Believe that these sorts of things happen quite frequently. Although you should not panic, you do need some good home insurance and you need to know how to use it. Many people get home insurance or other types of insurance but they do not know how to use it. Often insurance companies rely on this type of ignorance. It means that when something goes wrong you don't really know what to do and you don't do the appropriate things to make sure that you will be compensated. If you don't follow the protocol you probably won't get any kind of compensation for an accident. Its just like getting into a car accident. If you don't get the other person's number, exchange insurance information, and call the police (as well as taking pictures of the accident.) So what do you do when something goes wrong with your home and you want to file a homeowners claim?

One of the first things that you need to do is to carefully read your home insurance policy. This needs to be done before you actually have an accident. Become familiar with the policy as soon as and before you purchase it.
Understand what you will need to do in the event of an emergency. If you wait to read your policy until an actual problem arises, you will be in a pretty terrible situation. For one thing, it is simply true that we tend to be much less responsible in extremely difficult situations. When you find that your home has been broken into, or if there has been a fire, or someone injured in your home, will you be calm enough to take the necessary steps and try to figure out what to do? If you have already read the policy and understand it you will be able to figure out what to do.

As you might expect, you will want to report any kind of crime occuring in your home. Make sure that you get the names of any police officers that enter your home and inspect the premisis. Realize that you will also need to call your insurance company immediately. Ask questions about your policy and find out what is covered in the particular situation. You need to call right away because some companies have a time limit for the filing of claims.

Take careful and detailed pictures of any damage to your home. It might be smart to have pictures of your home taken before any accident occurs so that you can compare the before and after scene. Make any minor or temporary repairs that you need to make. Also, make a detailed list of the items that are missing or of the damage done to the home. You should estimate the damage and find the receipts, if you can, for the missing or damaged items. Once the company has sent you claim forms fill them out immediately and return them. Finally, have an insurance adjuster come to your home and inspect any damage.