Insurance Claims Process

Call us first. Water damage is time-sensitive—every hour of delay increases the damage and the cost. Your insurance policy actually requires you to take reasonable steps to prevent further damage (called “duty to mitigate”), and calling a professional immediately satisfies that requirement.

Once we have the emergency under control, we help you file the claim with your insurance company and provide all the documentation they need from the start.

Adjusters need: photos of the damage (before any work begins), identification of the water source and cause, moisture readings showing the extent of damage, a detailed scope of work with line-item pricing (preferably in Xactimate), daily drying logs, and post-restoration verification showing the structure is dry.

We compile all of this as part of our standard restoration process. You receive a copy of everything we send to your insurer, so you always know the status of your claim.

Xactimate is the industry-standard software used by almost every insurance adjuster in the United States to write repair estimates. It contains standardized pricing for materials and labor, updated monthly for each geographic region. When your restoration company writes its estimate in Xactimate using the same pricing database your adjuster uses, there are far fewer disputes over cost.

We write every estimate in Xactimate. This is one of the most important things a restoration company can do to protect your claim.

Most homeowners policies pay claims on a Replacement Cost Value (RCV) basis, but they hold back depreciation until repairs are completed. For example, if your 10-year-old carpet needs replacement, the insurer pays the current cost of equivalent new carpet minus depreciation for 10 years of wear. Once you replace the carpet and submit the receipt, they release the held-back depreciation (called “recoverable depreciation”).

This means your initial check may be less than the total estimate. The remainder is released after the work is done and documented. We explain this process at the beginning of every project so there are no surprises.

First, request the denial or underpayment reason in writing. Common reasons include the insurer classifying the loss as “gradual” rather than “sudden,” a maintenance exclusion, or disagreement on the scope of damage. In many cases, these can be challenged with proper documentation.

We provide detailed loss documentation—moisture readings, source identification, timeline evidence—that can support an appeal or re-inspection request. If the dispute continues, you may also have the right to invoke the appraisal clause in your policy, which brings in an independent appraiser to settle the disagreement.

We work with your insurance company throughout the process and submit our documentation directly to your adjuster. However, the insurance contract is between you and your insurer—they pay you, and you pay us. In practice, many insurance companies issue checks payable to both the homeowner and the mortgage company (if applicable).

We help you navigate the payment process and can explain how to handle mortgage company endorsements, deductibles, and depreciation holdbacks so that cash flow is not a barrier to getting your property restored.

Kentucky law requires insurers to acknowledge a claim within 15 working days and make a coverage decision within a reasonable time. In practice, straightforward water damage claims (clear source, documented damage, agreed scope) are typically approved within 1–3 weeks. Complex or large-loss claims, especially those requiring supplements, can take 4–8 weeks or longer.

The most common cause of delays is incomplete documentation. Because we provide comprehensive documentation from day one—photos, moisture data, Xactimate estimates, and drying logs—our claims tend to move faster than average.