 The University of Minnesota Extension and North Dakota State University Extension service have developed Recovery After Disaster, the family financial toolkit to assist in financial recovery from disaster. The toolkit is free and available at this website. In a perfect world, we would be prepared for a disaster, but we know that this is not always the case. This video series has been developed to assist in the immediate need for financial recovery information following a disaster. The six videos in this series will identify important financial considerations for your disaster recovery. Following a disaster, insurance can be a key piece of the puzzle for a successful recovery. In this video, we will discuss the different types of insurance and which disasters they cover plus how and when to contact your insurance agent. Start by determining what type of insurance you have and if it covers the type of disaster that has damaged your home. Using insurance language, the cause of a disaster is called a peril. Your insurance agent will be your best source of this information. Call your agent. Don't make assumptions about what is covered and what isn't. Ask your agent. It's important to know what your plan or policy actually covers. I think a lot of people assume because they've had a home before or had homeowner's insurance for a long time that it covers things that maybe it doesn't. So it's always good to review what your policy does and doesn't cover so that you're not making big assumptions about the kinds of benefits you should be getting when maybe they weren't in your policy to begin with. The first thing was they offered reassurance that this is covered. Your policy covers this type of a disaster so rest assured we'll take care of you. I had no clue and thank heavens he did. He knew everything that I needed to do so that was very reassuring. If your insurance policy has been lost in the disaster, ask your insurance agent for a copy. If you don't have a copy of your policy you can always contact the insurance company to get one. They may refer you to their website. Lots of companies now have a standard policy on their website or a way that you can download it. Basic homeowners insurance will generally cover fire, lightning, hail, explosion, riots, civil commotion, damage from aircrafts or vehicles, smoke, vandalism, malicious mischief, theft, and broken glass. Basic homeowners insurance covers the structure of the home, personal property, loss of use and other structures on the property. Renters may also purchase insurance to cover personal property and loss of use caused by a disaster. Individuals may want to investigate other types of insurance to maximize coverage. So if you are a renter, a landlord's homeowners insurance wouldn't cover your actual possessions. So as a renter you really want to be covering the things that are inside your actual possessions and that would include your TV and your gaming system and your furniture, things that are not included in your tenant's lease. Additional insurance policies would need to be purchased to cover damage caused by floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes. They are not covered under basic homeowners insurance. It was a huge relief, a little bit of guilt. I didn't know anybody else that had flood insurance. And I didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want to say, well, I'm okay. But I had a lot of friends that didn't and it was very difficult watching them struggle with their finances and trying to figure out how they were going to pay for this and what they were going to do. Flood insurance policies are provided through the federal government's National Flood Insurance Program and purchased through your local insurance agent. Purchasers can purchase flood insurance only if their municipality participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. Typically there is a 30-day waiting period from date of purchase before your policy goes into effect. Be sure to check with your insurance agent to determine your coverage. If you have completed a home inventory prior to a disaster, this is the time to put it to use. Documenting your loss and damage is very important when working with insurance. If you had a detailed inventory of your personal property before the disaster, that will be very helpful now. But if not, gather as much information about your damaged property as possible. Unit 4 of the Family Financial Toolkit provides a worksheet for documenting loss and damaged property. A disaster recovery log smartphone application is also available to download for use on your phone. As possible, written documentation should include the manufacturer, model, serial number, age of item, value when new, and the damage incurred. We call them a proof of loss and that really ranges from receipts to owner's manuals, pictures of your property. But again, if you did a home inventory at the beginning, some of that stuff might be in order. And also, when you're purchasing a policy, often your insurance agent will walk through an inventory that they might have and that might suffice as well. Consider taking photos and or video footage of the damage to your home to support written documentation of the loss. Before we moved out, we took photos of the various rooms in the house and the surfaces. And then when we gutted during that process, we took photographs again and all of that got sent to my insurance agent. Document damage to all household items, no matter how small. If possible, find sales slips and receipts for high value items, such as appliances, computers and entertainment systems. Such documents will show proof of purchase, date purchased and purchase price, all of which will be useful when filing insurance claims. Search your property for these documents and secure them before volunteers, family and friends begin to help with the cleanup so they are not thrown away by mistake. Your insurance may cover loss of use and provide funds for you and your family to live elsewhere while your home is being repaired. Loss of use could include temporary housing, moving costs, temporary storage, fees for laundry and parking. Check with your insurance agent. So for instance, if you have a fire in your kitchen and you need to feed your family but you're finding that you're going out to eat instead, loss of use covers the excess amount of what you would normally have paid to use, for instance, your kitchen. So in this example, if it costs you $25 in groceries to feed your family but you're finding that you're eating out and eating out costs you $35. Loss of use covers the difference. Following a disaster, insurance coverage is always considered the first type of assistance used to repair damage, even in a federally declared disaster when FEMA is involved. If your insurance settlement is less than FEMA's estimated cost to make your home habitable, you may qualify for funds to supplement your insurance settlement to meet unmet needs. The video, FEMA and SBA, provides more information regarding applying for federal assistance. When there's a FEMA event, essentially your own insurance has to be used first. And so if you have flood insurance and you have flooded or if you have sewage backup insurance, all of that needs to be touched first. It's important that you register for FEMA immediately and everyone should register for FEMA, whether or not they're a renter or they're a homeowner. Something that it doesn't cover, that's what the disaster and emergency funds are for. And that, again, is if your area is declared a disaster area. In the last few minutes, we have heard about the different types of insurances and what types of disasters they cover. We have talked about the importance of documenting the damage in your home, plus the importance of contacting your insurance agent. It is important to recognize that your life will never be exactly the same as it was. After what you want your new reality to look like, knowing your insurance agent and your insurance coverage may help you frame your new reality. We encourage you to view all of the financial recovery after disaster videos, the Family Financial Toolkit and other materials at this website.