Nobody reads the policy the night of the fire. This is what the next eighteen months look like, so that the decisions you make now are made with that night in mind.
The first 48 hours
You call your carrier's claims line — it is on your ID card and on the Collective's claims page — and you call your advisor. An adjuster is assigned. The policy's additional living expense coverage starts immediately: a hotel, then a rental, plus the increase in your normal costs of living. This coverage has a limit, often a percentage of the dwelling limit or a set number of months. Twelve months is common; rebuilds after a total loss routinely take longer.
Your belongings
Personal property is usually insured at 50% to 70% of the dwelling limit. The carrier will ask for an inventory: every item, when you bought it, and what it cost. If your policy pays replacement cost on contents, you receive the depreciated value first and the rest when you actually replace each item. If it pays actual cash value, you receive the depreciated value and that is the end of it. This is the endorsement people most regret not having.
Certain categories have small sublimits — jewelry, firearms, cash, collectibles — unless they were scheduled separately.
The rebuild
- The adjuster and a contractor estimate the rebuild. If your dwelling limit is enough, the estimate is the ceiling; if not, the limit is.
- Debris removal is paid, usually as an additional amount above the limit.
- If your policy has ordinance or law coverage, the extra cost of rebuilding to current building code is paid. A 1960s house has to be rebuilt to 2026 code, and that difference is real money.
- The carrier pays in draws as work is completed. Your mortgage company is named on the check and controls the release of funds.
- Extended replacement cost, if you have it, pays above the limit when the estimate proves low.
What people wish they had
- A dwelling limit reviewed in the last three years.
- Replacement cost on contents, not actual cash value.
- Ordinance or law coverage of at least 10% — 25% on older homes.
- Enough additional living expense for a long rebuild.
- A photo walkthrough of every room, stored somewhere that is not in the house.