"You'll eventually have to schedule with the insurance company to actually review and inspect the damage."
"Then you can call the insurance company, take pictures of the damage and [move] items into safer locations," Martin said.
Make a log of damagesDuring your call, provide your insurance company with some initial details, like if your roof blew off or several windows broke, said Porter.
Materials purchased to protect the home before the natural disaster — for example, plywood to cover windows — are oftentimes not covered.
You also want to keep a record of receipts when you start working with contractors to rebuild from the damage, experts say.
Persons:
David Hester, Hurricane Helene, Chandan Khanna, Porter, You'll, Bankrate.com's Martin, Martin, it's, Daniel Schwarcz, Schwarcz
Organizations:
Afp, Getty, University of Minnesota Law, Materials
Locations:
Horseshoe Beach , Florida