Have property damage on a property with a home mortgage or home equity line of credit through Royal Credit Union? There may be some additional steps you need to take to handle homeowners insurance claims and payments.
This information only applies to properties where Royal Credit Union is a lienholder. Royal Credit Union typically places a lien on a property if you have a home mortgage loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC) with us. The lien protects Royal’s interest in the property and means there are a few extra steps to do after you make a homeowners insurance claim.
Besides the information below, there are detailed instructions available in our downloadable Property Damage Insurance Claim Packet.
- Notify your homeowners insurance company. The insurance company will send a representative to your property to assess the damage and create an official claim report, also called an adjuster’s report.
- Once your insurance has determined the amount of the claim, report the claim to our Mortgage Servicing Team at 800-341-9911, ext. 6985 or MortgageServicing@rcu.org. You’ll need to provide a copy of the adjuster’s report.
- Your insurance company will issue a claim check. Most claim checks will be payable to you and Royal Credit Union. Once everyone listed on the check has signed it (Royal can sign it at any office), the funds are deposited into your Primary Base Savings account to earn interest. There will be a hold placed on the funds to ensure they are used to repair the property.
- You will need to complete the forms from the Property Damage Insurance Claim Packet found here.
- Once Royal receives all your documents, we will be able to release part of the funds to you and your contractor to begin repairs.
- Once repairs are done, contact the Mortgage Servicing Team so we can schedule an inspection. If all repairs are complete and we have received the required forms, we will release the remaining funds to you and your contractor.
Insurance claim checks are usually made payable to everyone who has an interest in the property. This helps ensure the property is restored to its original or better condition.
Yes, you can authorize others, such as a contractor, to receive funds or information about your claim. Complete and submit an authorization form if you’d like to do this.
Royal released repair funds to you and your contractor in partial payments to ensure the repairs are being made according to schedule. This also helps prevent contractor fraud and loss of funds.
Please contact us to discuss additional options for this situation.
Insurance claim proceeds are intended to repair or restore your home to its original condition or better and cannot be used for other purposes. We place a hold on these funds in your account to ensure they are only released to you and a contractor for repairs.
Typically, we will not place your depreciation check on hold because repairs should be completed by the time you receive this check.
Based on the type of repair that needs to be completed, you may or may not be able to complete repairs on your own. Please contact us to discuss your options.
