Jacksonville, FL — With no area of Northeast Florida left unscathed by Hurricane Irma, we're getting tips on what to do next from WOKV's Consumer Warrior Clark Howard.
He says the very first step, if your home sustained damage, is to document the damage.
"You want to take pictures, you want to shoot video. The one area, I want you to be careful, is you have damage to your roof. It is not safe for someone who does not have experience being up on a roof, to be up on the roof. So, I don't want you up there, but you document," explains Howard.
The next step, is to read through your insurance policy.
Howard says, "See what coverages you have or don't have. Particularly, if there's a much higher deductible for it being a named storm. So, then you're going to have assess how much damage you have and whether, in fact, you do want to make an insurance claim for that damage."
If you do decide to begin the claims process, Howard has some advice on what to do, if you run into issues with your adjustor.
"Absolutely, document with that adjustor. If you are not happy with how he or she is treating you, put that into writing in the form of an email. Don't do it out of anger, just facts. Then, you ask for a meeting with that adjustor's supervisor. If necessary, you ask for a new adjustor to be assigned to you. There are adjustors who look at you as an adversary; there are those who look at you as being in a partnership. You want an adjustor who is your partner," says Howard.
For more advice from Clark Howard, we'll have him LIVE on WOKV AM 690 and 104.5 FM for a special post-Hurricane Irma show, Friday, September 15, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
You can also listen to Howard every weeknight on WOKV, from 9 pm to 11 pm.
