When you’ve escaped from a late-night fire and lost your home and all of your belongings with it, what do you do next? That’s what Rudy wants to know, on behalf of his parents. Last week, their house caught fire hours after being hit by lightning. They got out alive, and are about to begin rebuilding their lives. But first: the insurance claim. An adjuster from Allstate is coming today. Rudy wonders whether the Consumerist Hive Mind have experienced this kind of catastrophic loss and massive insurance claim, and have any advice for his family.

Rudy writes:

My parents’ house was stuck by lightning at 6-7 PM last night. Around 11:30 PM, my Dad woke up due to the hot water tank falling through the attic to find the whole house on fire. My mom got dressed, then went into the kitchen and fire was crawling down the stairs. My parents quickly made it out alive with only the clothes on their back. Attached is what is left of the house.

My parents have a home insurance policy with Allstate which covers lightning, explosions, and fire. It also covers an amount of things inside the home that are destroyed. They filed a claim today and the adjuster is coming on Monday. Do you or any other Consumerist readers have any advice for my parents in terms of dealing with Allstate (or similar insurance company) in terms of the loss of a home due to fire?

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