After
The Fire
Recovering from a fire may take a long time and many of the things you
have to do will be new to you.
If you are insured, your insurance will be the most important single
component in recovering from a fire loss. A number of coverages are
available such as - homeowner's, tenant's or condominium owner's insurance
policies.
Your insurance policy is a contract between you and the insurer. The
insurer promises to do certain things for you. In turn, you have certain
obligations. Among your duties after a fire loss would be to give immediate
notice of the loss to the insurance company or the insurer's agent.
Protect the property from further damage by making sensible or necessary
repairs such as covering holes in the roof or walls. Take reasonable
precautions against loss, such as draining water lines in winter if the
house will be unheated for some time. The insurance company may refuse to
pay losses that occur from not taking such reasonable care.
Make an inventory of damaged personal property showing in detail the
quantity, description, original purchase price, purchase date, damage
estimate and replacement cost.
Cooperate with the insurer or his/her adjuster by exhibiting the damaged
property.
Submit, within a stated time period (usually 30 - 60 days), a formal
statement of loss. Such a statement should include:
- The time and cause of loss
- The names and addresses of those who have an interest in the
property. These might include the mortgage holder, a separated or
divorced spouse or a lien holder.
- Building plans and specifications of the original home and a
detailed estimate for repairs.
- The damage inventory mentioned above.
- Receipts for additional living expenses and loss of use claims.
A pre-fire inventory along with a videotape of all your property could
prove to be a valuable record when making your claim.
When adjusting your fire loss or in claiming a casualty loss on your
Federal income tax, you will have to deal with various viewpoints on the
value of your property. Some terms used are listed below:
- Your "personal valuation" is your attachment to and personal
valuation of your property lost in a fire. Personal items have a certain
sentimental value. This term is not meant to belittle their value to you
but is used to separate feelings about the value from objective measures
of value. It will be objective measures of value which you, the insurer,
and the Internal Revenue Service will use as a common ground.
- The "cost when purchased" is an important element in establishing an
item's final value. Receipts will help verify the cost price.
- Fair market value before the fire also is expressed as "actual cash
value." This is what you could have gotten for the item if you had sold
it the day before the fire. Its price would reflect its cost at purchase
and the wear it had sustained since then. Depreciation is the formal
term to express the amount of value an item loses over a period of time.
- "Value after the fire" is sometimes called the item's "salvage
value."
- The cost to replace the item with a like, but not necessarily
identical, item is the replacement cost.
"Loss adjustment" is the process of establishing the value of the damaged
property. This is the result of a joint effort among a number of parties.
Basic parties to the process are the owner or occupant and the insurance
company and its representatives.
The owner or occupant is required by the insurance contract to prepare an
inventory and cooperate in the loss valuation process. An insurance agent
may act as the adjuster if the loss is small. The insurer may send an
adjuster who is a permanent member of the insurer's staff, or the company
may hire an independent adjuster to act in its behalf. It is the insurance
adjuster's job, as a representative of the insurance company, to monitor and
assist in the loss valuation process and to bring the loss to a just and
equitable settlement.
Either you or the insurer may hire the services of a fire damage
restoration firm or fire damage service company. These firms provide a range
of services that may include some or all of the following:
- Securing the site against further damage
- Estimating structural damage
- Repairing structural damage
- Estimating the cost to repair or renew items of personal property
- Packing, transportation, and storage of household items
- Securing appropriate cleaning or repair subcontractors
- Storing repaired items until needed
It is important to coordinate with the insurance adjuster before
contracting for any services. If you invade the insurer's responsibility
area by contracting without its knowledge or consent, you may be left with
bills to pay that otherwise would have been covered by the insurer.
