Documenting Water Damage for an Insurance Claim in New York

Prompt notice, by phone and then in writing. Photographs of the source and every wet room before anything is moved. Receipts for every step taken to protect the house. Daily moisture readings written down during drying. And an inventory of damaged belongings, with each removed item photographed first. In New York it is up to the policyholder to prove the loss, so the record is yours to build.

Already know you need someone out? Call (315) 640-3590, answered 24/7.

The burden is yours, so the record is too

New York's Department of Financial Services is direct about who carries the proof. After a loss the insurer sends an adjuster to examine the damage and estimate repair or replacement, you may get an estimate from your own contractor to compare, and it is up to the policyholder to prove the loss to the company. The standard HO-3 form lists the duties that go with that: prompt notice, protecting the property from further damage, reasonable repairs to protect it, an accurate record of repair expenses, an inventory of damaged personal property, and showing the damaged property as often as reasonably required. Every one of those is easier if it was recorded on the first day, before the house was cleaned up.

Notice: phone first, then writing

The Department of Financial Services says the first thing to do after a loss is to notify the insurer or agent, which can be done by phone, and then follow up in writing and keep copies of all correspondence. It warns that failing to notify promptly might result in a denial of coverage. Once the insurer has notice, New York's claims regulation starts its own clock: under 11 NYCRR 216.6, once a properly executed proof of loss is received, the claimant must be told in writing within 15 business days whether the claim is accepted or rejected, or why more time is needed. None of that is a reason to delay the drying. It is a reason to make the call on the first day.

Photographs before anything moves

The insurer has the right to inspect the property in its damaged condition, and it can refuse to pay for damage repaired before inspection. Photographs are how a house that had to be dried keeps its evidence. Take them from each doorway, then close up: the water line on every wall, the floor, the ceiling, the baseboards, the underside of lifted carpet, and every damaged belonging where it sat. Photograph the source and keep the failed part, whether a supply line, a valve or a section of pipe. Film a slow walk through the house as well. Photographs should come before extraction, not after, and a second set once the wet materials have been exposed is worth taking too.

Receipts, and an invoice that separates the work

The Department of Financial Services says the cost of protecting a property from further damage is generally covered and reimbursed, and tells policyholders to save all receipts for temporary fixes. The ISO HO-3 form's reasonable repairs provision describes the same kind of cost: necessary measures taken solely to protect covered property from further damage. Extraction and drying sit there. Ask the contractor for an invoice that lists extraction, drying equipment and removal of materials separately from any rebuild, and keep the plumber's invoice for the failed pipe apart as well, because the standard form does not pay for the system or appliance the water escaped from. A blended bill is harder to settle.

The drying log

A water damage claim is partly a claim that the house was dried properly. The EPA says drying usually takes several days to weeks and that materials should read 15 percent or less before refinishing, so the log is the evidence: the points that were read, marked on a sketch or photographed, the reading at each point each day with the date, and a final set showing the house dry. Ask for a copy at the end. It supports the claim, it tells whoever quotes the rebuild where they stand, and it answers the question an adjuster may ask months later about whether the walls were closed while still wet.

Before anything is thrown away

The EPA advises throwing away materials that soak up a lot of water and cannot be cleaned and dried, and in a sewage loss the CDC advises removing drywall and insulation it contaminated. That is sound for the house and risky for the claim if it is done without a record. Before anything leaves, photograph it in place and again once it is out, list it with its approximate age, and ask your insurer whether they want anything, or a sample of it, kept until the adjuster has seen it. For belongings, the HO-3 form's inventory duty and its 60 day sworn proof of loss both lean on the same list, so build it as things come out rather than from memory.

Who deals with the insurer

You do. A drying contractor documents the drying. In New York, anyone who, for money, acts or aids in any manner on behalf of an insured in negotiating or effecting the settlement of a claim is a public adjuster, and must hold a license from the Department of Financial Services. Licensed public adjusters exist and represent the policyholder, and DFS says by law they may not charge more than 12.5 percent of the recovery. Whether to hire one is your decision. What you should not do is let anyone who is not licensed negotiate the claim for you. This site does not handle claims and does not say whether a loss will be covered.