From Our Partners
Laurie Bauer | Business Development Manager, TW
What Does It Mean to
Mitigate Your Damages?
What happens when disaster strikes? Whether the
big oak tree in your front yard has fallen due to
heavy winds or you have water damage caused by
a broken pipe, it’s important to know what your
next steps should be to ensure the damages will
be covered by your insurance policy.
But what happens if that fi rst loss puts you
at risk for further damage? What if that water
damage was left untreated and seeped into the
fl oors and walls, causing mould, rust, bacteria,
and toxins to build up? Who is responsible for
covering the secondary loss?
A condition in almost every insurance policy
is that the insured must mitigate the loss to
prevent further damages, meaning it is your
responsibility as the insured to take reasonable
action to avoid secondary damages or at least
to reduce them. Failure to do so may leave you
uncovered for the secondary damages that
resulted from the initial loss.
Simply put, mitigating your damages means you
can’t sit back and watch further losses occur to your
personal property after the initial loss has occurred.
It is your duty to take reasonable protective
measures to prevent further harm or loss.
Consider again the example of the water
damage caused by the broken pipe. It would be
the responsibility of the insured to act quickly to
remove the water in order to reduce further loss.
Whether that action is purchasing a portable wet
vacuum to extract the water or a dehumidifi er to
remove existing moisture, you must act to avoid
compounded damages. In many cases, your
insurance company will reimburse you for the
expenses you took to mitigate these damages —
such as the cost of the vacuum or the dehumidifi er.
In any event, when faced with disaster it is
always best to contact your insurance broker fi rst.
They will often immediately appoint a reputable
contractor skilled in disaster recovery to assist
with the mitigation. ●
MISSION: PASS IT ON!
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news&views AUTUMN 2018 | 63