Item Who to Contact
Driver's license Local department of motor vehicles
Bank books Your bank, as soon as possible
Insurance policies Your insurance agent
Military discharge papers Local Veterans Administration
Passports Local passport office
Birth, death, marriage State Bureau of Records in the state
certificates of birth, death or marriage
Divorce papers Circuit Court where decree was issued
Social Security or Local Social Security Office
Medicare cards
Credit Cards The issuing companies, as soon
as possible
Titles to deeds Records department of city or county
in which the property is located
Stocks and bonds Issuing company or your broker
Wills Your lawyer
Medical records Your doctor
Warranties Issuing company
Income tax records The Internal Revenue Service Center
where filed or your accountant
Auto registration title Department of Motor Vehicles
Citizenship papers The U.S. Immigration and
Naturalization Service
Prepaid burial contracts Issuing company
Animal registration papers Society of registry
- Clothing - Smoke odor and soot sometimes can be washed
from clothing. The following formula often will work for clothing that
can be bleached:
4-6 tbsp. of Tri-Sodium Phosphate
l cup Lysol or any household chlorine bleach
l gallon warm water
Mix well, add clothes, rinse with clear water and dry well.
Be aware that Tri-Sodium Phosphate is a caustic substance used as a
cleaning agent. It should be used with care and stored out of reach of
children and pets. Wear rubber gloves when using it. Read the label
carefully. To remove mildew, wash the fresh stain with soap and warm
water. Then rinse and dry in sun. If the stain has not disappeared, use
lemon juice and salt, or a diluted solution of household chlorine
bleach.
- Cooking Utensils - Your pots, pans, flatware, etc.,
should be washed with soapy water, rinsed and then polished with a
fine-powdered cleaner. You can polish copper and brass with special
polish, salt sprinkled on a piece of lemon or salt sprinkled on a cloth
saturated with vinegar.
- Electrical Appliances - Appliances that have been
exposed to water or steam should not be used until you have a service
representative check them. This is especially true of electrical
appliances. In addition, steam can remove the lubricant from some moving
parts. If the fire department turned off your gas or power during the
fire, call the electric or gas company to restore these services - DO
NOT TRY TO DO IT YOURSELF.
- Food - Wash your canned goods in detergent and water.
Do the same for food in jars. If labels come off, be sure you mark the
contents on the can or jar with a grease pencil. Do not use canned goods
when cans have bulged or are dented or rusted.
If your home freezer has stopped running, you still can save the
frozen food. Keep the freezer closed. Your freezer has enough insulation
to keep food frozen for at least one day - perhaps for as many as two or
three days. Move your food to a neighbor's freezer or a rented locker.
Wrap the frozen food in newspapers and blankets or use insulated boxes.
Do not re-freeze food that has thawed.
To remove odor from your refrigerator or freezer, wash the inside
with a solution of baking soda and water, or use one cup of vinegar or
household ammonia to one gallon of water. Some baking soda in an open
container, or a piece of charcoal can be placed in the refrigerator or
freezer to absorb odor.
- Flooring and Rugs - When water gets underneath
linoleum, it can cause odors and warp the wood floor. If this happens,
remove the entire sheet. If the linoleum is brittle, a heat lamp will
soften it so it can be rolled up without breaking. If carefully removed,
it can be re-cemented after the floor has completely dried. Small
blisters in linoleum can be punctured with a nail and re-cemented if you
are careful. Dilute regular linoleum paste thin enough to go through a
hand syringe and shoot adhesive through the nail hole. Weigh down the
linoleum with bricks or boards. It usually is possible to cement loose
tiles of any type. Wait until the floor is completely dry before
beginning.
Rugs and carpets also should be allowed to dry thoroughly. Throw rugs
then can be cleaned by beating, sweeping or vacuuming, and then
shampooing. Rugs should be dried as quickly as possible. Lay them flat,
and expose them to a circulation of warm, dry air. A fan turned on the
rugs will speed drying. Make sure the rugs are thoroughly dry. Even
though the surface seems dry, moisture remaining at the base of the
tufts can quickly rot a rug. For information on cleaning and preserving
carpets, call your carpet dealer or installer or qualified carpet
cleaning professional.
