010 of 5
Identity and ownership
Who you are and what is yours.
Your insurer, the Small Business Administration, FEMA, your landlord, and your accountant will each ask for proof of damage, proof of ownership, proof of income, and proof of what you spent. Build it once, in the order below, and every claim you file draws from the same folder.
Use a physical folder with ten tabs, or ten subfolders on a drive you back up. Keep the same order every time.
Who you are and what is yours.
What the place looked like before the storm. Dated.
Proof the storm happened to you. Printed, with dates.
Wide shot, then close-ups, then a measurement where size matters.
One spreadsheet. One row per item.
What you did to stop further damage, and what it cost.
At least two written repair estimates from licensed contractors.
The income records an insurer or lender will ask for.
Every call and email, in one place.
Every answer you receive, with the policy language it cites.
One PDF: the ten sections above as a paper checklist with a box beside every item, a space on the front for your deadlines and claim numbers, and the four rules on the last page. Enter your email and the download opens on the next page. The Tuesday Brief follows with the recovery programs as they open.
The exception is safety and preventing further damage. Do that work, and document it as you go.
An assignment of benefits or a contractor contract can give someone else the right to deal with your insurer. Read it with someone you trust first.
Use a number you already had, not one in the email. After a storm, watch for the fake adjuster, the fake agency fee, and the vendor invoice with new bank details.
Every program has one: proof of loss for insurance, the application window for SBA disaster loans, the registration window for FEMA assistance. Get each date in writing from the program and write it on the cover.
Small business advising from the Hawaiʻi Small Business Development Center. hisbdc.org
The state insurance regulator, part of the DCCA. cca.hawaii.gov/ins
We will sit with you and build the folder. micah@hawaiiintelligence.com or (808) 353-4408.
Information, not legal, tax, insurance, or financial advice.
Rules and deadlines, recovery programs, scams in circulation, and the Standard. No selling.
Want to know how your business reads from public records? Read my business.