After the Fire

Recovering from a Home Fire

We’ve covered home fire pre-planning and escape plans, now you need to now what to do after a home fire. This is the page we hope you never have to reference. But if you do, the information is available.

First a combination of pre-planning and recovery of either valuables or documents.

• Keep photos and sales receipts of valuables. This may be necessary for item-specific insurance but even if you don’t have coverage, documentation will be necessary to write the items off on your taxes.
• Inventory your home’s contents.
• If possible, keep important papers, including the above photos, receipts and inventory, in a fire-proof safe or box. An alternative is to keep the originals off-site, a bank safety deposit box, and copies at home. Include insurance information, social security cards, medication information, credit card account numbers and phone numbers, mortgage documents, etc.

Here is a list of important papers that should be protected from home fires as well as where to go to replace them:

• Driver’s license and auto registration: Department of Motor Vehicles
• Bank books, checking and savings: Your bank
• Insurance policies: Your insurance agent
• Military discharge papers: Department of Veteran Affairs
• Passports: Passport service
• Birth, death and marriage certificates: Bureau of Records in the appropriate state or county
• Divorce papers: Circuit court where decree was issued
• Social Security or Medicare cards: Local Social Security office
• Credit cards: Issuing companies
• Titles and deeds: Records Department where the property is located, city or county
• Stocks and bonds: Issuing company or your broker
• Wills: Your lawyer
• Medical records: Your doctor
• Income tax returns: IRS Center or your accountant
• Citizenship papers: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
• Animal registration papers: Humane Society, local Animal Control office or the breed registry.
• Mortgage papers: Lending institution

Next, the first steps toward recovery from a fire:

• If you do not have insurance, contact the local disaster relief service such as the American Red Cross, Salvation Army or county social services to get help with the immediate needs of shelter, food and other essentials.
• If you are insured, contact your agent immediately. If you have questions about coverage for temporary housing and other immediate costs, settle that up front. As you incur costs, save all receipts. Ask your agent what they require in terms of covering doors, windows and pumping out water. Make sure you clearly understand what the insurance company requires from you. You may have to submit your inventory of house contents.
• Do not re-enter the home until it has been cleared by the fire department. The on-site fire fighters will usually turn off all utilities. Do not turn them back on yourself, contact the utility companies.
• Notify the following: the police department if the house is left unoccupied; the post office of your change of address and your mortgage company.
• You may have to place a value on your personal property and then be prepared to defend that value. Objective measures of value include cost when purchased, fair market value before the fire and value after the fire (salvage value).
• There are restoration services that work with fire damaged structures. Be clear up front with your insurance company who hires and will pay for the service. Their services include securing the property against further damage; estimating and repairing damage; estimating the cost to repair or renew items of personal property; packing, transporting and storing household items; securing, cleaning or repair subcontractors and storing repaired items until needed.

Tagged as: after the fire, recovering from a home fire