when/if you have to file a claim as you'll be able to show pre-hurricane condition vs post-hurricane damage.
We do offer this service for a fee if you wish to have us assist you can reach us at either [email protected] or 813-601-6260 phone or text.
Lastly, if you become victim of a storm please try to be patient there will be a lot of "storm chasers" preying on victims in a time you at your lowest. Be patient understand your policy and understand it's a process. In many cases you can handle your claim process yourself or via the appraisal process. Review your policy to see if claim dispute resolution includes the appraisal process. This is a much quicker and less costly method than others. I'm not suggesting that other 3rd party sources aren't needed but for certain there not needed in every situation. We're here to assist and we offer both inspection reporting and estimating as well as appraisal representation so give us a call if you find yourself or someone you know in need of assistance.
Sincerely,
Jason Sullivan
