Claims Main Page - Howard and Hoffman Inc.

FILE CLAIMS

Automobile Claim Form

Property Claim Form

Liability Claim or Lawsuit

Workers' Compensation Claim

Emergency Claim Information

The Claims Process:

To file your claim during our normal office hours of 8:15 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. M-F, please call our office at 202-966-0700. If however, it is after hours and you need emergency assistance, you can call your company's 24-hour emergency claims number. If you do not need immediate assistance, but you want to get the ball rolling on your claim you can complete the appropriate online claim form above. A claims adjuster from the insurance company will usually call you the following day. They will then instruct you on how to proceed with your claim. For example, they may ask you to fax them estimates for the repair or other documentation. They may also send an appraiser out to inspect the damage for themselves. Assuming the claim is covered, they will be the ones to give you the "O.K." to have the repairs made and to pay your claim. If at any time you have any questions or concerns, we strongly encourage you to call our office for advice.

EMERGENCY INFORMATION

Automobile Claims:

Seek Medical Attention for anyone who is hurt.

Call the police.

DO NOT ADMIT FAULT.

Discuss the specifics of the accident only with the police and your insurance agency.

Exchange information with the other people in the accident; obtain names, addresses, insurance policy number, insurance company and PHONE NUMBERS.

If the other driver refuses to give you their information, at least get their tag number.

If there were any witnesses (the people in your car do not count), obtain their names and phone numbers.

Report the claim to our office via phone or online Auto Claim Form or directly to the insurance company's 24-hour emergency claims number.

If your car needs repair, you can go ahead and take it to your body shop for an estimate (we highly recommend Zamora's Auto Body in Rockville 301-294-1303, not only are they friends of ours, but they do great work and can help you get a rental car if needed). DO NOT START THE REPAIRS. The insurance company may want their appraiser to examine the car before the repairs are made. The company can deny paying for any damage that had already been repaired.

Property Damage:

Secure the premises to prevent further damage. If the damage is so severe it requires the services of a contractor (like a hole in your roof or a broken down door), you can have them come make temporary repairs to secure your premises. They should only do the minimum amount of work to protect your property from further damage. The insurance company will probably want to examine the damage before the rest of the repairs are made. Keep all of your receipts from these temporary repairs so you can include them in your claim. You may also want to take photos of the damage. There are several contracting firms that specialize in 24 hours emergency insurance repairs, like: Puro-First, Service Master, and ServPro.
If the damage is significant enough to displace you from your home and occurs outside of normal business hours, please call the insurance company's 24-hour emergency claims number. They will assist you in finding a temporary residence. All Homeowners policies include some coverage for Loss of Use, which pays for you for the additional costs to stay in a temporary residence.
You may want to start making a list of all your damaged or stolen property. The list should include as much of the following information as possible:
1. Make & Model
2. Year Purchased
3. Current Replacement Cost (You might want to include a clipping from a catalog or a printout of an Internet screen showing the current cost of the item. If the exact item is no longer available, you should use an item with similar features and quality.)
You may also want to start gathering up the following information to substantiate the information above*:
1. Receipts, Cancelled Checks, or Credit Card Statements
2. Owners Manuals (These are excellent, because they not only show that you owned the item, but they also give the model # and features of the item).
3. Photos or Videos of the item. It does not have to be a photo just of the particular item. For example, if your dining room set were destroyed in a fire, you might not have a photo of just the dining room set, but you may have a Christmas photo that contains the dining room set in the back ground.

* Most companies will pay for most standard items even without any of this information. For example, if you list that your RCA 19" Color TV was stolen, they will probably not require you to show a receipt or other proof to pay for this item. But, if your TV was a 51" High Definition TV costing $7,000, they will probably require at least one of the proof items listed above.

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LIABILITY CLAIMS OR LAWSUITS

If a visitor is injured at your property, note the event time, date, visitor name, and description of the accident and injuries. Take pictures of the accident scene, if possible, and contact Howard & Hoffman, Inc. to report the potential claim.

If you receive a letter, summons, or claim notice from a third party alleging that you damaged or harmed them in any way, send the document(s) to Howard & Hoffman, Inc. immediately.

If the document is a summons from the court, you have a limited number of days to make a court appearance and the insurance company will do this for you, if we receive the documents in a timely fashion.

Failure to report Liability claims in a timely fashion can often jeopardize your coverage. Therefore, we strongly recommend that even if you do not think it will be covered, that you not only report any actual claims to us immediately, but also any potential claims.

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WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS

Most states require that Workers' Compensation claims must be filed within 10 days of the injury.

The best way to report the claim is buy calling your company's 24-hour emergency claims number. They will gather the required information from you and then file the appropriate First Report of Injury notice according to state guidelines.
When you call to report the claim you should have as much of the following information as possible:

General Information:

… Your policy number
… Your tax ID number

Injured Worker:

… Name and address
… Social Security number
… Age/sex/marital status
… Number of dependents
… Date of hire/years in current position
… Wage information

Injury:

… When/where/how injury occurred
… Type of injury (cut, burn, etc.)
… Exact part of body injured
… Names of witnesses
… Name and address of physician or hospital
… Anticipated return to work date

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3201 New Mexico Avenue NW #205
Washington, DC 20016
Phone (202) 966-0700
Fax (202) 966-1440
insurance@howard-hoffman.com

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