Understanding Large Loss

8/5/2019 (Permalink)

This home has been completely destroyed by fire.

Over the last two decades, it’s become increasingly common across the U.S. to hear about devastating wildfires, historic 100-year hurricanes and massive floods. Texas is no stranger to events that cause catastrophic property damage – it’s even named one of the top 10 states with the most natural disasters. Texas has dealt with floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and hurricanes at a rate of at least one natural disaster per year. Unfortunately, with catastrophic events come extensive property damage that typically results in large loss.

What is Large Loss?

While natural disasters are a leading cause of large-loss situations, extensive damage can also occur from origins of a smaller scale. Burst or broken pipes can leave a great deal of destruction behind, resulting in significant loss. While the context can greatly differ, the damage is all the same in the eyes of insurance providers. 

Insurers typically consider a single-structure large loss to be:

• Reparations that total $50,000 or greater
• Damage that affects more than one floor of a multi-story building
• A large building with extensive destruction

How do You Qualify Large Loss?

Any property damage in your home or business that significantly disrupts your daily routine or forces your business to cease productivity may constitute as large loss. A large-loss situation often represents thousands of dollars in damage. However, the size determination depends on more than just money.

An event is considered large-loss when a significant portion of the structure is damaged or repairs aren’t possible and a rebuild becomes necessary. A large-loss situation would also occur if a determined amount of the home or business is unable to operate. 

Categorizing property-repair projects depends on multiple factors, including:

• The size of the home or business
• The use or purpose of the facility
• The cost to restore the structure to its full-use and like-new condition

Will Insurance Cover Large-Loss Services?

If your home or business is covered by insurance, it’s likely your insurer would cover the costs to repair or rebuild. However, your insurer will only pay the amount outlined in your policy. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to review your insurance policies each year to make sure you’re sufficiently covered. 

When reviewing your policy limits, be sure you’re covered for:

• Cleanup and repairs from natural disasters
• Bringing your home or business up to current building codes
• Living expenses like staying in a hotel or renting an apartment while your home isn’t in a livable condition
• Rebuilding 

With an extremely large or complex loss, like a business, it may be necessary to have a team of professionals including architects, engineers, attorneys, estimators and financial experts assist in determining the full picture of your loss.

How Do You Begin Dealing with a Large-Loss Situation?

The time to prepare for large loss is before it occurs. Once disaster strikes, it can become very chaotic. Immediate entry into the home may not be allowed. Thankfully, there are still things you can do to get the recovery process started. The first step is to contact your insurer and start your claim.

Be aware that you’re usually responsible for taking steps to prevent further damage to your property. This includes boarding up broken windows and doors, tarping your roof and turning off electricity and gas. This may not be possible in the immediate hours following the event. But once the structure has been declared safe-to-enter by emergency personnel, the clock begins ticking.

The next step is to contact home-restoration professionals who are experienced in dealing with property damage and will work with your insurance company.

With any large-loss project, SERVPRO professionals work hard to inspect the damage in your home or business and make a plan for cleanup. We determine the work required and give you a thorough cost estimate. We then contact your insurance company about your claim, clean up to minimize further damage, and get to work restoring your property to its former condition. 

When it comes to large loss, knowing how to immediately handle the situation is crucial. Time is of the essence in the world of damage remediation, and SERVPRO has the experience and expertise to restore your home or business and get your life back in order.

Working With SERVPRO

SERVPRO of Denton specializes in the cleanup and restoration of commercial and residential property after damaging event. Our staff is highly trained in property damage restoration. From initial and ongoing training at SERVPRO’s corporate training facility for regular IICRC-industry certification, rest assured our staff is equipped with the knowledge to restore your property. SERVPRO wants our team to be part of your team! Call us at (940) 566-2277 or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!