A fixed amount
The same number applies to a covered loss whatever its size. It is printed on the declarations page.
Insurance, Homeowners
Filing a Claim in Mississippi
A homeowner claim in Mississippi follows a short list of rules the state’s Insurance Department publishes itself: report early, photograph everything, make temporary repairs, keep receipts and wait for the inspection before permanent work.
What those rules say, how deductibles work, where flood and wind fit for a Pine Belt house, and where to turn when a claim stalls.
Water still coming in?
Covering and drying are temporary repairs your insurer expects you to make. Call {{PHONE}} and we document every step for the adjuster.
Most Pine Belt homeowners file a property claim only a few times in their lives, usually on the worst day of the year: a tree through the roof in Petal, a burst supply line in a Hattiesburg kitchen, a ceiling down in Laurel. The questions come all at once.
This page walks through the process using the Mississippi Insurance Department’s own pages and its Post Disaster Claims Guide. We are a restoration company, not a lawyer or an agent, so where the state is silent we say so instead of guessing.
The First Calls and the First Photos
The Insurance Department’s advice for a homeowner is to "contact your agent or insurance company to report the loss as soon as possible."
Make the house safe
Before anyone walks the damage, check for downed lines and gas. The claims guide asks you to make sure there are no "downed electrical lines or broken gas lines" and to leave if there are.
Report the loss
Call your agent or the company’s claims line, write down the claim number and the name of everyone you speak to, and ask when to expect an adjuster.
Photograph before you clean
The department’s storm page says: "Photograph the damage to your property in order to assist in filing an insurance claim." Take wide shots of every room, then close ups, then the outside of the house and the roof from the ground.
Make temporary repairs
The guide asks owners to prevent further damage, such as covering roofs and windows with "plywood, tarp, canvas, or other waterproof materials." Extracting water and drying a wet room fall in the same category.
Keep every receipt
Tarps, fans, a hotel night, a drying company’s invoice. The guide says to keep all receipts for emergency repairs and give them to your insurance company.
Hold off on permanent work
In the department’s words: "Don’t have permanent repairs made until your insurance company has inspected the property." A new roof, new cabinets or new flooring wait for the adjuster, unless your insurer tells you otherwise in writing.
How Long Should the Adjuster Take
This is the question we hear most, and the honest answer is that Mississippi law, as far as we could find, does not give homeowners a day count.
We looked for a statute or rule that sets how many days a Mississippi insurer has to acknowledge, inspect or pay a homeowners claim. We did not find one in a primary source, so we do not print a deadline here. What the Insurance Department does publish is guidance in its claims guide, which speaks of "a reasonable amount of time" for a minor claim and says it may take longer after a large disaster. That is a reasonable expectation, not a legal deadline. After a storm that damages hundreds of Pine Belt homes at once, adjusters are stretched and the wait is longer.
While you wait, the temporary repairs and the photographs carry the claim.
Deductibles in Plain Words
The deductible is the part of the loss you pay before the policy pays. Mississippi policies use two shapes, and the claims guide describes both: "A deductible can be either a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the total amount of insurance."
A percentage
The deductible is a percentage of the dwelling’s insured amount, not of the damage. On a well insured house, a small percentage can still be a large number, so work it out before storm season.
Wind or named storm
The guide notes that "Some insurance policies have a special deductible for losses caused by wind, hurricanes, or other types of storms."
Your declarations page lists every deductible on your policy. If you see more than one, ask your agent which applies to a tree through the roof and which to a hurricane coming inland.
Flood, Wind and What Is Not Covered
The Insurance Department is blunt about flood: "Standard homeowners insurance does not provide coverage for damage due to floods."
Flood coverage comes through the National Flood Insurance Program, bought through an agent, and it does not start right away. The department notes that "It typically takes 30 days for a policy to go into effect," and FEMA describes the same 30 day waiting period. A policy bought when the Leaf River is already rising will not cover that flood.
Flood is not only a riverside problem. FEMA says: "About 40% of NFIP flood insurance claims come from outside high-risk flood zones." Our page on the Leaf River and flood zones covers the gauges and the map.
Wind is a different story. The Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association, called the wind pool, writes wind and hail coverage for coastal area property. Ask your agent how wind is covered on your own policy and which deductible applies to it.
The Strengthen Mississippi Homes grant
The state grant for upgrading a roof to the FORTIFIED Roof standard is open in 2026 only to homeowners currently insured through the wind pool. The Insurance Department says other homeowners "will be eligible in the statewide rollout anticipated to take place in early 2027." For an inland homeowner today, that means waiting for the rollout; questions go to 800-562-2957.
Public Adjusters and Contractors
Some homeowners hire a public adjuster, who works for the policyholder rather than the insurer. In Mississippi public adjusters are licensed by the Mississippi Insurance Department. Before you sign with one, call the department at 800-562-2957 and confirm the licence.
The same caution applies to anyone who offers to handle the claim and the repair together. The department warns against contractors "who demand upfront payment before work is initiated or payment in full before work is completed," and asks homeowners to "Always pay by check or money order and keep a receipt." Our page on checking a contractor shows how to look up a Mississippi licence.
When a Claim Goes Wrong
If the company stops returning calls, or you disagree with how the claim is being handled, start in writing with the adjuster and then a supervisor, and keep copies of everything. If that does not resolve it, the Insurance Department takes complaints. Its consumer line is 800-562-2957, or 601-359-2453 in the Jackson area. For a claim, the department’s page says to "select File Company Complaint below and fill out the Company Complaint Form."
File a complaint with the Mississippi Insurance Department
Have the policy number, claim number, call dates and photographs ready.
Questions About Mississippi Claims
Can I start drying the house before the adjuster comes?
Yes. The Insurance Department asks you to prevent further damage and keep the receipts. Extracting water and drying are temporary repairs. Tearing out and replacing cabinets or flooring is permanent work that waits for the inspection unless the insurer agrees in writing.
Is there a legal deadline for my insurer to respond?
We did not find a Mississippi statute that sets one for homeowners claims. The department’s claims guide speaks only of a reasonable amount of time and says it may take longer after a large disaster. That is guidance, not a legal deadline.
Does my homeowners policy cover water from the Leaf River or Bouie Creek?
No. Rising surface water is flood, and the department says standard homeowners insurance does not cover it. Flood coverage comes from a separate NFIP policy, which typically takes 30 days to take effect. A burst pipe inside the house is a different kind of loss; ask your agent how your policy treats it.
Sources for this page
- Mississippi Insurance Department, homeowners insurance, reporting a loss and the flood exclusion.
- Mississippi Insurance Department, weather and disaster preparedness, photographs, permanent repairs, the flood waiting period and contractor payment advice.
- Mississippi Insurance Department, post disaster claims guide, temporary repairs, receipts, deductibles and adjuster timing.
- Mississippi Insurance Department, file a complaint, the company complaint form.
- FEMA, waiting period for a flood policy, the 30 day wait.
- FEMA, floods can happen anywhere, the share of claims outside high risk zones.
- Mississippi Insurance Department, Strengthen Mississippi Homes release, grant eligibility and the 2027 statewide rollout.
- Mississippi Insurance Department, wind pool grant release, wind pool scope and the FORTIFIED Roof standard.
A Claim Starts With the House Dry
We work with all insurance companies and document the loss for your adjuster. A person answers 24 hours a day.