- Mattresses and Pillows - Reconditioning an innerspring
mattress at home is very difficult, if not impossible. Your mattress may
be able to be renovated by a company that builds or repairs mattresses.
If you must use your mattress temporarily, put it out into the sun to
dry. Then cover it with rubber or plastic sheeting. It is almost
impossible to get smoke odor out of pillows. The feathers and foam
retain the odor.
- Leather and Books - Wipe leather goods with a damp
cloth, then a dry cloth. Stuff purses and shoes with newspapers to
retain shape. Leave suitcases open. Leather goods should be dried away
from heat and sun. When leather goods are dry, clean with saddle soap.
You can use steel wool or a suede brush on suede. Rinse leather and
suede jackets in cold weather and dry away from heat and sun.
Wet books must be taken care of as soon as possible. The best methods
to save wet books is to freeze them in a vacuum freezer. This special
freezer will remove the moisture without damaging the pages.
If there will be a delay in locating such a freezer, place them in a
normal freezer until a vacuum freezer can be located.
- Locks and Hinges - Locks (especially iron locks)
should be taken apart, wiped with kerosene and oiled. If locks cannot be
removed, squirt machine oil through a bolt opening or keyhole, and work
the knob to distribute the oil. Hinges also should be thoroughly cleaned
and oiled.
- Walls and Furniture - To remove soot and smoke from
walls, furniture and floors, mix together:
4 to 6 tbsp. Tri-Sodium Phosphate
1 cup Lysol or any chloride bleach
1 gallon warm water
Wear rubber gloves when cleaning. After washing the article, rinse
with clear warm water and dry thoroughly.
Walls may be washed down while wet. Use a mild soap or detergent.
Wash a small area at one time, working from the floor up. Then rinse the
wall with clear water immediately. Ceilings should be washed last. Do
not repaint until the walls and ceilings are completely dry.
Wallpaper also can be repaired. Use a commercial paste to repaste
loose edges or sections. Contact your wallpaper dealer or installer for
information on wallpaper cleaners. Washable wallpaper can be washed like
an ordinary wall, but care must be taken not to soak the paper. Work
from bottom to top to prevent streaking.
Do not dry your furniture in the sun. The wood will warp and twist
out of shape. Clear off the mud and dirt by scrubbing with a stiff brush
and a cleaning solution. You can also rub the wood surface with a 4/0
steel wool pad dipped in liquid polishing wax, wipe with a soft cloth
and then buff. Remove the drawers and let them dry thoroughly so there
will be no sticking when you replace them. Wet wood can decay and mold,
so allow it to dry thoroughly. Open doors and windows for good
ventilation. Turn on your furnace or air conditioner, if necessary. If
mold forms, wipe the wood with a cloth soaked in a mixture of borax
dissolved in hot water. To remove white spots or film, rub the wood
surface with a cloth soaked in a solution of a half cup of household
ammonia and a half cup of water. Wipe dry and polish with wax, or rub
the surface with a cloth soaked in a solution of a half cup turpentine
and a half cup of linseed oil. Be careful because turpentine is
combustible.
- Money Replacement - Handle burned money as little as
possible. Attempt to encase each bill or portion of a bill in plastic
wrap for preservation. If money is only half-burned or less (if half or
more of the bill is intact), you can take the remainder to your local
Federal Reserve Bank for replacement. Ask your personal bank for the
nearest one. Or you can mail the burned or torn money via FIRST CLASS
REGISTERED MAIL to:
U.S. Treasury Department
Main Treasury Building, Room 1123
Washington, D.C. 20220
Mutilated or melted coins can be taken to the Federal Reserve Bank,
or mailed via FIRST CLASS REGISTERED MAIL to:
Superintendent, U.S. Assay Office
32 Old Slip
New York, NY 10005
If your U.S. Savings Bonds have been mutilated or destroyed, write
to:
U.S. Treasury Department
Bureau of Public Debt
Division of Loans and Currency
537 South Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60605
Attn: Bond Consultant
Include name(s) on bonds, approximate date or time period when
purchased, denominations and
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