If as a result of Super Storm Sandy, you sustained damage to your home, photo equipment, computers or photography and are covered by insurance (or even think might be) here are few suggestions to help in making a claim:
1. Video any and all damages and orally narrate and describe the nature of the damaged goods or items such that a replay of the video by a claims adjuster provides a thorough description of the damaged property;
2. You can’t take too many pictures. Shoot everything and where possible take out pre-storm photos so the damages can be compared to what the property looked like in its normal condition;
3. Contact your insurance company and/or agent and make sure you have e mails to confirm that you have promptly contacted your insurer.
4. Give the insurance company and/or its adjuster any information it needs, promptly. Keep a record and confirm all transmissions or deliveries of documents with e mails or physical receipts.
5. Make sure to keep copies of everything you provide to the insurance carrier;
6. If you requested and/or received assistance from the police, fire department, EMS or utility company, advise your insurance carrier and get the appropriate back up;
7. Assemble any written appraisals and receipts for any of your images or household/studio items;
8. Preserve all of your invoices to customers and clients for possible use later on – especially if you have business interruption insurance.
Most importantly, do not delay in assessing any damage and reporting everything you can as fast as you can to your insurance carrier. You can always supplement with additional information your initial report of loss.
We hope that none of you need any of the above suggestions. If you do, here they are for the picking. Any questions should be addressed to your insurance broker/agent and if necessary, your lawyer.
For those that are wondering, the two of us are luckily in areas that have electricity in New York.
Good luck.
Jack & Ed
#1 by WMS on November 23, 2012 - 2:44 pm
As a personal property appraiser I would like to add a couple of suggestion;
a) add a ruler or yardstick to your photographs of items. This gives a reference of scale.
b) Take a photo of the item then one of any manufacturers identification plats, Model and serial numbers may be important.
c) appraisers can be you friend, both before and after a casualty loss.
#2 by Edward C. Greenberg on April 4, 2013 - 8:01 pm
Sorry I missed your comment. Several years ago a NY law firm was sanctioned and faced disciplinary action because its investigator used a “fake ruler”. In one instance the investigator went out to a public parking lot to “measure” the depth and width of a hole that their client broke an ankle in. The investigator/photographer used a ruler which was shall we say, not properly calibrated. The result was that, ie an 8 X 10 inch hole showed up on film as an 11 X 15 inch “crater”.
So your advice is great but using a newspaper or other standard size item is sometimes even better than using a ruler. Magicians and mentalists know that using standard measures which are not accurate, is one of the easiest ways to fool an astute observer who invariably fails to question the accuracy of the “standard measure”.
As a species we are so easily fooled its pathetic. Thanks again for the comment.