Catastrophe claims

This depends upon the severity of the damages, availability of professionals or contractors and any safety issues related to the situation.

First find out if your policy provides coverage for personal property damages that result from a covered loss. If it does, your claims team member may need detailed descriptions of damaged personal property with the brand names, model numbers, purchase dates, and purchase prices.

Your home may be considered uninhabitable for a variety of reasons like no running water, no electricity, no access to your home or your overall safety is at risk.

Your policy may provide for additional living expenses if your home is uninhabitable due to a covered loss. This is for the reasonable increase in living expenses necessary to maintain your normal standard of living and may include:

• Hotels or temporary housing.
• Food and restaurant bills above your typical food costs.
• Additional mileage for longer commute to work.

Your claims team member will contact you and determine if a damage inspection is needed. If it is, an appointment will be scheduled as quickly as possible.

The insurance companies on this list represent top national carriers of home and auto insurance according to market share, listed in alphabetical order. Losses can be reported either online or by calling the company toll-free number:

Source: NAIC data, sourced from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Insurance Information Institute.

Most policies cover reasonable and necessary temporary repair costs (up to a specified limit) you incur trying to protect your property from additional related damage. If you do make any temporary repairs, document your loss with photos and videos before the repairs and save the receipts.

Aside from temporary repairs to protect your property from additional damage, the inspection needs to happen before you begin any repairs that you want covered.

During large weather events, finding a contractor can be a challenge. Contact one of our Good Hands® Repair Network vendors or use the Better Business Bureau to see local contractors and their ratings.

Contact your claims team member immediately to report the damages. You can send a message with MyClaim or email the claims department at Claims@Claims.Allstate.com with your claim number in the subject line. We'll let you know if the damage needs to be re-inspected or may work directly with your contractor to address the damage.

If you purchased the personal property reimbursement provision, the policy will pay to replace your covered personal property with new items of similar quality if it's damaged, destroyed or stolen. Although your damage estimate shows a depreciation amount, Allstate will make an additional payment to reimburse you for the cost of repairing, rebuilding or replacing your covered property, once receipts and invoices are received. This is subject to the policy limits, coverage, conditions and exclusion provisions of your policy, as well as any applicable state laws.

The deductible is the portion of a covered loss that you are responsible for under the policy. For example, if the covered loss is $4,500 and your deductible is $500, you pay the $500 and Allstate pays the remaining $4,000, or up to your limit.

In most cases, you will pay your deductible directly to the contractor once repairs are completed. Your damage estimate lists the total dollar amount of your covered loss, your deductible, the amount Allstate pays toward the loss and any applicable depreciation, or loss of value, over time.

Usually the adjuster inspects the damage, prepares a repair estimate and will contact you once we have an approved and processed estimate. In some cases the adjuster will complete the estimate at the time of inspection and provide you with both the estimate and payment so you can start repairs. Electronic payments are also available.

If you have a mortgage on your home, the mortgagee (usually a bank) is usually named on your homeowners policy. Most mortgagees require that their name is included on claim payment checks over a specified amount. Contact your mortgagee to find out how to get their endorsement on the check.