How are Valuable Items Dealt with by Professional Trauma Scene Cleanup Companies?
When responding to biohazard cleanup calls we often field questions about potentially high value items, antiques, or items of sentimental value that may be present on scene. Many professional trauma scene cleanup companies, including Affinity Bio Solutions AZ have experience with these types of items and can work with the family to ensure they are restored. As many people who call for services are experiencing a traumatic event, we understand that many clients may have difficulty expressing exactly what it is they need. Because of this, Affinity Bio Solutions AZ staff and discuss such items after our arrival on scene if they have not been mentioned by the client as well.
Identifying and Securing Items
As soon as Affinity Bio crime scene cleanup technicians arrive on scene, the documentation process begins. Once a safety assessment is carried out and appropriate personal
protective equipment is put on, a file is created, and staff begins taking picture documentation of all items in each room of the home. These pictures help us ensure family members that all valuables stay in the home and allow the insurance carrier to see the scope of work, but also allow us to ask the client specific questions about potentially valuable items.
It may appear that crime scene cleanup technicians should be familiar with which items are valuable in a home and which are not. To some extent this is true, but we’ve found that families tend to be quite unique, and some valued items are less obvious. This is especially true for items of sentimental value, which when conducting an inventory can sometimes end up on the list of unsalvageable items if caution is not taken. This is unfortunate to say the least as some of these possessions may be irreplaceable.
Affinity Bio Solutions AZ avoids these types of situations by asking the client about what may be present on scene during a biohazard cleanup. We will often include pictures that are part of our usual crime scene cleanup process and ask family members about specific items before discarding them. When an item of sentimental value is present, whether contents coverage is available or not, we communicate the importance of the item to the insurance adjuster, who normally accommodates the family’s request to restore the item at no additional cost to them.
What will the Insurance Carrier Cover?
Homeowners insurance will typically cover trauma scene cleanup services, blood cleanup, and unattended deaths in almost all circumstances. This typically means that structural items affected by the loss may be cleaned or replaced and the home will be restored to a similar condition to before the loss occurred. Odor remediation after an unattended death is often part of this process, it usually involves air scrubbing, hydroxyl generation or ozone generation, and thermal fogging, but may also involve other strategies when contents are affected.
Coverage of the contents in the home, especially those that do not appear directly affected by the loss is less straightforward and not all crime scene cleanup companies are proficient in handling some contents. Affinity Bio Solutions AZ is certified in contents processing and can communicate with insurance adjusters to discuss restoring, rather than discarding valuable contents when odor is present at a trauma scene or undiscovered death cleanup. When contents coverage is available, the insurance adjuster may allow the trauma scene cleanup professionals to take more time ins restoring valuable items and apply a variety of methods to do so. If coverage is not present for valuable items in the home, Affinity Bio Solutions AZ will usually attempt to at least Hepa vacuum valuable items as part of the odor remediation process before applying other odor removal treatments mentioned above.
CONCLUSION
Homeowners insurance will cover crime scene cleanup services, blood cleanup, and unattended death cleanup in many cases that occur in a single-family home. When items of value are present in the home and contents coverage is included as part of the insurance coverage, this allows experienced crime scene cleanup companies like Affinity Bio Solutions AZ to restore these items to the condition they were in before the loss occurred. If coverage is not available, some of the items are still often addressed as part of the odor removal process in undiscovered death situations. When selecting a trauma scene cleanup company, it is beneficial to consider an experienced company that is certified through the IICRC for trauma scene cleanup, odor removal, and contents processing, such as Affinity Bio Solutions AZ.
