Insurance leaders offer wildfire-recovery tips for property owners

Step 1: Contact your insurer to get the claims process started. While evacuated, contact your insurer. You do not need to wait until you return home before reaching out to your insurer. Insurers can be contacted via their toll-free number, app, or website.

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Step 2: Discuss coverage for temporary housing with your insurer. If you are not able to live in your home, your insurance policy may provide coverage for additional living expenses which can help you obtain temporary housing while you rebuild or repair your home.

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Step 3: Work closely with your adjuster. Adjusters will walk you through the claims process, answer questions, estimate damage, and settle your claim.

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Step 4: Beware of scammers and unscrupulous contractors. Work with your insurer first and do not get pressured into signing anything from a third-party vendor.

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Step 5: Stay up to date on payments. Continue to pay your mortgage and property taxes while you rebuild or repair your home.

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Step 6: Keep insurance while rebuilding. This is also a good time to evaluate your flood risk and consider your need for flood insurance. Rainy seasons can trigger flooding and mudflows after a wildfire, neither of which are covered under a standard homeowners policy.

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Although peak U.S. wildfire season is generally thought to be during the hottest months of the summer (i.e., June through August), several locations nationwide have already experienced devastating blazes in 2022.

New Mexico is among those locations. There, a fast-moving scorcher forced evacuations and destroyed dozens of structures in April, which spurred the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance (OSI) to team up with the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) and the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association (RMIA) to urge homeowners, renters and businesses to contact their insurance company as soon as possible when it’s time to file a claim.

“The OSI wants to make sure that every New Mexican facing the loss of home and personal belongings is safe and gets back on their feet as soon as possible,” New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance Russell Toal said in a recent statement. “Make sure you keep your important papers with you, and contact your insurance company immediately.”

The agencies reminded consumers that homeowners and renters insurance policies generally provide coverage for additional living expenses if a covered loss makes a home uninhabitable. The additional living expense provision of an insurance policy may help pay for things like temporary housing, laundry services, restaurant meals and more. Residents should also ask their insurer if the policy has coverage for expenses incurred while they are evacuated.

“Even if you are still evacuated, you can reach out to your insurer,” said Lee Ann Alexander, vice president of state government relations for APCIA. “Insurers are ready to help residents impacted by the wildfires begin the recovery process and get the resources needed to take care of their immediate needs, like temporary housing.”

The six wildfire recovery tips outlined above were compiled by the OSI, RMIA and the APCIA.

“It is critical those in the path of the fires understand how their insurance can help them when they’re under a mandatory evacuation order and what to do as they are allowed back into their homes,” Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, concluded in the agencies’ combined statement.

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