After a crime is committed in a business or home, it can cause significant trauma to you and those around you and potentially leave behind biohazards and chemical contamination that may be dangerous. The last thing on your mind will be the costs involved with such an intense crime scene cleanup. As daunting as crime scenes and major incidents can be, it’s a topic businesses and homeowners need to seriously consider before purchasing insurance policies.
Although it may seem logical for emergency responders and law enforcement to be solely responsible for their share of the cleanup costs, in reality, it’s property owners — home or business — who are usually left responsible for property damage and biohazard removal. In this post, we will review how likely it is that your insurance covers crime scene cleanup, how you can find answers, and the next best steps to take when addressing trauma cleanup.
Do I Need Crime Scene Cleanup Coverage?
You might first ask if it’s even necessary to have crime scene coverage in the first place. From our experience, the answer would be, yes. While it might be hard to imagine ever needing crime scene cleanup coverage, especially if you consider yourself to be a clean, law-abiding citizen, there are several circumstances that could warrant the need including:
Homicide
Murders and violence can be messy and leave many bodily fluids, including blood spills, along with massive property damage.
Suicide
There is a big difference between suicide and homicide, but sometimes insurance doesn’t make the distinction between the two. Either way, these events are still traumatic and suicide cleanup should be considered.
Mass Casualties
These are often the worst incidents to imagine as they are large and incredibly difficult to manage. This occurs when there has been a terrorist incident or disaster that has taken place in your home or commercial space and requires a great deal of trauma cleanup.
Animal Accidents
It’s more than possible for animals to get into commercial or personal property and die on the premises. They are known to make messes. And while it may seem far-fetched that your policy wouldn’t cover the cleanup, it’s possible that insurances recognize these incidents as legitimate.
Unattended Death
This is when a body has been decomposing for some time without others being aware that death occurred. Depending on how long the corpse has been sitting, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — which are compounds that easily become vapors or gases — can fill the space and contaminants can be abundant.
Does My Insurance Policy Cover Crime Scene Cleanup Costs?
Most homeowner and commercial policies provide coverage when it comes to unforeseen circumstances like crime scenes and trauma scenes that include bodies and biohazards. However, certain policies do not include coverage for furnishings in the home or repair to the structure.
If a crime or incident has not yet occurred, we highly recommend reaching out to your insurance adjuster to read the fine print on what is currently covered in your plan and what isn’t covered. You may be happy with what is included, but may also need to supplement or talk through additional coverage options should an incident occur in the future.
If you’re suddenly faced with the task of cleaning up a crime scene or addressing biohazard cleanup, we first recommend you call us at 360 Hazardous to get the cleanup process started. From there, we will help you contact the company that holds your insurance policy and talk to your insurance adjuster to find out exactly what’s included in your policy.
If your policy does cover crime scene cleaning, the insurance company must provide you with the coverage you are paying for, and let you pick the crime scene cleaners you want. At 360 Hazardous, we have had over 35 years of combined experience working with insurance providers and will carefully help you to address the policy paperwork involved with the cleanup.
What Does Crime Scene Cleanup Involve?
When our team is called, we come to your location right away and sit down with you and other important decision-makers to come up with the best solution at the moment. These solutions often involve:
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Body Removal
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Blood Cleanup
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Bodily Fluid Cleanup
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Biohazard Cleaning Services
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Decontamination
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Safe Biohazard Transfer and Storage
Each homeowner and commercial situation is very different. No crime scene incident is the same, which is why our team comes prepared and ready to address many scenarios. No matter what the case may be, at 360 Hazardous, you can always expect a compassionate point of view, responses that are centered around you and not us, and a conscientious attitude so that you leave feeling confident in your decisions. Reach out to our team 24/7 if there are questions about our services and how we can help.