Insurance Claims
A homeowners claim is a paper trail as much as a repair. The owners who fare well report early, photograph everything, keep every receipt and know the timelines Alabama sets for insurers.
What to do in the first days, what the state rules say about how fast an insurer must respond, why flood is a separate claim, and who to call when a claim stalls.
Damage happening now?
Stop the water first and call {{PHONE}}. A person answers at any hour, and we start the record for your adjuster.
After a hurricane, a kitchen fire or a pipe that let go overnight, the claim can feel like a second disaster. The house needs work now, and the insurer wants information.
Most of the outcome is decided in the first few days, by what you report, what you photograph and what you keep. This page walks through those days in order, then sets out what the Alabama Department of Insurance rules require of the insurer, and where to turn if a claim stops moving. It is general guidance from a restoration company, not legal advice. Your policy and your insurer have the final word on coverage.
Report early, protect the house, and build the record before anything is thrown away.
Keep people out of rooms with sagging ceilings or water near outlets. Shut off the water main if a pipe is leaking, and turn off power to wet circuits only if you can do it without standing in water.
Call your agent or the insurer’s claim line as soon as you can and write down the claim number, the date and the name of the person you spoke with. Most policies require prompt notice, and an early report starts the insurer’s 15 day acknowledgment clock.
Take wide shots of each room, then close shots of the damage, the water line on the walls, the ceiling, the roof if it is safe to see from the ground, and serial numbers on damaged appliances.
Policies usually expect you to protect the property from further loss. That can mean a tarp over an opening, a board over a broken window, or getting water extracted and drying started. Keep every receipt.
Before you tear out cabinets, replace flooring or sign a rebuild contract, talk to your adjuster. The insurer will usually want to see the damage, and a finished repair can make it harder to show what was there.
Log every call, email and visit with the date, and keep every estimate, photo and receipt in one folder.
Do not throw away the evidence too early
Wet carpet, pad and drywall often have to come out quickly to stop mold. Photograph them first, keep a small cut sample of flooring and pad if you can, and note the brand. If an adjuster asks later, you will have it.
The Department of Insurance sets claim handling deadlines in the Alabama Administrative Code, Rule 482-1-125.
These timelines are written into the state’s unfair claims settlement rule, and they are worth knowing because they tell you when to expect an answer. One detail matters more than any other: the longer clocks start when the insurer receives a properly executed proof of loss, the formal statement of your claim, not on the day of your first phone call.
| Step | What the rule says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Acknowledge your notice | Within 15 days, "acknowledge the receipt of such notice unless payment is made within that period of time" | 482-1-125-.06(1) |
| Forms and help | Within 15 days, provide claim forms, instructions or reasonable assistance | 482-1-125-.06(4) |
| Accept or deny | Within 30 days of receiving properly executed proofs of loss, "or the number of days specified in the policy" | 482-1-125-.07(1) |
| More time needed | Notify you within 30 days with reasons, then again 45 days later and every 45 days after that | 482-1-125-.07(2) |
| Pay | Within 30 days "or the time specified in the policy" after accepting liability and agreeing on the amount | 482-1-125-.07(6) |
If your claim is past one of these marks and you have heard nothing, ask the insurer in writing where it stands.
Water from above and water from the ground are often covered by two different policies.
A standard homeowners policy does not cover flooding. Rain through a storm damaged roof is usually a homeowners claim; surge from the bay or a creek rising into the house is a flood claim. Flood coverage comes from the National Flood Insurance Program, run by FEMA, or from a private flood policy, and it is filed separately with its own adjuster.
After a hurricane, many homes in the low ground of Mobile and southern Baldwin County have both kinds of damage. Report both, photograph the water line inside and outside, and keep the two sets of receipts apart. Our page on flood zones and flood insurance covers how to check your address and why buying a policy early matters.
Wind claims on the coast may also carry a named storm deductible, which is separate from your regular one. Read how it works on hurricane deductibles and the Beach Plan.
Several people may walk through your house. It helps to know who each one represents.
Alabama’s Code, in Chapter 27-9A, describes an independent adjuster as someone who works "on behalf of an insurer to ascertain and determine the amount of any claim." Staff adjusters also work for the insurer. Be present for the inspection and ask for a copy of the estimate.
Some owners hire an adjuster to represent them instead. Before you sign with anyone offering that service, call the Department of Insurance and ask whether that person is licensed to do it in Alabama. Their answer is the one that counts.
Check any contractor before you sign, especially one who knocks on your door after a storm. Our page on checking a contractor in Alabama shows how to look up a state license.
We call our part Direct Insurance Coordination. When we do the water damage restoration or storm work, we document the damage room by room with photos, share that record with your adjuster and work with your insurer through the job. The decisions on coverage stay with you and your insurance company.
Start with the insurer, and if the answer does not come, the state has a consumer line.
The Department of Insurance asks consumers to go to the company first: "you should first contact the insurance company or producer." If that does not resolve it, the Department’s Consumer Services division takes calls at 334-241-4141 or 1-800-433-3966, and the Department lists 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for the 334-241-4141 line.
When you are ready to put it in writing, use the Alabama Department of Insurance online complaint form. Have your policy number, claim number, the dates from your claim notebook and copies of your letters ready before you start.
You can and usually should protect it from more damage, with a tarp or a temporary patch, and keep the receipts. Hold off on a full roof replacement until you have talked to your adjuster, and photograph everything before and after the temporary work.
Check whether the insurer has your signed proof of loss, because the state’s 30 day clock for an answer runs from that. Then ask in writing for a status. If you still get no answer, call the Department of Insurance Consumer Services line.
Often it is two. Wind and rain through the roof usually go to the homeowners policy; water rising from the ground is a flood claim under a flood policy, if you have one. Report both and keep the photos and receipts separate.
A person answers 24 hours a day. We document the damage room by room and work with your insurer from the first visit.