Call today. Not when the house is cute again. Carriers time-stamp notice, and Houston floods create week-long hold queues by tomorrow.
You need a claim number, a photo set, and a straight sentence about flood vs wind vs sewer backup. Those are different policies.
If you cannot find the policy packet, call the number on your debit-card insurance charge or the agent who sold it. Do not wait for the mail.
Do this now
- Call the claims line on your policy or app and say the date, the address, and that water entered the home.
- Write down the claim number, the adjuster path, and any ‘do not throw away’ instruction.
- Ask whether you have flood, homeowners, or sewer-backup coverage, in those words.
- Start a photo album from the street inward before you haul soggy couches.
What to say, and what not to invent
Say what you saw. ‘Water came in from the street and the bayou side’ is better than a theory about a reservoir 20 miles away.
Do not guess a dollar amount. Do not say ‘everything is totaled’ if you have not looked. Do not joke.
If they ask whether you can stay, tell the truth about power, sewage, and sleeping air. That is how additional living expenses even get discussed.
After you hang up
Text the claim number to yourself and to one other adult. Put it on a piece of tape on your phone case.
A restoration company will ask for that number before they talk about billing the carrier. Do not sign a blank work order because someone is standing in your yard with a pump.
If you have both a wind/hurricane deductible conversation and a flood policy, keep those claim numbers on separate notes. Mixing them is how checks stall.
Do this next
- 911 vs non-emergency vs 311 after a Houston flood
- Coast Guard / swift-water rescue: when to dial
- Shelters & evacuation hub
More in Who to call right now.