Commercial Fire Damage Claims: 10 Tips for a Successful Claim

ClaimsMate’s public adjusters have decades of combined experience helping business owners navigate commercial insurance claims.

Keep reading to discover our best tips for maximizing the value of your business’s fire damage insurance claim.

Document Everything with Photos & Videos

In the immediate aftermath of a fire, it’s important to take as many photos and videos as possible. You want evidence the loss took place. The more photos and videos you have, the easier your claim will be.

Your insurance may not need 90% of the visual evidence you collect, but a single photo or video can become crucial at a later point. Once cleanup starts, evidence of the loss also starts to disappear.

Create an Inventory

Your commercial insurance provider needs a list of items and property damaged in the fire. One of your biggest jobs, as a policyholder, is to create a list of damaged items. As long as there’s evidence the fire damaged those items, your insurer should compensate you for the loss.

A good commercial fire damage inventory claim should include:

• The name or type of damaged item
• The estimated value of the damaged items or total losses
• Proof the item was damaged in the covered event (i.e. the fire)

Ideally, businesses create an inventory before the loss occurs, including a list of equipment, its estimated value, and purchase information (like a date and location of purchase or a receipt). In most cases, however, businesses create inventories after a loss – and insurers still pay.

Understand Your Coverage Thoroughly

Commercial insurance policies can be complicated. Even if you have a typical business owners policy (BOP), it may have confusing terms that make it difficult to understand what’s covered and what isn’t.

As a business owner, however, you have an obligation to understand your commercial insurance policy. Understanding your policy could be the difference between the success and failure of your business.

Read your commercial policy or BOP thoroughly to understand exclusions, coverage limits, and everything else in your policy. Don’t let your insurer take advantage of your lack of insurance knowledge.

File a Police Report

Generally, you need to file a police report for your commercial fire damage insurance claim – especially for higher-value claims.

Law enforcement officials conduct an investigation, collect evidence from your business and the scene, and create a formal report. That report will be used throughout the insurance claim process.

Understand Why Insurance Could Reject Your Claim

Insurance companies aren’t charities. They’re for-profit businesses that can and often will deny your claim if legally possible.

As a business owner, it’s important to remember some of the reasons insurance could deny your fire damage insurance claim, including:

• Wear and tear or previous damage to items
• Lack of maintenance
• Lack of coverage, or not enough coverage
• Failure to pay premiums on time
• Failure to file the fire damage claim within a set period of time
• Lack of documentation or evidence

File a Business Interruption Claim

Most commercial policies, including business owners policies (BOPs), include business interruption coverage.

Business interruption coverage covers any loss of business you incur as a result of the covered event – like a fire.

Insurers use average business income over a fixed period (typically, the average of the last 12 months) to calculate business interruption coverage payout.

Business interruption coverage may also cover the cost of relocating your business to a new location and training new staff.

Business interruption coverage can add thousands to your insurance claim. Check your policy and consider filing a business interruption claim if a fire affects your business’s daily operations.

Check for Smoke & Soot Damage

Fires can cause obvious and visible damage throughout a business. However, smoke and soot damage may be less obvious.

Smoke and soot can travel throughout your business via the HVAC system. In many cases, smoke and soot travel far from the original source of the fire, causing damage in surprising areas of your business.

Check your business thoroughly for smoke and soot damage. Pay close attention to confined spaces – like drawers or closets. Consider hiring a professional contractor or restoration expert to check your business.

Contact Your Insurer Immediately After the Loss

Most commercial policies require you to report a loss within a set period of time – typically anywhere from 30 days to one full year. In most cases, however, it’s best to contact your insurer as soon as possible after fire damage.

Insurers scrutinize fire damage claims closely. The longer you wait to report fire damage, the more the insurer could investigate the loss.

Be Prepared to Work with Your Insurer’s Forensic Accountant

Insurers may hire a forensic accountant to analyze your business’s finances. The forensic accountant may require certain financial statements, and you may be required to produce these financial statements for the claim to proceed. Consider working with an accounting professional to ensure your financial statements don’t jeopardize your claim.

Contact a Public Adjuster for Commercial Fire Damage Claim Assistance

Need help with a commercial fire damage insurance claim? Contact a public adjuster.

Public adjusters are licensed insurance industry professionals who represent your best interests in an insurance claim. They perform roles like:

• Analyze the claim and calculate a fair claim settlement
• Organize evidence
• Negotiate with the insurer on your behalf to obtain optimal settlement
• Oversee repairs and claims process from start to finish

Public adjusters charge a pre-arranged fee of the final settlement amount for their services – typically around 5% to 20%. In many cases, public adjusters can allow you to receive a final settlement 3 to 5 times higher than the settlement initially offered by your insurer.

Contact ClaimsMate today for a no-cost consultation with a public adjuster specializing in commercial fire damage insurance claims.

Stephanie Corona

Stephanie is a property insurance claim expert with over 20 years of experience working as an insurance adjuster, expert witness, appraiser and umpire. She is passionate about sharing her expertise, knowledge, tips and training to help both property owners and Public Adjusters in their pursuit of effectively managing claims and recovering the claim settlement they deserve after a loss.