When to Mitigate in a CAT Event

Following a hurricane, mitigation efforts are vital in ensuring that the home doesn’t receive further damage. We’ve discussed Hurricane damage mitigation before (you can read that blog post here), but here’s a recap:

• Water damage can spread quickly and have long-lasting effects with-in a home.
• Mitigation is the process of stabilizing, stopping or reducing this damage.
• Some water damage may not be immediately apparent.
• The mitigation process can uncover some of this hidden damage.
• Waiting to create an estimate until after mitigation is completed reduces the chance of needing a supplement.

That said, mitigation efforts differ when a catastrophe is involved. During a catastrophe, you may be called to assess a property’s damages before the insurance carrier can confirm coverage. This means that if the property experienced damage from an uncovered peril (such as flood damage), you may not be compensated by the carrier for the efforts you took to mitigate the damage to the home. It is imperative to understand the coverage and cause of loss on a case-by-case basis.

During the process of performing the initial inspection of the flood, it needs to be determined whether or not the damage to the home was caused by flooding. If this is the case, the insurance company will not pay for mitigation efforts, and it will be up to the Pro to collect payment from the insured.

If there is ambiguity around the source of water damage, we ask our Pros to contact our team to assist in the process. We can assist you in determining if the damage was caused by an uncovered loss such as flooding or groundwater.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our team. Your cooperation in this matter is greatly appreciated.