You are probably standing outside a house you cannot go back into, being handed phone numbers. You do not have to decide everything today. This page lays out the order things actually happen in, so you know what is coming.
If you do nothing else, do these.
Structure, electrics and air quality are all unknown until they have cleared it. This is not a formality.
Ring them and open the claim, even if you know none of the details yet. The claim number is what unlocks everything else.
Open windows, a hole in the roof, or a door that will not lock means weather and anybody walking past. Boarding and tarping is usually the first physical job, and it is usually urgent.
Once contents are moved, the evidence of what was there moves with them. If you can safely do it, photograph every room. If you cannot, we do this as a matter of course.
Hotel, meals, clothes, the lot. Whether they are reimbursed is between you and your insurer, but you cannot claim what you did not record.
Board openings, tarp the roof, make the property weathertight and closed up.
Room-by-room photographs, an inventory of what was affected, and a written scope. This is yours, and it is what your claim runs on.
Almost every fire leaves a water problem behind it. Drying starts early or it becomes a mold problem within 24 to 48 hours.
Cleaning surfaces and contents, and treating the smell properly rather than covering it.
A not-to-exceed number before any restoration work begins. If the scope changes, work stops and you re-approve.
We are a small Connecticut outfit. We are well suited to securing a property, documenting it thoroughly, drying it out, and handling smoke and contents cleaning.
We do not do large-loss rebuilds, and we do not do asbestos or lead abatement — that is licensed work here and we refer it to a licensed contractor.
If your fire is bigger than us, we will tell you on the first visit and help you find the right people. You have enough going on without being passed around.
If your final invoice is higher than the number you signed, you do not pay the difference — we do.
Bills are confusing enough after a fire without wondering if the number will move. So the number goes on paper first, and any change stops the work until you have agreed it.
You do not need to know what you want yet. Tell us what has happened and we will tell you what normally comes next.
We are not an insurer or an adjuster. We will not file or argue your claim — we give you the documentation for it.
