Newsletter

Content Recovery: Restoring Valuable Items in Your Building

After a disaster damages your home or business, the contents of your building will need to be cleaned and restored. “Contents” includes furniture, art, office supplies, personal belongings, most appliances, commercial items, documents and more. Anything not structurally connected by utilities like water or gas is considered content. Whether you need important paper documents and machinery for your business salvaged, or furniture cleaned and restored, there are several restoration options. This newsletter will focus on these services and discuss how to set up and utilize your insurance policy to ensure coverage.

Contents Cleaning & Restoration 101

Cleaning and Restoration Services

For business and residential needs, various cleaning and restoration services are available.

Document Restoration: Common types of document damage come from water, mold, and soot, smoke, or burning from a fire. Freeze-drying, air-drying, desiccant dehumidifying, or even hand-dry cleaning techniques are implemented to restore important documents, photos, business records, historical documents or letters.
Electronics/Machinery Restoration: Most restoration companies assess, repair, and restore damaged or soiled electronics or machinery in their shop. Electronics restoration specialists use sophisticated systems that help ensure hardware data recovery to preserve files, photos, videos, and other essentials that may not be backed up on an external server or cloud storage.
Fabrics or Fibrous Materials Restoration: These types of contents are typically removed from the building and taken to a storage facility to be sorted and cleaned. Speedy cleaning is vital due to oxidation, residual odors, and the setting of stains. The type of cleaning and restoration needed will depend on the specific damage.

Hard Contents: To salvage hard contents, ranging from ceiling fans and dishes to musical instruments, a successful process utilizes an ultrasonic cleaning system. Chemicals and water penetrate deep into every crevice and crack to lift away soot, dirt, grease, residues and more, often achieving results within 30 minutes.
Art, Heirlooms, and Antiques: Conservators assess the condition and outline the appropriate treatment, using photos of the original if available. All techniques implemented are of conservation standards and quality to restore the piece to its original state.
Environmental Services: A disaster and subsequent restoration can expose harmful things like lead, asbestos, mold, chemicals, and other biohazards. Finding a restoration firm with an Environmental Services team means they will direct the safe and proper handling, removal, and disposal of hazardous materials.

Insuring Contents and Assets

Taking Inventory

Create an inventory of contents and belongings. Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) suggests photographing every item to be covered and making a list with serial numbers on electronics, makes and models, and year of purchase. It may benefit you to also attach official documentation, like receipts and appraisals, to the inventory list. Proper inventory assessments can also help with accounting accuracy and tax liability.

Bailee’s Coverage

The relationship between contractor and customer in content restoration is referred to as bailment. Bailment occurs when one party (the Bailee) takes the property of another (the Bailor) into their possession. When a contractor has someone’s property in bailment, they become liable for any damages. Content restoration operations are often not fully covered by standard liability insurance policies. Review your insurance program with a qualified restoration insurance professional.

Business & Commercial

Business (or “commercial”) contents insurance commonly covers damages or losses caused by fires, flooding/storms, and theft for:

Furniture (desks, chairs, shelves, etc.)
Office equipment (computers, printers, modems, etc.)
Manufacturing equipment, machinery, and tools
Any staff or client belongings on the premises

Business contents insurance may also cover stock and cash within the premises.

Home

Homeowners’ contents insurance (or “personal property insurance”) helps cover most valued items damaged or lost in a fire, flood/storm, and theft. The common categories of personal property include furniture, clothing, TVs and other electronics, jewelry, and recreational equipment.

Some categories of personal property have a maximum dollar limit that your insurance company will pay in the event of a loss. In those instances, it is recommended you cover expensive contents on their own policy (i.e., artwork, jewelry, etc.).

The 80% Rule

One of the most common coinsurance breakdowns is the 80/20 split. Under these terms, the insured is responsible for 20% of the costs to restore and the insurer pays the remaining 80%. The 80% rule in home insurance only concerns property coverage, not the liability coverage that also comes with a basic policy.

Coverage Limitations

All types of insurance policies will have a coverage limit and a deductible. Standard contents insurance policies will limit coverage for certain types of valuable items, like antiques, memorabilia or jewelry. While your contents insurance coverage may be higher than the value of these pieces, the policy may only provide limited coverage.

Optional coverage can be purchased to provide additional protection, often referred to as a rider, floater, endorsement, or scheduled personal property coverage. According to Triple-I, an item should be professionally appraised before being scheduled.