You come home from work and step into a puddle. The sound of running water leads you to a burst pipe behind the wall. Your first instinct is to grab a bucket and call a plumber. But soon the real worry sets in. How much will this cost? Will your insurance pay for it? You are not alone. Every Southern California homeowner who faces a sudden water leak goes through the same panic.
The billing part of restoration work is where most people get confused. You hire a company to dry out your floors and fix the damage. They hand you a big estimate. You wonder if your policy covers it. The traditional way to handle this is to pay the contractor yourself and then wait for the insurance company to reimburse you. That can take months. In the meantime you are out thousands of dollars from your savings.
A better option exists. Some restoration companies in Southern California offer something called direct billing. This means they handle all the paperwork with your insurance com…