General Legal

Knowing Your Rights: What to Expect After a House Fire

One of the most traumatic things that could happen is a house fire. You have a family to support and a home to live in. Your insurance policy should protect you and your family against damages to your property. The right to a fair insurance settlement after a fire is one that can be hard to know about. After all, it’s not like most people expect their homes to catch on fire. The prospect of hope for a speedy recovery doesn’t dawn on most people until the damage is done.

Most people think that if their house burns down, their insurance company will pay for a new one. And in some cases, that’s true. But there’s more to understanding your rights after a house fire. When homeowners deal with the devastating effects of a house fire, they should know their rights and the options they have to receive compensation. In this article, we will give you an overview of what to expect after a house fire.

How To Deal With Your Insurance Company After A House Fire Incident

After a house fire incident, you may be left feeling confused, frustrated, angry, and scared. These are perfectly normal emotions to experience after such an unexpected event. However, keep in mind that it is imperative that you deal with your insurance company in the correct manner. If you follow these tips when dealing with your insurance company after a house fire incident, you can ensure that your claim is processed quickly and effectively.

Contact Your Insurance Company Immediately

After a fire, it is critical that you contact your insurance company immediately. They will ask questions about the cause of the fire and how much damage was done to your home. They will also want to know if anyone was injured in the fire.

Know Your Rights Under Your Policy

After contacting your insurance company, you should familiarize yourself with your policy’s terms and conditions. The more familiar you are with these details, the better equipped you will be to make sure that your claim gets processed correctly and in a timely manner.

Under most homeowners insurance policies, you’re covered for losses that occur when the cause of the fire is “reasonable.” It means that if the fire started from an electrical malfunction or was caused by a faulty appliance, like a dryer, you may be able to collect damages from your insurance company.

Don’t Sign Any Papers Without Reading Them First

Make sure you read any papers you’re given carefully before signing them. Insurance companies often send their customers an initial estimate of the damage, but there’s no guarantee that this amount will be accurate or even close to the final settlement. Once you sign the papers, the insurance company can use that document as evidence against you if they choose to deny your claim later on.

Work With The Insurance Adjuster To Determine The Claim

The first step in resolving your claim is working with the adjuster to determine how much would be paid out. Most claims are settled within 30 days of filing, but how much would the insurance company give you?

After the fire is out and the damage has been assessed, work with your insurance company’s adjuster to determine the claim amount. It should cover the cost of rebuilding your home and replacing damaged personal property.

Wrapping Up

If your house fires, you will be faced with the daunting task of putting your life together again. Understanding how insurance companies work during a fire can mean the difference between fair compensation and extortion by an insurance company. If you feel that you have been wronged by an insurance company, call a reputable fire injury attorney to help you get the property damage award or compensation that you deserve.

Property Owners Guide: All the Legal Stuff you Need to Know!

Selling your property can be overwhelming and it involves a lot of work, this makes moving difficult as if you’re also searching for a new house whilst selling your own there is a lot to keep up with. Some decisions you make when trying to sell your property may seem unimportant to you, but often when people make the wrong decisions it can cost them hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Before you read this handy guide about all the legal stuff you need to know about selling your property, you should make sure that you definitely want to sell it. Think about why you’re selling your property, for example, if you need more space you may think that you need to move when in fact, it could be cheaper to build an extension or undergo a loft conversion. There are many scenarios like this so make sure you think about why you’re selling your property so that you’re sure that you want and need to. Selling a home is a long process and often an expensive one so you don’t want to start the process are realize a few months down the line that you don’t want to sell. Once you’re sure about selling your property, there is a lot to consider. We’ve made this guide for you so that you can find all the legal stuff that you need to know in one place.

Your mortgage

Most people who own a property and are moving have not yet fully paid off their mortgage. This is the first bit of legal advice you need to be aware of. When you sell your house, you will be able to pay off whatever is left of your mortgage, you should figure out how much you will have left before you put the house up for sale to make sure you can afford another place if you’re moving. You’ll have to take out another mortgage on your new home, so this is the important legal bit, you’ll need to check with your current mortgage provider if there are any additional charges that you’ll be required to pay for switching early. This is also an opportunity for you to look at different lenders to see who the current best mortgage provider is.

Find an estate agent

Selling your property can be one of the most stressful things you’ll ever have to do. If you’re not sold a property before then it is hard to imagine just how much work is involved with preparing your house for sale and finding people who may be interested in purchasing it. By finding an estate agent, a lot of the responsibilities are passed on from you to the estate agent making it a much less stressful process. There are a variety of legal requirements when selling a house, for example, getting a house inspection is a necessity so that potential buyers are aware of what condition the property is in so they’ll know if they will have to budget to fix things once they arrive. Finding the right person or company to conduct the inspection can be difficult but estate agents will make sure they are certified home inspectors and that everything goes smoothly. Those conducting the home inspection are vital to the process and it’s definitely better to have someone who is well known by your estate agent to be reliable than to find someone yourself.

