Are you a tenant with a water damage?

8/30/2017 (Permalink)

We know how frustrating a water damage or fire can be for a renter. Call SERVPRO of Helena & Great Falls and we can help. (406)-458-6008

Are you a tenant with a water damage?

Do you rent an apartment or a house?  These are the steps you should take if a water damage were to occur in your home or apartment.

1. You need to contact the owner or property manager and make them aware of what happened. Homeowners and property managers know that water damages are likely to happen so it should not come as an immense shock to them.  Keep in mind that if you prolong telling them the extent of the damage will continue to increase so it is important to tell them immediately.  Also, in order for a restoration company to be able to come in and mitigate the water damage the owner of the property or someone that is authorized to make decisions for the property must approve for that company to do so, include sign the initial paperwork.  Tenants are not allowed to authorize a company to come in and work on a property that does not legally belong to them. 

2. The next step would be determining if you would be filing a claim with your renter’s insurance for your contents if they were affected from the loss. Typically contents would not be covered by the homeowners insurance but on rare occasions it may be.  Also, depending on the contents that you have you may not have to worry about it at all.  For example, if the affected area is a living room with an average amount of furniture that you would expect in a living room the technicians would likely be able to work around, they can simply put your furniture on blocks and shift it off the wall about a foot to get air flow around the room and your furniture will dry using the same equipment needed for the structure.  However, if you have an extensive amount of affected contents that have to be moved in order for the structure to be properly dried out, the homeowner’s insurance might not cover moving out and drying your contents.  Ultimately it depends on the specific situation and the parties involved.  

Whatever the case may be, our technicians are trained to handle and properly document throughout the entire process ensuring that all parties involved are kept informed.

Please feel free to contact our office at 406-458-6008 if you have any questions on how a water damage should be handled if you are