I had a fire at my home...need advice

I had a fire at my home on June 6th.  I am not asking for any money from anyone on here.  What I need is advice from those who might have or know someone who went through this.  I am looking for tips in dealing with your insurance company.   I want to know possible pitfalls to avoid?  What possible questions to ask? All commments will be grealty appreciated. We had a total loss.  The frame of the house is there but the inside is gone.  We have been placed in a apartment by the insurance company.  The expected time is 6 months for repairs.

We were only in a fire once and at that time had no renter insurance.  What we leaned was first GET SOME.  The other was if you can go to the place you purchased the bigger items from and see if they show a record of the sale.  Or go to the bank and see if they have cancelled checks in the computer to the various companies.  This would help determine the value of the  items lost unfortunatly most companies don't give you the full value but they well give you a depreciation value if you can show what you paid.  Or get to the various stores and and research the value of simular items.  It's going to take some leg work on you part but this way you'll get what you deserve.  Well you deserve to have the full value and hopefully your policy can get you close to that.  I'm so very sorry for all you lost.  I do hope this has helped.  Also if you haven't done so get a fireproof box walmart carries them and keep those big ticket items and papers in that.  We keep receipts for everything now.   Hope that helps

I'm so sorry you're going through this. If you can afford it, have you thought about getting a lawyer? If you can't afford one, many of them will give you a free first consultation. Good luck with this process.

Hi!  My family and I had a fire 2 years ago and it was not a pleasant experience dealing with our insurance company.  1)  Why do you have 6 months for repairs?  Is that because your insurance says 180days or the insurance is void?  What happended to us was the insurance co said that they'd extend the time frame because realistically you will not be able to do the needed repairs in 6mo.  You need to get something in writing that extends this date for repair and replacement.  They can and will pull the plug on your reimbursment after the 6months.  I will add the 6 months started the day your house burned as well.  2)  Read your policy.  We were told by our state insurance commissioner that unfortionately this is time that most people really read their policies.  Use your insurance commissioner--your taxes have paid for their position.  3)  Be there with the adjuster.  If you have a replacement policy make sure they do not want to repair what needs to be replaced.  4)  Take things one day at a time  you'll get through it believe me these 2 years have gone through.  There is so much we don't know.  5)  Understand the "limit of insurance" vs "totaled".  Our agent kept saying our house wasn't totaled because we had a garage standing and some rafters left and concrete that we could have "cleaned".  They wanted to take the "limit of insurance" and deduct from that the garage etc instead of paying the limit of bills.  I am willing to discuss this with you.  email me if you want to talk.  You have rights and maybe things are going well for you.  Anyway---Good Luck and take care of yourself remember read your policy and contact your state insurance commissioner for info too. PennyB