Offers

It may take a while for you to receive an offer on your property or if you’re in a popular area, have a great price, or just have an amazing property you may receive many offers fairly quickly. Once you receive the offer you can choose to accept or reject it depending on if the price is right for you, if you think there is a price that you and the potential buyer could agree on then you can also negotiate through your estate agent. Once you have an offer that you are happy with, your estate agent again will take care of the legal work. The next legal business in this process is drawing up the draft contract, this will clearly lay out any agreements between you and the other party like if any discounts are applicable after problems being flagged up by the home inspector.

Other helpful tips

All of the main legal issues have been covered in this guide and we think that it is definitely worth hiring an estate agent to deal with all of the legal business rather than doing it yourself. You should take some care when choosing your estate agent as there is a lot to consider, you should look at the sales time of any potential estate agent you would use, and you should compare their fees. There is also the option of using an online estate agent whose services are often much cheaper so if you’re not wanting to do the work yourself but not wanting to pay a lot, these could be a good in between to do some research into.

The other important thing when trying to sell your house is making sure that it always looks presentable so people can start to imagine their lives there and you should also make sure that it smells pleasant too. The nicer the environment in the house the more likely you are to receive an offer.

The Complete Guide to Getting an Australian Residency Visa

Every year it is estimated that thousands upon thousands of people consider emigrating to Australia on a permanent basis. The lure of the beautiful beaches. The charm of the sunny weather. The rich history and fantastic culture. It’s no surprise that so many people want to run away to Australia and never return.

But, of course, not all of these people will actually move over, for a number of reasons. Some can’t afford it. Some simply change their mind. But most simply can’t pass the visa application process or secure a residency visa.

Australian Immigration

Australia is one of the countries known for its tough immigration stance. It is no small feat to secure a residency visa. They operate on a points-based system that assesses all applicants on a number of different factors.

These factors include everything from an educational background and language proficiency to employment history and personal interests. No aspect of a possible immigrant’s history is ignored when deciding who to let into the country.

The Australian government decided what jobs and skills are worth more points, based on the needs of the country. Jobs such as Doctor or Engineer will improve your chances of entering the country, whereas a job working as a fast-food worker might not be to your benefit. But this isn’t guaranteed. There have been times when the country needs more labor for general jobs.

So the first step to securing your chance is getting a residency visa is to take stock of your history and information and check out how many points you will get during the process. If you meet the requirement you will be off to a good start.

Family

If you happen to have family in Australia, or family roots from the country, your chances are greatly improved. Like with any country, you have certain rights attached to your heritage. If you can prove this, you stand a greater chance of getting approved.

Another way you could bypass a lot of the application process is through inheritance. If a family member in Australia leaves their estate to you, you can bypass the points system of the application process. In this instance, you would need to secure professional legal help and fill out a qld family provision application to ensure you actually receive the estate in its entirety.

The Application Process

Once you have calculated how many points you will receive due to your history you will now need to provide a number of different checks.

The first is, of course, a passport check. You need to have a valid passport for your current country. Without one, you will be finished before you even begin your immigration journey.

Secondly, you will need to make sure you have got a full police check done and ready to provide. Australia is very strict about criminal records. Even some minor infractions can lead to you be rejected from the country outright. So before you start the process make sure you have your check done.

You will need to put together a complete and comprehensive employment history. This goes beyond a simple CV. You will need to provide proof of income and references. The Australian government needs to know you are experienced and reliable. If you have a history of unemployment or being fired a lot, chances are you won’t get into the country.

Job Hunting

Employment is a huge part of immigration. Australia is insistent on only allowing in people who are going to work. They want to keep unemployment numbers down and have taxes being brought in. So providing your employment history is only the first step. You need to actually secure a job.

Now it is possible for you to wait until you are moved and settled to start job hunting. But this won’t help your chances of making it into the country.

Your best bet is to start job hunting while still in your home country. Start attending online or phone interviews. Apply to as many jobs as you can, even if you get a lot of rejection notices. If you can compile a lot of evidence of trying to secure a job you will greatly improve your chances of getting approved for immigration.

If you can actually secure a job in the country, you can have that company act as a reference for your application and get it sped along. The country is more willing to allow people in if they have already secured a job. So this is one of your best bets for getting into Australia.

History

It never hurts to start brushing up on your Australian history and customs as well. This will play a huge part in getting into the country, but it is mainly for what comes next. A residency visa is only the first step. After that, you will want to start looking into getting citizenship for Australia.

During the citizenship test, you will have to prove you are clued up on their history. Think of it as a history test but focusing more on basic history and customs, rather than specific details.

We hope this has helped you understand how the application process for immigration to Australia works. It is a tricky process but is a worthwhile one. Australia is a fantastic country and, if you make it there, you will not regret your decision to move!