Calamities like fire, flood or burglary can cause any time without giving prior notice. It is always in your own interest to have your house-hold items covered under a suitable insurance policy. Your valuable possessions like your house, car, furniture, rugs & carpets, jewelry and other items must have proper insurance cover.

In case of such a mishap you have to pursue settling a claim with your Insurance Company. You are not expected to be an expert in insurance matters. You need to avail the services of an insurance loss assessor, Insurance Companies have loss adjusters on their roll and as soon as you lodge a claim with your insurance company, they immediately depute him/her to assess the quantum of the loss. The loss adjuster will assess the loss after thorough study of the case. They have insurance company's interest in mind and their effort will be to assess the loss in a way that makes the insurance company pay the minimum compensation. An insurance loss assessor, on the other hand, works with policy holder's interest in mind and his best effort will be to help the claimant get what he really deserves and not what suits the insurance company.

Insurance companies are in the business of handling one or the other claim everyday. Their loss adjusters are well trained to handle insurance claims with their employer's interest in mind. This is not the case with the claimant who is a victim of circumstances and it is not his job to make insurance claims every now and then. You as an innocent claimant are not expected to be fully conversant with insurance laws and rules and here the insurance assessor comes to your rescue. He, being an expert in insurance matters, can help you in getting the best settlement from your insurance company.

It may be in your best interest if you visualize an accidental happening like flood, fire or burglary and take some preventive steps, before it actually happens. This will certainly make your life more comfortable when such a situation arises.

You must carefully study the terms and conditions stated in your insurance policy. Make sure your valuable belongings are well covered with full details and value of each item – like your house, car, jewelry, rugs/carpets, furniture and other items. You must have proper documentary evidence about purchase of all items covered in the insurance policy, with their quantity, make and purchase value/date etc. If by any chance you have missed obtaining purchase documents for some items, you can take their digital photographs with maximum available details and post them on a photo-sharing website. You can also send one set of such photographs to your insurance company for any future reference.

There are few vital steps which you must follow after such an incident takes place. They might prove helpful in quick and satisfactory settlement of your insurance claims. First, you need to avail services of an impartial insurance loss assessor to handle the claim affairs on your behalf. You should report to your insurance company immediately after you have suffered a loss, preferably within 3-4 weeks. Your formal claim must be lodged with the insurance company without losing any time because claim settlement is a time taking process and it involves lot of paper formalities. If you are victim of a burglary case, you must promptly report the matter to the local police. This will go in your favor when pursuing settlement of claim with your insurance company.