Smoke Damage Insurance Claims

Seeing your possessions and property getting damaged by smoke in your home or commercial building can be a devastating experience. Although insurance is designed to cover these losses, filing a smoke damage claim may not always be a cakewalk. Clear guidance and unbiased support from a public adjuster can help you understand exactly what your smoke damage insurance claim covers and maximize your recovery from smoke damage.

If you need help filing an insurance claim for fire or smoke damage to your home or commercial property throughout Missouri, Texas, Illinois, or Florida, the insurance adjusters at Claims Adjusters can help.

What Causes Smoke Damage?

Smoke is a collection of gas, liquid, and solid particles. While smoke can contain numerous chemicals, the most common components are tar, carbon or soot, ash, and oils. Smoke is the result when there is not enough oxygen for burning the fuel source completely.

Any type of fire can release smoke. In the U.S., fire departments respond to fire incidents across the country every 23 seconds. In 2020, they responded to 1,338,500 fires that resulted in thousands of injuries, property damage, and deaths. Every 64 seconds, a fire starts in a structure, while every 89 seconds, a fire occurs in a home.

The most common causes of fires (and hence, smoke) include:

• Smoking
• Structural fires due to welding, soldering, or other hot work
• Lightning strikes
• Heating equipment
• Electrical fires
• Cooking fires

What Types of Damage Does Smoke Cause?

While the damage fires cause is well known, gauging the damage caused by smoke can be difficult. Irrespective of the source of fire, smoke damage can affect many items throughout a home or building, apart from being harmful to your health. As such, filing smoke damage insurance claims can be complex.

Smoke and soot stick to floors, walls, and furniture, potentially damaging them apart from creating bad odors and an unattractive appearance. As soot can quickly spread, it will cover almost all your possessions, which may then have to be discarded. While surfaces and appliances can become discolored, smoke and soot cause etching in glass objects and tarnish the metals.

Soot and smoke can also enter the heating and cooling systems, which can translate, into expensive repairs or replacement. Smoke damage insurance claims are often related to:

• HVAC system evaluation, cleaning, and repairs
• Deodorizing of carpet, clothing, and furniture
• Carpet cleaning
• Wall washing
• Repainting
• Appliance replacement
• Wallpaper replacement

Learn more about What Your Smoke Damage Insurance Claims Covers.

Benefits of Working with a Public Adjuster for Your Smoke Damage Insurance Claim

When you file a smoke damage insurance claim, your insurance company will send their insurance adjuster to evaluate the damage and estimate the cost for the required repairs. The insurance adjuster, working on the insurance company's behalf, may try to minimize the cost of damages, which can result in a lesser payout. Besides, insurance companies also require that you maintain a record of the tragedy and the nature of the damage. This can be difficult to do when there is an emergency such as a fire or lightning strike. Without these details, the insurance company may either deny your claim or reduce the payout.

A public adjuster, who has your best interests at heart, will help you avoid these pitfalls when it comes to smoke damage insurance claims. At Claims Adjusters, our smoke damage insurance claims experts will assist you every step of the way in the complicated claims process. Apart from gathering the required evidence to support your claim, we work to ensure you get the maximum benefits as per your policy coverage.

Get in touch today to learn more about how our public insurance adjuster can help streamline your smoke damage insurance claim process.