HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Colorado has seen severe weather sweep across the state this week, causing damage to homes and vehicles. And now, communities are left cleaning up the aftermath from tornadoes, large hail and heavy rain.
Denver7 spoke with homeowners who were impacted and took their questions to local insurance experts.
Carole Walker, the executive director with the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association (RMIA) said one of resident's first calls should be to their insurance professionals to report any damage and start the claim process.
"Biggest thing you need to do today is get in touch with your insurance company or your agent immediately to report the claim. Also — document as much damage as you can to provide them that information and make temporary repairs," she said. "Then, if you do make temporary repairs, hang on to those receipts. Because that will be reimbursable under any claim that you file."
Walker said it's important to know how your insurance works — what it does and doesn't cover.
"I hear from people all the time that, 'I don't even think about my insurance until I go to file a claim.' That's the wrong time to be thinking about it," she added.
Denver7 spoke with homeowner Katie Shaw whose house in Highlands Ranch was impacted by the severe weather, including the tornado on Thursday.
"I couldn't believe my eyes," said Shaw. "The wind picked up and then all sudden I saw a wall of water and wind swirling, coming from that direction and I'm like, 'OK — we need to take cover.'"
Shaw said she was as prepared as she could be but still had a few questions when it comes to shared, damaged fences and debris.
"It can get confusing, because if the fencing is mutual property, between you and your neighbor or it's part of the community association, then it can get a little tricky, of who owns that fence. But whoever owns that fence, it's their own insurance that would cover that," said Walker.
Walker said when it comes to trees, if a tree falls on your property but does not cause any damage, that is not something you would file an insurance claim for.
"That's something where you're either going to have to get those trees removed, or in many cases, the communities have mobilized to have community pick up for those. So do check with your local municipality to see if they're doing tree removal in this case when there's so much damage."
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She said when it comes to your trees falling on a neighbor's house, you may feel responsible, but unless you were negligent, and been asked to remove a dangerous tree, it's going to be your neighbor's insurance, their own homeowner's policy that will cover that damage.
"If the tree falls on a car, no matter who that tree belongs to, likely your own auto insurance policy will cover that," she added.
Walker said comprehensive coverage on vehicles is optional in Colorado, but it covers things like flood damage, hail and even auto theft.
"So can you afford to go without that and pay out-of-pocket if you don't have that coverage?" she said, adding that hail damage is covered by all standard homeowner's insurance policies.
On RIMA's website, you can also find help when it comes to filing an auto claim and/or filing a property claim.
For more insurance information, click here.
