How Much Does Restoration Cost?

The cost of restoration services depends on many factors such as the type and severity of the damage, the materials affected, and the amount of square footage affected. The price for restoration is the same for insurance claims and self-pay projects. Typically, when we receive this question, the client is attempting to discern whether the cost of restoration will exceed the cost of the deductible. 

According to Forbes, “a typical deductible ranges between $250 and $1000, or sometimes more, depending on your policy.” In our experience, it is rare for water damage or fire damage mitigation or repair projects to cost less than $1000. For a small (1 room) water damage restoration project with a $2500 deductible, we may recommend that you request an inspection and approximate verbal quote and use that information to decide whether you should file a claim. 

Based on our experience in the Raleigh and Fayetteville, NC markets, we see the average restoration costs for residential properties:

• Mitigation (drying) – $5,000
• Repairs – $18,000
• Contents – $10,000 
• Mold –  $6,000

Does my Policy Cover Mold Remediation?

It’s best to speak with your insurance agent about mold remediation coverage in your insurance policy, but typically there is a $5,000 cap on mold remediation services related to water damage claims.

Are you able to Give Estimates Over the Phone?

Most restoration projects require exploratory demo or thermal imaging to determine the extent of the damage, and water damage restoration projects require an inspection so that moisture content readings can be taken. For those reasons, we are not able to provide estimates over the phone. 

How Much Will I Have to Pay if I’m Filing an Insurance Claim?

As a property owner, you will need to provide a signature to authorize a restoration company to restore your property. The policyholder is the restoration contractor’s customer and the policyholder is ultimately responsible for payment. After a claim is filed and the carrier determines it to be a covered loss, provided there is adequate coverage on the structure, a replacement policy will cover the cost to repair the damage, less the deductible. In this scenario, the customer will sign over any checks issued by the carrier, and pay the deductible amount to the contractor. In the event there are any differences between the contractor’s invoice and the payment issued by the carrier, the policyholder is responsible for the difference.

An actual cash value policy will cover a depreciated amount of the cost to repair damage, less the deductible. In this scenario, the customer will sign over any checks issued by the carrier, and pay the deductible plus the depreciation amount to the contractor, and any difference between the contractor’s invoice and the carrier’s payment amount.

In both scenarios, if a customer chooses to make any upgrades to the property while restoration is underway, those costs will be added to the amount of the total project and made payable to the contractor.

In some cases, the insurance carrier may deny the claim, leaving the policyholder responsible for 100% of the costs to restore. If there are any concerns that a claim may be denied, it’s best to wait for the carrier to make a coverage determination before any work commences.

How Do I Know if I Have Enough Insurance Coverage to Cover Property Damage?

It’s best to be in conversation with your insurance agent on an annual basis to ensure your policy covers the cost to rebuild your property in case of a catastrophic loss. Also, as you acquire new valuable items, you may want to increase your personal property (contents) coverage in case of theft or damage. It’s also a good idea to look at your policy limits after remodeling, adding new structures, or after properties are reassessed for tax purposes. 

In the event property damage occurs, an insurance adjuster will review your policy and its limits with you once a claim is filed.  

Who is Responsible for Repairing the Cause of the Loss?

Most insurance policies state that the insured is responsible for repairing the source of the loss. If you are unsure of your responsibility, please contact your insurance agent.  

What is PHC Restoration’s Process? 

If you experience property damage, give us a call at 910-814-2502. We’ll ask you questions during our call intake process regarding your property, the type of damage you’ve experienced, and when the damage occurred. If you are filing an insurance claim, we’ll ask a few questions about your insurance coverage. If you are not filing a claim, you’ll need to be able to pay half up front and the remainder at job completion. Some commercial clients, such as educational institutions, pay in full at completion. 

If water damage has just occurred, you live within our coverage area, and you are insured by a preferred insurance carrier, we will send a response team to your property immediately. If for any reason there are doubts about coverage, we will recommend that you have an adjuster make a coverage determination before we begin any work.

During our inspection, our Lead Technician will inspect your property, take photos, document moisture readings, and review the scope of damages with you. They will explain our mitigation, repair, and estimating processes with you. They will review a work service agreement with you and ask you to sign the document, allowing us to begin necessary extraction, demolition, and placement of drying equipment, which will need to run for 3 to 5 days on average. 

While the property is drying, we will assign a Repair Project Manager to you, and that person will make an appointment to meet with you on site to discuss the scope of repairs. They will gather information that will be sent to our estimating team, and they will utilize 3D scanning technology to capture images of the property that enable the estimator to see the extent of the damage and write an estimate to restore your property to pre-loss condition. 

We’ll work with your insurance carrier to agree on the scope and price to restore the property to pre-loss condition and provide all necessary documentation to support our invoice. 

The majority of work will be performed by our in-house technicians and skilled tradespeople. For major trades, such as plumbing, electrical, and mechanical, we’ll schedule our trusted subcontractors to perform the necessary work to make your property just as good, if not better than it was before the damage occurred. 

You’ll have access to daily notes and photographs from our technicians so you can keep track of the progress of your claim. Your Project Manager is always one call away if you need anything. They’ll work with you to obtain selections of materials that will be replaced and they’ll walk you through the repair process from beginning to end, with the support of our in-house administrative team. 

What are your Payment Terms and Methods?

Invoices are issued when work is completed, which means a customer will receive an invoice for mitigation (drying), while repairs are underway. Terms on the invoice are Due Upon Receipt. For insurance claims, payment is expected to be turned over within 24 hours of receipt from the carrier. If a paper check is issued with the customer and PHC’s name on it, the customer can endorse the check and deliver it to us. If only the customer’s name is on the check, it can be deposited and paid to PHC via ACH. 

We are able to process VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express payments, however, any transaction amount over $1000 will be subject to a 3% credit card processing fee. 

Do you Offer any Financing Options?

PHC Restoration does not offer financing for any restoration projects or deductibles. 

How Will my Insurance Company Pay PHC?

Each insurance company issues payment differently.  Here are a few general rules that we find apply to our industry:

• Emergency Services (Mitigation), Repairs and Contents are usually paid with separate checks, and the deductible is usually taken out of the Repair Total.  
• Many insurance companies will first issue an Actual Cash Value (ACV) payment, which is the full cost of repairs, less depreciation and the policy deductible.  Once you sign a Certificate of Satisfaction with us, we will submit it to your adjuster, who will then issue payment for the held back depreciation funds.  This payment plus your policy deductible equals the Replacement Cost Value (RCV) of your claim.  
• Payees can include the policyholder only, the policyholder and PHC, the policyholder, PHC and the Mortgage Company, or the policyholder and the mortgage company.
• PHC will deliver an invoice to you when emergency services are complete and again when repairs and contents are complete.
• When signing over a check to PHC, make sure that it is legibly endorsed on the back by all parties exactly as it is written on the front of the check.  

If you’ve experienced sudden damage, call us now for an inspection.