An adjuster arriving on day five is looking at a scene that has already been altered. Water has been pumped out, carpet has gone to the curb, and a plumber has replaced the failed part and taken the old one away in a bucket. None of that is wrong. All of it removes evidence, and the claim is then decided on what the homeowner happened to keep.
Eight things, in the order they become gettable.
1. Photographs taken before anything moved
Every room from every corner, then each damaged item on its own. Wide shots establish the extent, close shots establish the item. Take more than feels sensible. Nobody has ever regretted the extra forty photographs, and they cost nothing but a minute at the worst possible time.
Video walking through the space is worth adding because it captures what the stills miss, including the sound of water still running and the state of rooms you did not think were affected.
2. The failed part itself
The burst supply line, the split hose, the cracked fitting, the failed water heater. Put it in a bag and keep it in the garage.
Cause decides coverage. A supply line that failed suddenly is a different claim from a fitting that had been weeping for two years, and the physical part is the only thing that settles that argument in your favor when someone disputes it later. If a plumber replaces it, ask for the old one back before they leave.
3. The declarations page of your policy
Not the whole policy, though you will want that too. The declarations page is the two or three pages listing your limits, your deductible, and any endorsements you bought.
Read it before the first phone call. It tells you what your deductible is, whether you have coverage for water backup, and whether contents are covered at replacement cost or at actual cash value, which is the difference between a new sofa and a depreciated one.
4. A dated account of what happened
Written the same day, in plain sentences. When you found it, what you saw, what you did, who you called and at what time.
This becomes the spine of the claim and it is also the thing you will be asked to repeat, possibly under a recorded statement, weeks later when the details have blurred. A contemporaneous note is worth considerably more than a recollection, and the difference is visible to everyone reading both.
5. Invoices for emergency work
Most policies require the homeowner to prevent further damage, and most will pay for that work separately from the repair. Keep every receipt: the emergency plumber, the dehumidifier rental, the fans, the sheet plastic, the hotel if the house was unlivable.
Pay by card rather than cash where you can. A card statement is a second record that survives a lost receipt.
6. A contents list with ages and evidence of value
The tedious one, and the one that carries real money. Room by room, item by item, what it was, roughly when it was bought, and what it would cost to replace.
Your own photographs from before the loss are the best evidence here, and most households already have thousands of them for other reasons. Birthday pictures show the room behind the birthday. Email receipts from years back are searchable. Start this list in the first week while you can still remember what was in the closet.
7. Moisture readings, taken over time
If a restoration company is involved, they will log readings daily. Ask for copies as they go rather than at the end.
These logs are what turn a disagreement about whether a wall is dry into a question with an answer. They also protect you in the other direction, showing that the drying was done to a standard rather than stopped when the equipment was needed elsewhere.
8. A line-item repair estimate
Not a single number on a piece of letterhead. A breakdown: materials, labor, each room, each task.
Adjusters work from itemized estimating software and compare like with like. A one-line estimate cannot be compared to anything, so it gets replaced by their own figure. An itemized estimate from your contractor can be set against theirs line by line, and the differences become a short conversation about specific items rather than a standoff about a total.
The recorded statement, and how to be ready for it
At some point you may be asked to give a recorded statement about the loss. This is routine and it is not a trap, but it is a formal record and it is taken once.
Ask for it to be scheduled rather than done on the spot, and read your own dated account through beforehand. Answer what is asked, say plainly when you do not know something, and resist the urge to estimate a date or a dollar figure you are not sure of. "I will check and send that" is a complete answer and a better one than a guess that later has to be corrected.
Two dates to find early
Somewhere in the policy are two deadlines: the period for giving notice of a loss, and the period for submitting a formal proof of loss. Both are usually generous and both are absolute. Find them in week one and put them in a calendar.
None of the eight items requires expertise. They require doing dull things at a moment when the house is loud and wet and nobody feels like being methodical. The homeowners who come out of this well are almost always the ones who spent forty minutes on paperwork while the fans were still running.