What to do When Your Home Suffers Storm Damage

Your home is a treasured haven and a shelter from the powerful storms that roll through our shoreline region from all directions. As NJ Coastal Home Insurance experts, we’ve witnessed virtually every kind of storm-related problem homeowners face. In this post, we tap our extensive experience to provide you with our best advice should a storm harm your residence.

Checklist for Actions If a Storm Damages Your Home

• Ensure the safety of family members, including pets.
• Carefully check your home for damage.
• Thoroughly document the damage with photos and videos before making repairs.
• Contact your insurance agent as soon as possible.
• Act to prevent post-storm damage where possible, such as boarding up broken windows.
• Hire only qualified contractors to repair and restore your home.

Make Safety First an Unbreakable Rule

Securing the well-being of your family members, pets, and you is your first critical task in the aftermath of storm damage to your home and property. It’s natural to want to start immediate repairs to minimize further damage to your house, especially if it has become unlivable. Still, it’s more important to make arrangements to get your family to safe quarters first. Family, friends, local hotels, and disaster shelters are your best options, usually in that order.

Check Your Home for Damage

You want to begin a damage assessment as soon as it is safe after a storm. Check weather stations to learn if it is safe to be outside first. Because damage and potential hazards frequently are not readily apparent, you must be extremely careful while inspecting your home.

Depending on the extent of the damage, you should be on heightened alert for downed electrical lines, gas leaks, broken glass, nails, and other sharp objects. If you are not sure or don’t know what to do, especially with gas and electrical issues, don’t take chances. Call to get competent assistance. Keep an eye above for potential falling objects or debris and below for slippery surfaces, loose floorboards, and other dangerous items that can cause cuts, slips, and falls.

If you have standing water in your home, don’t venture in until you are sure there are no downed power lines in your area. If you smell gas, turn off the main gas line to the house, don’t enter, and don’t use any open flame source, whether lighting a candle or cigarette, until the situation is clear.

Roofs are the most common feature of your home to suffer expensive storm damage. When heavy objects or trees hit the roof, it may weaken the structural integrity of your home. Such damage is usually apparent. However, you’ll want to look for leaks in your ceilings and roof, caused mainly by holes in the roof or cracks and split seams. Also, check for missing, dented, and damaged shingles or roof tiles.

As soon as you can, make sure your gutters and downspouts are clear of debris and redirecting water away from your house. Check for damage to your flashings, gutters, vents and HVAC units, and other outdoor appliances and structures. Look for wind storm damage to bricks, siding, stucco, and all exterior surfaces. Make a note of all visible cracks, splits, holes, dents, splitting, holes, breaks, chipping, and discoloration on surfaces. Please do the same when inspecting windows and doors and their frames.

Document the Damage

For your protection and to assist your claims adjuster, it’s imperative to record all damage to your house with photographs and video if possible. As eager as you rightly may be, it’s critical to document damages before starting any repairs visually. Keep a notebook to write down all calls to anyone involved in filing claims and repairing your property.

Be diligent and notate the date and time, phone number, and name of the person with whom you spoke. Confirm and reconfirm all dates for visits or cleanup and repair crews to arrive and your expectations for the services they will perform. Thoroughly documented and well-kept records are beneficial in the event of a disagreement or misunderstanding that affects resolving issues of repairing and restoring your home.

Contact Your Agent, Insurance Company, and Governmental Agencies ASAP

You want your agent in the loop as quickly as you can get them to respond. In the aftermath of large-scale storms, everyone, including your agent, claims adjusters, and insurance company personnel will handle many customers at once. If your loss meets requirements for government assistance through FEMA or another agency, make contact with them as quickly as you can. Be patient but persistent and keep trying until you get the right person to get help with your claim.

Secure Your Home from Additional Weather Damage ASAP

If there are things you, your family, friends, or neighbors can do safely, such as putting up plastic sheeting or boards on broken windows or doors, you should start temporary repairs as fast as you can to avoid more damage to your property.

Work with Qualified Contractors and Repair People

Big storms bring out hustlers seeking quick payoffs for often shabby work. They prey on homeowners who are desperate for help. Resist the temptation to go with someone offering service but who is not licensed or qualified to do the work at hand. Get referrals from people you trust, including your NJ Coastal Home Insurance agent.

The staff at the Dickstein Agency are your neighbors who reside in or around the same towns and places where you live. We have all firsthand experience dealing with the results of brutal storms that hit our beautiful coastal area. You can rely on our decades of experience helping insureds work their way through the claims process after a storm hits. And you can trust their expertise to help you make sure you have the most comprehensive coverage at a competitive rate for your homeowners insurance.

About Dickstein Associates Agency

Dickstein Associates Agency has distinguished itself as a leading provider of personal and business insurance in the tri-state area since 1965. We pride ourselves on being advocates for our clients and providing them with quality and affordable coverages. As Trusted Choice™ independent insurance agency, we partner with various national and regional carriers, allowing for flexible coverage for each client’s unique circumstances. For more information on how you can leverage all your insurance to work best for you, and how we can secure the best insurance in the marketplace suited to your specific needs and business objectives, contact us today at (800) 862-6662 or www.dicksteininsurance.com