How to file a homeowners insurance claim to repair your home after damage

From burglaries to natural disasters, property damage and loss can be devastating, both financially and emotionally. Luckily, homeowners insurance can help limit the damage to your wallet.  

If something has happened to your property, you'll need to notify your insurance company by filing a claim. This will start the repair and reimbursement process.

Below, CNBC Select details everything you need to know about filing a homeowners insurance claim, including the steps you'll need to take, what information is needed to file a claim and how to decide if you should file one to begin with. 

Homeowners insurance can help you get back on track after a loss. If you have a mortgage, you're most likely required to keep homeowners insurance on your property.

For those shopping for homeowners insurance, CNBC Select has done some of the research for you to make the process easier. We chose Nationwide as a top pick for homeowners overall for its easy-to-manage online policies and the ability to bundle insurance coverages. We also chose Chubb as a top pick for covering high-value assets for its complimentary home inspections and enhanced coverage on its Masterpiece policies.  

To file a homeowners insurance claim, you'll want to follow a few steps. Here's how the process works and how to file a claim. 

Prevent any further damage and document it  

When you find damage to your home, your first step shouldn't have anything to do with your insurance at all.  

"You need to remedy anything immediately to minimize the loss," says Ted Olsen, vice president of human capital development at Goosehead Insurance Agency. "Let's say a pipe breaks and water is coming into your house and damaging floors. Your first step should be to turn the water off." 

Once the problem is under control, start documenting the damage. "It's important that you take pictures of the loss when it happens when you discover it so that there's some type of documentation of the condition the home was in," Olsen says.  

Contact your insurance company and work with the adjuster 

If you decide that filing a claim is the right move for you, you'll want to contact your insurance company. You can generally start a claim through your homeowners insurance company's website. Some companies, including top picks Lemonade offer the option of filing a claim through a mobile app.  

You'll need to be able to answer detailed questions about the scenario, and you'll generally need those photos and videos you captured at the start to upload  

After you start a claim, an adjuster will be assigned to your claim. They're responsible for investigating the claim and they'll likely visit your home to assess the damage. 

Keep detailed records and receipts 

When you contact your insurance company, start to keep records of your interactions, and gather information like your claim number and the adjuster's information.  

Keep receipts for your expenses related to the claim for any additional costs. Many things could be reimbursable, from hiring a professional to help you mitigate the damage to paying for additional living expenses created by being unable to live in your home if it's a covered claim and your policy includes these expenses.  

While filing a homeowners insurance claim can be worth it for large, expensive damage, it isn't always the right move in smaller scenarios, Olsen says.  

Check your policy's deductible — a.k.a. the the amount you'll be responsible for covering before your homeowners insurance kicks in. It can be a flat dollar amount or a percentage of your home's insured value for some types of insurance. 

Compare how much it could cost to repair the damage to the deductible amount. "If it's less than that deductible, you never file a claim," Olsen says. If the damage repair cost is less than the deductible, your insurance won't pay anything to help fix your home and it could impact your future rates.  

You may also want to think twice in some smaller situations. "If it's just a little bit over your deductible, I would also argue don't file a claim," Olsen says.  

Finally, make sure that your damage is covered by your homeowners insurance — it doesn't cover any normal wear and tear to your home. And, it doesn't cover flooding from outside of your home — you'll need a separate flood insurance policy to cover that damage. 

Homeowners insurance premiums can go up after a claim is filed in some cases. In other cases, it may not. Largely, it depends on the cause of the claim. 

According to 2021 data from Experian and Insurance.com, the average homeowners insurance claim can increase premiums somewhere between 16% and 29% depending on the type of claim. However, some claims due to catastrophes, like tornadoes and hurricanes, may not increase your premium as drastically as other scenarios, if at all. 

"Things that are out of your control and are more Mother Nature-related are less likely to increase your premiums than something that has to do with the house itself," Olsen says. While storm damage may not increase your premiums much if at all, something like a theft or a pipe bursting could increase your costs.  

Homeowners insurance can help cover the costs of repairing your home. If you discover damage, look at your deductible and decide whether it's worth filing a homeowners insurance claim. If it is, document the damage and your expenses, contact your homeowners insurance company and work with an adjuster to get your home fixed. 

At CNBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. For this story, we interviewed Ted Olsen, the vice president of human capital development at the insurance agency Goosehead. He has been with the company for 18 years.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every homeowners insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of homeowners insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best homeowners insurance.

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