Easy Steps To Get All The Money You Deserve

Follow these steps to minimize hassles and get all the money you deserve.

- Kimberly Lankford

Manuel Pulido returns to his townhouse in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood one evening last December to find water spewing from the chandelier in his dining room. A pipe had burst in the second-floor bathroom, and the explosion of water quickly made its way into the master bedroom and leaked through to the dining room on the floor below. The ceilings, floors, walls, carpets, furniture (including some antiques) and light fixtures were drenched.

Pulido turned off the water and electricity and called his agent, who contacted Chubb, his insurance company. A water-remediation service arrived within 1½ hours to start drying out the damaged areas. The service spent five days in his house with giant fans and wet/dry vacuums to prevent further damage.

When Pulido and his wife, Rena, were shopping for insurance several years ago, they met with independent agent Rebecca Korach Woan, who gave them price quotes and discussed the pros and cons of several companies. They chose to pay extra for the Chubb policy because the company had a reputation for handling claims efficiently and taking care in repairing or replacing special items, such as antiques and artwork. The company had sent an appraiser to the house to itemize valuable property and take pictures of the items in every room.

When the pipe burst, Chubb’s claims rep was able to access those “before” pictures. An adjuster came to see the damage and returned a few times with experts to check on special items, such as an antique table. By February, the Pulidos had received more than $200,000 from Chubb to cover the damage to their home and possessions. “I made one phone call and everyone followed up with me,” Pulido says.