Review your insurance.

Review your insurance.

I have dealt with insurance restoration specializing in fire loss rebuilds for over a decade in Phoenix.  In addition, I had an emergency response rotation for City contracts to do board ups on everything from raided crack houses to fires.  (The police/fire department does not leave a scene until they turn it over to someone who can secure the area from public.)

Review your insurance.

I have responded to fires at 3 a.m. with the family in blankets and the house a total loss.  The romantic response in the movies is not what happens in real life.  The reality is the police and fire trucks leave and the mess is yours. I have dealt with everything from cooking mishaps to lightning to arson.  (In my personal experience cooking fires were #1 culprit, #2 unattended candles, and #3 cigarettes un-extinguished.)  I have seen homes built and refurbished to what I thought was better than new (upgraded) conditions and have handed the keys over to a family happy to be moving back to their 'new' home.  I have also had to set the keys in a lock box for the realtor as a home was up for sale as part of sudden divorce proceedings.

A fire loss is a tragic event.  In my training, I have been taught that victims go through the denial to acceptance stages.  (It helps you to be tactful when you find the inevitable 'anger' stage directed at you.)

Review your insurance.

"Actual Cash Value" and "Full Replacement Value" are two entirely different things, almost as opposite as they can be. They seem to me to be the opposite of the way they are worded, (one of those Greenland/Iceland things).

"Actual Cash Value" means you are paid for what is damaged minus depreciation. To use auto coverage as a loose example: Your family car is totaled and you get a check for $1700.  Go buy another car.

"Full Replacement Value" means you are paid to replace what was damaged.    To use auto coverage as a loose example:  Your family car is totaled and you get a new car with zero miles and all the bells and whistles yours had.

Review your insurance.  You pay it every month, take the policy out and look at it.  I promise it won't bite you.

For instance, where do you stay until you can move back home? The insurance process, contractor selection, demolition, inspection and permit time requirements can easily eat up a month. That's before the first nail is pounded to start putting things back. Most partial losses I worked on took longer than it did to build the house from scratch.  If you live in a house where a historic district has jurisdiction, the timeline can double.  Where do you live (and eat) during these months?  Insurance can be structured to provide money to cover this.

Also, in the case of your contents (furniture, art, electronics, etc.), I would strongly advise that you film your valuables and store the memory offsite so you can verify content loss. 

Another thing is factor your home's value. 

Many home policy limits may have been written before this housing market ride.  In simple numbers, the 'monopoly money' that was being thrown around back then meant you could finance a $100k house for $110k and insure it for only $85k because that is what it would cost to rebuild it then. (You own the land, which has separate value even undeveloped). 

Now, that same $100k house might only be worth $80k on today's market but would still cost the same $85k to rebuild.  Therefore, in that case, the policy limit is actually in excess of the home's value.  Also, when the market swings back up, the policy limit should be adjusted accordingly. 

Despite the fall of home prices, a home's value today could still be worth more than when the coverage was written.

If it has fallen, the cost in labor and materials (and time) to rebuild from a fire is always more than it costs to build from scratch.

Review your policy. Get your agent involved.  They should be both delighted and concerned to help you.  If not, find one that is.