Claims FAQs

As soon as you know you have a claim, report it.

In general, you may report your claim to your agent, who will then notify us. You may also report the claim directly to us or to our after hours emergency line. See Report an Earthquake, Flood and Commercial Property Claim for contact information.

Generally, some of the preliminary information you’ll need includes:

• When and what was damaged or lost
• The extent of damages
• If temporary repairs are needed
• Whether authorities such as police or fire department were notified

Take all reasonable steps to make temporary repairs to protect covered property from further damage. If feasible, set the damaged property aside and in the best possible order for examination. Your expenses for these efforts are reimbursable, subject to your policy’s coverage and deductibles.

Do not incur additional expenses beyond those required to protect your property. Keep an accurate record of all repair expenses.

We will ask for complete inventories of the damaged and undamaged property including quantities, costs, values and amount of loss claimed.

Save receipts for damaged or stolen property. Permit us to inspect the damaged property, examine your books and records if required, and to take samples of damaged and undamaged property for inspection, testing and analysis.

Depending on the nature of the claim, we may ask you to provide within 60 days of our request, a signed, sworn proof of loss or an examination under oath containing the information we requested to investigate your claim within 10 days of our request.

Yes. You can select a qualified and licensed contractor.

The amount of time required to handle each claim varies based on the severity of the damage and other factors.

We will pay your claim, or replace or repair your covered property as soon as the damages have been properly, documented and/or an estimate has been prepared for repair, or replacement of your building. Our adjuster will reach an agreed upon price with your contractor. We will pay the fair market value upon receipt of this estimate (subject to the policy’s coverage and deductibles).

If you have replacement cost coverage, which allows for the cost of replacement without deduction for depreciation, we will pay the difference between fair market value and replacement cost as soon as construction is completed or personal property is replaced.

Your policy will state how long you have to present and be paid for your claim.

Usually, the policy will allow one or two years for the presentation and payment of your claim. However, you should immediately report all known claims, as failure to do so may jeopardize coverage under your policy.

Yes, we will consider advancing money to you if it will allow you to keep your business running or help you recover timely from your loss. All advances will be offset from further payments due to you.

The policy allows either you or us to make a written demand for appraisal of the loss if we disagree on the value of property or the amount of loss. See your property conditions section for more details on this process.

We encourage you use our Contact Us page or contact the independent adjuster assigned to your claim at any time, to discuss any questions you may have.