How to best deal with insurance companies after major storm damage

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The remnants of Hurricane Beryl ripped across most of New York State on Wednesday, leaving behind a swath of damage in many regions due to high winds, flash flooding and even some tornados.

In Western New York alone, a total of four confirmed tornados touched down on Wednesday, affecting areas such as the towns of Arkwright and Hanover in Chautauqua County, Eden and Aurora in Erie County, and Darien and Alexander in Genesee County.

For someone who sustained damage as a result of the tornados, or any other storm-related events in Beryl's wake, one of the first calls made may be to their insurance company. Dave Kirst, insurance sales and operations manager at AAA says right off the bat, make sure you have proper coverage in an event such as this.

"Anytime you do call the carrier directly, they're going to start a claim process for you, whether or not you have that coverage. So it's best if you do have an independent agent to speak with them and make sure you do have the proper coverages on your policies," said Kirst in an interview with WBEN.

The first initial call will mostly be a preliminary conversation to get things started, according to Kirst. He says you may not need to have a ton of stuff ready right away, but it's always good to take a look and try to assess any damage you may have had.

"If it is damage from a tornado or a windstorm, typically speaking, that is always going to be covered on your homeowners policy with that. Flooding could be a bit different, though," Kirst noted. "If it's just water in your basement because your sewer is backed up or a sump pump quit working, a lot of homeowners do have coverage for that. But if it's a flood, that may be different. A lot of times, that is its own standalone policy, so you may or may not have coverage for an actual flood, depending on what policies you currently have."

When it comes to a prompt response from an insurance company, Kirst does acknowledge it may vary, based on the individual insurance carrier.

"Most of the ones we have talked to, they do have some people readily available to get some of the claims process started. A lot of times, they may not actually send somebody out. You may be able to submit photos and start getting any damage estimates done right away," he said.

"I know here at AAA, we've been making sure that we're reaching out to all of our insurers in the affected areas, just to make sure that they are OK and see if they do need to file any claims, just to try to walk them through those things. I would just say make sure everyone is vigilant. Make sure they go out and take a look, make sure they don't have any damage, and that way they can get the calls in as quickly as possible to the insurance carrier, if they do need to file a claim."

Upon making the first call, one of the big things Kirst advises should always be double checked is, "What is your deductible for?"

"That's the amount you're gonna have to pay out of pocket before the insurance company kicks in. For example, if it's only minor damage, maybe a couple shingles off, maybe a little bit of siding that came off but you have a $1,000 deductible and you only have $500 worth of damage, it doesn't make sense to file that claim. On the other hand, though, if it's well-above what your deductible is, then it's definitely gonna make sense to go with that," Kirst explained.

Another item for people to keep in mind with storm damage such as this is their cars and what their policy might cover.

"If there is damage to your car because of a tree that fell on it or anything like that, you would need to have the comprehensive coverage on your vehicle in order to make sure that you did get paid out for your car for repairs," Kirst said.