The Insured's Duties Under the Policy of Insurance
- Notice – You must give prompt notice of the loss to the insurance agent or the insurance company. If the loss involves a theft you must notify the police or it probably will not be covered. If the theft involves credit cards, you need to notify the credit card company/ies.
- Protection – You are required to protect the property from further damage.
- Inventory – You will need an inventory of damaged personal property (includes contents, tools and equipment for a commercial loss) prepared. The insurance policy requires that you provide full descriptions and values (depending on the coverage, either replacement value or actual cash value).
- Access – You are required to allow access to the insurance company (as often as the insurance company may reasonably require) so they can see the damage.
- Records – You are required to provide any requested records, including tax returns, that are pertinent to the loss.
- Examination Under Oath – You are required to submit to an examination under oath at the insurance companies request.
- Proof of Loss – You are required by the policy to submit a proof of loss promptly upon the insurer’s request.
- Additional Living Expenses/Lost Rents/Business Income Losses, etc. – You are required to document all additional costs with receipts and other applicable means.
- Assistance – You are required to cooperate with the insurance company in enforcing any right of recovery against a third party who may have caused or contributed to the loss.
- In addition, it is your responsibility to present the value of your loss to the insurance company if you disagree with their assement/s. This creates an added challenge as most policyholders are unable to assess the loss on their own. A public adjuster will streamline that entire process as we provide all of the estimates and, before we do, we document the entire loss on your behalf.
The above list of duties is meant only as a summary and is not intended to include all insurance policy requirements. Policyholders should always read their own insurance policies to obtain a full description of their duties after a loss.
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