Why contents wait out the rebuild
Time in storage is part of the claim and is recorded with the rest. The California Department of Insurance puts relocation and storage expenses inside the additional living expenses that the loss-of-use part of a residential policy may answer. Under Insurance Code section 2060 the insurer has to hand the insured its own list of what it believes may be covered. The policy in force decides, and the adjuster confirms.
The load waits on the rebuild. Contents come back when the drying, demolition and reconstruction are finished. Where a residential loss relates to a declared state of emergency, section 2060 sets additional living expenses at no less than 24 months from the inception of the loss, subject to the other policy provisions, with up to 12 further months for delays beyond the insured's control.
The inventory that emptied the building is the inventory that fills it again. Every carton carries the room it came from, so the return runs room by room and each line is signed off against the list it was packed on. Items that could not be restored stay on that list until the adjuster releases them, because the Department of Insurance tells claimants to throw nothing damaged away until they are told to. Anything still outstanding when the building is handed back is recorded, so the file closes on a count.
Storage is recorded as carefully as the rooms were. The load is held in secure storage against the inventory, and the storage and relocation costs are recorded. Insurance Code section 2051.5 gives an insured not less than 12 months from the first actual cash value payment to collect the full replacement cost, and 36 months where the loss relates to a state of emergency.
What contents storage includes
Each carton is checked in against the inventory line it was packed on, so the count leaving the building and the count arriving in storage are the same, and any difference is raised at once. The check is recorded with its date and goes into the file.
The load stays in secure storage while the building is worked on, kept together by household or tenancy so one claim's belongings never mix with another's, and the inventory stays with the load.
Relocation and storage costs are logged as the work runs, because on a residential policy those are the items an additional living expense claim is built from.
Items that could not be restored stay held and listed until the adjuster releases them; hauling them away afterwards is junk removal or debris work, on its own scope.
The return is set against the reconstruction programme, so the boxes arrive after the finishes are in and the rooms can take them.
Each room is reset against the list it was packed from, the owner signs off, and the inventory, photo log and cleaning records go to the adjuster.
Contents leave a building on a list and come back on the same list. A load that goes into storage without one comes out as an argument about what was there, with nothing in the room left to settle it.
Where contents wait out repairs
Apartments and HOA units
One loss can empty several units, and each household's load is kept and returned under its own name and its own list.
Houses under reconstruction
A house being dried, opened up and rebuilt has nowhere to keep its own contents, so they wait until the finishes are in.
Offices and medical suites
Files, furniture and equipment stay out while a suite is dried or rebuilt, and go back by room so the suite reopens in order.
Retail suites and stock
Fixtures and stock are held apart by tenancy, because a landlord's list and a tenant's list answer to different policies, and the adjusters settle which is which.
Hotels between floors
Guest-room sets are stored complete, so a floor comes back into service with its furniture, linens and drapes returning together against one list.
Buildings after a declared disaster
Where a state of emergency is declared, the additional living expense terms that carry a household through a long rebuild are set by statute.
Questions about contents storage
It travels with the load and stays in the claim file at the same time. Every carton is checked in against the line it was packed on, and the same list is used again at the return, so the owner, the board or the adjuster can read the count at any point in the rebuild.
Yes. Relocation and storage costs are logged, because the Department of Insurance lists them among the additional living expenses that a residential loss-of-use cover may answer. Section 2060 makes the insurer produce its own list of what it thinks that cover reaches, so the two records can be set side by side.
After the rebuild the load returns and every room is set out again from the list it was packed on. The owner signs off room by room, and the inventory, the photo log and the cleaning records go to the adjuster with the contractor's scope and invoice.
They are kept apart. Each household or tenancy has its own inventory and its own labels, so a load can be returned to one party without being unpicked from another's. Whose policy answers for which items is a matter for the adjusters.
They stay on the held list and stay out of the returned rooms. The Department of Insurance tells claimants to keep damaged items until told otherwise, so nothing is disposed of while a line is still open.
Contents storage by city
Contents storage is arranged through the contents pack-out page for your city, which covers the buildings it serves and the response window.
