A burst pipe, a kitchen fire or a summer hailstorm can turn an ordinary day upside down. Once everyone is safe, the next question is the insurance claim: who to call, what to photograph and what you can clean up. This guide explains how to file a property insurance claim in Calgary, from the first hour to the final walk-through.
DKI Calgary has worked with Calgary property owners and their insurers since 1981. We don’t decide coverage, and every policy is different, so confirm the details with your insurer or broker.
Quick summary: filing a property insurance claim in 7 steps
- Make sure everyone is safe
- Photograph and video the damage before anything is moved
- Call your insurer or broker and note your claim number
- Take reasonable steps to prevent further damage, and keep receipts
- Walk through the damage with your adjuster
- Get a detailed, itemized repair estimate
- Choose your restoration contractor, sign the authorization and pay your deductible
Step 1: Make sure everyone is safe
Nothing in your policy is worth an injury. Before photos or phone calls:
- Leave right away if you smell gas, see smoke or notice a ceiling sagging with water
- Stay out of standing water if the power in that area is still on
- Shut off the main water valve if you can reach it safely
- Avoid touching sewage or floodwater, which can carry bacteria
- Wait for the fire department to clear a fire-damaged building before going back in
Step 2: Document the damage before cleanup
Good records are the backbone of a smooth claim. Take photos and video before you move, clean or throw out anything. Capture:
- Wide shots of each affected room, then close-ups
- The source, such as a split supply line, failed hot water tank or broken window
- Water lines on walls, ceiling stains and wet flooring
- Damaged belongings, with brand, model and serial numbers where visible
- Receipts for anything you buy, such as tarps, fans or a hotel room
Don’t throw damaged items away until your adjuster says you can. If something must go for health reasons, like carpet soaked with sewage, photograph it first and keep a small cut sample. When belongings can’t be saved, the adjuster may ask for a list of non-restorable items to calculate that part of your settlement. Our contents restoration team can clean, pack out and inventory what can be saved.
Step 3: Contact your insurer and open the claim
Report the loss as soon as you can. Most policies require prompt notice. Have your policy number ready, along with the date, the cause if you know it, the areas affected and any safety concerns.
Write down your claim number; it’s the reference for every call, email and invoice that follows. Ask who your adjuster will be, whether emergency work can start now, and whether your policy includes additional living expenses if you can’t stay at home.
You can also report a claim to DKI Calgary online. A member of our team will connect with you to set up an assessment and work with your insurer from there.
Step 4: Prevent further damage (your duty to mitigate)
Most property policies expect you to take reasonable steps to protect your home once a loss happens. If a small leak becomes a large one because nothing was done, the extra damage may not be covered. Reasonable steps usually include:
- Extracting standing water and starting professional drying
- Tarping a roof damaged by hail or wind
- Boarding up broken windows and doors
- Sealing off rooms affected by smoke, soot or mould
Mitigation is not repair. Stabilize the damage, but don’t replace drywall or flooring until your insurer approves the work. For extraction, tarping or board-up at any hour, call our 24/7 emergency response team at 1-888-272-9543. We dispatch across Calgary in under 90 minutes on most calls.
Speed matters most with water. Wet drywall and insulation can start growing mould within 24 to 48 hours, and mould caused by slow drying is often excluded. Our water damage restoration crews extract water and set up drying equipment on the first visit.
Fire losses need fast action too. Board-up and early soot and odour control limit how far the damage spreads. Our fire damage restoration service also handles the water left behind by firefighting.
Step 5: Meet the insurance adjuster
The adjuster confirms what happened, how much damage there is and how your policy applies. They’ll look at the cause of the loss, how far the damage extends, any safety or contamination concerns, and the scope of work needed.
Be there for the inspection if you can. Share your photos and receipts, point out areas the adjuster might miss, and ask about anything you don’t understand. After phone calls, send a short email summarizing what was agreed.
Hidden damage behind baseboards, under flooring or in attic insulation is easy to miss. A restoration company’s moisture readings and photo logs help get it into the scope. What a contractor can’t do is interpret your policy, so take coverage questions to your adjuster.
Step 6: Get a detailed repair estimate
Insurers settle the repair side of a claim using an itemized estimate. DKI Calgary’s estimators write estimates in Xactimate, the estimating platform widely used by insurers and adjusters. Because the line items arrive in a format the adjuster already works with, there’s less back-and-forth over what each item means.
Roof and hail claims are inspected by our HAAG-certified estimators. Hail bruising on shingles is often hard to see from the ground, so a proper roof inspection matters. Learn more about our storm and hail damage repair.
In most cases, we create the estimate within five days of receiving the scope of work. Read it through and ask about anything that looks missing. If more damage turns up once walls or floors are opened, the estimate can be updated and sent back to the adjuster.
Step 7: Work with a restoration contractor
You can usually choose your own restoration company, even if your insurer suggests one. Our guide on how to choose a restoration company in Calgary lists the questions worth asking. Look for:
- IICRC-certified technicians and project managers
- Insurance claim experience and Xactimate estimates
- Safe procedures for mould, asbestos and sewage
- In-house rebuild, so one team handles the job from emergency to final repairs
DKI Calgary’s project managers hold IICRC certifications in water, fire and smoke, and applied microbial remediation. We work directly with insurers and adjusters, handle the documentation, and complete the rebuild and reconstruction in-house.
How direct billing usually works
On most insurance jobs, the restoration company bills the insurer directly for the approved scope of work. You pay your deductible, plus any upgrades you choose and any work your policy doesn’t cover. Arrangements can vary, so ask your adjuster how payment will work on your claim.
