Storms can be scary when they’re severe enough: lightning, hail, and tornadoes all crashing down on you at once! The only thing scarier than storms is making big mistakes during the restoration process. There’s a lot that can go wrong here, but hiring a professional and being on top of procedures can save you a world of hurt. Here are three of the scariest things about storm damage restoration that you should avoid at all costs.

Waiting Too Long to Perform the Storm Damage Restoration

When your home undergoes storm damage, it’s crucial that you file a claim as quickly as possible. While it will depend on your insurance company, it will most likely have a timeframe of how long you are eligible to file after a storm. This is relevant because many people will receive their first portion of insurance funds, use that money for something else, and then request the remaining portion of their funds months and months later, only to realize that they are too late. This leaves them with portions of their roof that are severely damaged and unable to afford it without the insurance money.

Many statutes last as long as six months, allowing for a short window of opportunity, but that is still enough if you are on top of things. It’s also a bad idea to wait because if any further storm damage occurs during this waiting period, you will not be given additional funds for it!

Trying to Make a Profit on Your Insurance Claim

Where there is money to be made, people will try their best to pocket it, and that is even true of insurance claims made during their storm damage restoration. Typically an insurance company will not give a person the full amount for their claim all at once, and will instead give them a deferred portion of it to start. Then once that first part has been used up, they will give you the remaining amount. Some people assume that they can just opt to do the cheapest repairs they can for the first given amount and then proceed to pocket what remains. The problem with this method is that the insurance company will ask for invoices and sometimes even proof of payment for the work you have already done, meaning you will only get money based on what you actually paid for in repairs. The remaining funds? They go back to the insurance company because they were not used.

This can lead to feeble repairs that do not actually protect your home and can cost you much more in the future. And don’t even think of trying to create a fake invoice, as you will most likely go to jail for insurance fraud—a scary thought indeed!

Not Notifying Your Insurance Company

On the opposing side to those who try to swindle insurance companies in the hopes of making a profit off of their storm damage restoration, there are also those who say nothing to their insurance company at all! But isn’t that what insurance is for? Why wouldn’t you let your insurance company know? The main mindset behind this line of thinking is that if they notify their insurance company about the storm damage, their policy will increase, however, this is actually not true. The system does not operate the same as a car insurance policy, where an accident can lead to raises, so there is no need to forgo filling your insurance company in when storm damage occurs.

The scariest part about his is the fact that many people will attempt to make repairs themselves or contact someone who they think can do it for them, which has the potential to make things worse or fail to solve the problem at all, which only leads to further damage taking place.

Storm Damage Restoration is Serious Stuff

The process of dealing with storm damage can be intimidating, but if you hire qualified professionals, like those at Alpha Elite Roofing, and ensure that you are updated on the best insurance practices, you can avoid some serious headaches.

Are you interested in learning more about restoration regarding storm damage? Contact Alpha Elite Roofing today for a free inspection or call (822)-992-7663.