How to Record Loss Due to Fire
Photograph every room, list damaged items with their value, and keep receipts for anything you buy while displaced.
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Your policy's three limits
Your declarations page lists separate limits for the structure, your belongings, and additional living expenses if you're displaced. A fire claim can draw on all three. Check your limits now, since they decide how much documentation matters for each category.
Additional living expenses
If the house is unlivable, your policy likely pays for a hotel, temporary rental, meals above your normal cost, and similar costs while repairs happen. Keep every receipt and a log of dates. The insurer usually sets a dollar limit and a time limit, both on your declarations page.
Rebuilding cost versus sale value
Dwelling coverage pays to rebuild the house. It does not pay what the house would have sold for. If the fire was severe, ask your insurer how they calculated the rebuild estimate. Compare that number against contractor bids before you agree to a settlement.
Wildfire risk going forward
A standard homeowners policy covers wildfire damage. Insurers in wildfire-prone areas may still raise premiums, add a separate wildfire deductible, or decline to renew at renewal time. Your renewal letter will state any changes and the notice period your state requires.
Your rebuild number is worth checking
If your insurer's rebuild estimate falls short of contractor bids, or your renewal reflects new wildfire risk, comparing coverage now shows whether your limits still match what rebuilding would actually cost.
What should go in the record you keep for the claim
Start with a room-by-room list, even for rooms the fire didn't reach. Smoke and soot travel through a house in ways that aren't obvious until you look closely, so a room with no visible flame damage might still have ruined fabric, warped electronics, or a smell that won't wash out. Walk through with a phone camera before anything gets moved, cleaned, or thrown away. Open drawers and closets. Photograph serial numbers and tags where you can.
For damaged items, write down what each one was, roughly when it was bought, and what it would cost to replace today, not what you originally paid. Insurers call this a contents inventory, and the more specific it is, the faster the adjuster can work with it. If you have old photos of the house, a receipt for the couch, or an app that already tracked your belongings, pull those together now. Bank and credit card statements can help you reconstruct purchases you don't have receipts for.
Keep a separate folder, paper or digital, for anything tied to the fire. That includes the fire department's incident report, any letter from a building inspector about the house's condition, and every receipt from your time displaced, down to the smaller ones like laundry or parking near the hotel. Note the date you had to leave and the date you expect repairs to finish, since both affect what your living expense coverage will pay. If that timeline shifts, update it. Insurers sometimes ask for a log of displaced days, not just a final total.
If a contractor or restoration company walks through the house before your insurer does, get their assessment in writing. It gives you something to compare against the insurer's own estimate, and it matters most when the damage is severe enough that rebuild numbers could differ by a wide margin. Hold onto every piece of correspondence with the insurer too, emails, claim numbers, the adjuster's name and direct line. A fire claim often involves more than one visit and more than one estimate, and having your own paper trail keeps the details straight when the insurer's does not match what you remember.
Who pays the contractor while the claim is still open
Repairs after a fire rarely wait for the insurer to finish adjusting the whole claim. You can usually start work on undisputed damage once the adjuster has inspected and given a preliminary scope, and your policy may allow an advance payment toward that work before the final settlement is set. Ask the adjuster directly whether they'll issue partial payments as repairs proceed, since this varies by insurer and by how complicated the damage is.
Get more than one contractor bid if the damage is significant, especially on structural work or anything involving the roof, framing, or electrical systems after a fire. The insurer's estimate and a contractor's bid don't always land in the same place, and a gap between them is worth raising before work begins rather than after. Keep every bid in writing, even the ones you don't use, since they show the range of what the repair actually costs.
If you hire a public adjuster or a restoration company to manage the claim on your behalf, read their contract closely. Some charge a percentage of the final settlement, and that fee comes out of what you'd otherwise keep. It can still be worth it on a large or disputed claim, but it changes the math on a smaller one.
Save every invoice from every contractor, even for work the insurer later says isn't covered. If a dispute comes up over what should have been included in the settlement, your own paid invoices are the clearest evidence of what the repair actually required and cost. Mismatches between the insurer's scope and the finished work are easier to resolve with paperwork in hand than with memory alone.
Before you settle
Check your declarations page for the dollar limit and time limit on living expenses, and compare your insurer's rebuild estimate against contractor bids before you agree to anything.