When we arrive, you’ll sign an authorization form before work starts. It gives us permission to be on your property and explains how your deductible is paid and who covers costs your insurer doesn’t. The deductible is paid before repair work is scheduled.
Deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs
Your deductible is the first portion of a claim that you pay yourself. Some policies carry a separate, sometimes higher, deductible for water, sewer backup, or hail and wind. Check which one applies, and if the damage is only slightly above it, talk to your broker before filing.
Other costs that usually fall to you include upgrades beyond like-for-like replacement, pre-existing damage, wear and tear, and anything your policy excludes. If the property is insured under a GST-registered business, you’re responsible for the GST on the claim. For more on typical exclusions, see what property damage insurance actually covers in Calgary.
Common reasons insurance claims are delayed or denied
- Reporting the damage days or weeks after it happened
- Gradual damage, such as a slow leak or long-term seepage, which policies usually exclude
- No endorsement for the type of water involved, such as overland water or sewer backup
- Missing photos, or damaged items thrown out before the adjuster saw them
- Damage that spread because nothing was done to stop it
- Permanent repairs started before the insurer approved them
- DIY cleanup of sewage, heavy soot or materials that may contain asbestos
Some delays have nothing to do with you. After a large hailstorm, adjusters can be stretched thin. In homes built before about 1990, drywall compound, plaster or flooring may need asbestos testing before demolition, and asbestos work in Alberta falls under Part 20 of the OHS Code. Our asbestos and mould remediation team does its own sampling, sent to an accredited lab.
Water losses cause the most confusion. Our guide is water damage covered by home insurance in Calgary? explains how insurers treat sudden versus gradual damage.
How long does a property insurance claim take? A typical timeline
Every claim is different, and large storms stretch every step. As a rough guide:
- First hours: safety, photos, the call to your insurer and emergency work such as extraction or board-up
- First few days: drying, moisture checks and the adjuster’s inspection. Structural drying typically takes about three days, sometimes a few more
- Scope and estimate: the scope is agreed with the adjuster, and the itemized estimate is prepared and approved
- Authorization: you sign the authorization form and pay your deductible so repairs can be scheduled
- Repairs: smaller jobs move quickly; a major fire or flood rebuild can take months
- Close-out: a final inspection, then you sign a completion certificate and the insurer closes the file
Calgary and Alberta specifics: hail, sewer backup, overland water and ice dams
Coverage for each of these common Calgary claims depends on your policy and its endorsements, so treat them as questions to raise with your insurer.
Hail and storm damage claims
Calgary sits in Alberta’s “hail alley,” and summer storms regularly damage roofs, siding, eavestroughs and windows. Hail damage is often covered under standard home policies, but some carry a separate hail or wind deductible. Report it promptly, even if all you see is a few dented downspouts. Our hail damage guide for Calgary homeowners covers what to check.
Sewer backup
Water coming up through a floor drain or toilet is usually covered only if you’ve added a sewer backup endorsement. Many inner-city neighbourhoods have older sewer connections, and some insurers ask whether your home has a backwater valve. Read more about sewer backup in Calgary.
Overland water
Overland water is surface water from heavy rain, rapid snowmelt or an overflowing river. It’s typically a separate endorsement from sewer backup, and Calgary’s June 2013 flood on the Bow and Elbow rivers showed how quickly it can reach homes. Groundwater seeping through a foundation may be treated differently again. Learn more about overland water insurance in Calgary.
Ice dams and roof leaks
Chinooks thaw and refreeze roofs many times each winter, building ice dams along the eaves. When meltwater backs up under the shingles and stains a ceiling, the sudden interior damage is often covered, while removing the ice and repairing the roof usually is not. Our article on ice dams in Calgary explains why.
Need help with an insurance claim in Calgary?
If your home or business in Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane or Rocky View County has been damaged, call DKI Calgary 24/7 at 1-888-272-9543. We’ll stabilize the damage, document it for your adjuster and see the repairs through. For non-emergencies, contact our Calgary office at 403-252-2550.
Frequently asked questions
How long after hail or storm damage can I make an insurance claim?
Report it as soon as you notice it. Most policies require prompt notice of a loss and set time limits for filing a claim, so check your policy wording or ask your broker. Waiting also makes it harder to show the damage came from a specific storm rather than wear and tear. Our storm and hail damage repair team can document roof damage for your claim.
Can I choose my own restoration company, or do I have to use my insurer’s?
In most cases you can choose your own restoration company. Your insurer may recommend a contractor from its network, which can be convenient, but you’re usually not obligated to use it. Check your policy if you’re unsure. Look for IICRC-certified staff, experience with insurance claims and itemized Xactimate estimates, so the adjuster can review the work easily.
Should I clean up before the adjuster sees the damage?
Do what’s needed to stop the damage getting worse, such as shutting off water, extracting standing water, tarping or boarding up. Most policies expect it. Photograph everything first, keep your receipts, and don’t throw out damaged items or start permanent repairs until your adjuster approves. Leave sewage, heavy soot and suspected asbestos to trained crews.
Who pays the restoration company, me or my insurance company?
On most insurance jobs, the restoration company bills your insurer directly for the approved scope of work. You pay your deductible, which DKI Calgary collects before repair work is scheduled, plus any upgrades or work your policy doesn’t cover. Arrangements can vary by insurer, so confirm with your adjuster. You can report a claim to DKI Calgary online to get started.
Do I need both overland water and sewer backup coverage?
They cover different things. Sewer backup coverage applies to water coming up through drains and sewer lines, while overland water coverage applies to surface water from rain, snowmelt or rivers. One storm can cause both, which is why many Calgary homeowners carry both endorsements. Whether you need both depends on your home and your policy, so ask your broker. Our guide to overland water insurance in Calgary explains the difference.