After a storm: Facing the cleanup and maybe filing an insurance claim

MOSES LAKE — If your yard or home was damaged in Monday’s windstorm, by a falling tree or even the wind itself, there’s a lot of things you have do.

Unless you’re handy and can do the work yourself, a lot of that will involve calling professionals to handle fallen trees and do any repair and clean-up needed.

It will also mean, if you have insurance, calling your insurance company and possibly filing a claim. Because that’s why most people buy insurance in the first place.

“Typically, most insurance agencies will get that initial call,” said Shaun Middleton, the personal limits manager for Basin Pacific Insurance and Benefits in Moses Lake. “Ninety percent of people will call their agents.”

Middleton said after Monday’s windstorm, Basin Pacific was fielding calls from customers whose homes were damaged by falling trees, the wind itself, and smoke damage from all the ash carried here from the fires up north. Some folks even reported fire damage to their property, Middleton added.

“We had someone who had a tree that fell on Monday, called in and said it damaged the fencing in their yard, and we’ll get an adjuster to reach out to them in 24-48 hours,” Middleton said.

Middleton said that if someone’s home or property has received significant damage, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to take immediate steps to prevent further damage, such as putting a tarp on a ripped up roof and boarding up broken windows.

He also said many insurance companies will have a list of recommended repair and cleanup outfits they have worked with in the past. Not an approved list, Middleton said, but companies known for the quality of their work.

“Insurance companies will assist,” he said.

Othello Mayor Shawn Logan, who owns Basin Insurance in Othello and also lost his house to a fire in 2018, said most homeowners insurance policies will include a $500 or $1,000 deductible, and so it doesn’t behoove a homeowner to even contact an insurer if the value of the damage is less than the deductible.

“Don’t even submit a claim or contact that company, that will be a mark against you,” Logan said. “Save your score until it’s really needed. Your house burnt down — that’s when you want to use your insurance.”

“They keep score,” Logan added.

Logan added that homeowners who do intend to make claims against their insurance have 90 days to file that claim, and will usually know within 30 days whether their claim will be paid.

Middleton said one of the most important things that homeowners can do is to keep an itemized record of their possessions — a spreadsheet, photos or a slow video walkthrough of their house will work — long before they need to make any claims.

“It’s a huge deal trying to remember those items,” he said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].