Gateway/Insurance
Insurance claim help,
plainly.
If your home in the St. Louis metro just had a water-loss event or you have found mold, your first call should be to us, and your second call should be to your insurance carrier. The order matters: mitigation that begins within the first 24 to 48 hours is what carriers reimburse most consistently.
How this works
We work with your
insurance carrier.
Every job that involves a claim starts the same way: we arrive, we document the loss with timestamped photos and moisture readings, we extract standing water, and we set drying equipment. While that work is happening, our office calls your carrier's claims line, opens a claim number if you have not already, and confirms what your specific policy covers under Coverage A (dwelling), Coverage B (other structures), and Coverage C (personal property).
When the adjuster arrives, we walk them through the scope in person and hand over our documentation in the format their carrier uses. There is no separate billing for this coordination, it is included in the restoration estimate.
The pages below cover the specific quirks of each major carrier we work with regularly: which paperwork they ask for first, what their typical timelines look like, what they will and will not cover, and what we have learned about expediting approvals.
Pick your carrier
Carrier-specific
claim guides.
If you have a regional carrier (Shelter, Auto Club Group, Country Financial, MetLife, Hartford, AAA, Chubb), we still handle the documentation and adjuster coordination, call (314) 947-3419 and we will walk you through how your specific carrier typically handles water and mold.
Common questions
What homeowners
actually ask us.
Should I call you or my insurance company first?
Call us first. Water damage doubles in severity roughly every 24 hours, and mold begins growing on wet substrate within 48 to 72 hours. Carriers expect you to mitigate immediately to limit the loss; waiting for their adjuster before drying out is a common reason claims get partially denied. We will be at your door within 90 minutes most of the time, and we will help you open the claim while we work.
Will my homeowners insurance cover this?
Most standard HO-3 policies cover sudden and accidental water damage like burst pipes, appliance failures, ice dams, and pulled-back roof shingles in a storm. They do not cover gradual leaks (a slow pinhole under the sink for six months), flooding from outside the home (separate NFIP flood policy required), or maintenance issues. Mold coverage is the trickier line: most policies cap mold remediation at $5,000 to $10,000 unless you have a mold endorsement, and the mold must be the secondary result of a covered water event.
What does my deductible look like in practice?
For a $1,000 deductible and an $8,000 water loss, you pay the first $1,000 and your carrier pays the remaining $7,000 (typically directly to us). We never ask for the deductible upfront; it is built into your final balance. For losses where the total estimate is below or near the deductible, we will tell you honestly that filing may not make sense, since claim history can affect your premium at renewal.
What if my claim gets denied?
If the carrier denies coverage entirely, you have two reasonable next steps: request a written denial letter citing the specific policy clause, and consider hiring a public adjuster (typically 10 to 15 percent of the final settlement, regulated by Missouri DCI). We can refer you to public adjusters we have worked alongside, but we cannot represent you in the claim ourselves, that would be a regulatory conflict. For partial denials, we will document the missing scope and you can request a re-inspection.
Do you work with carriers not on this list?
Yes. The 10 carriers above are the ones we see most often in the St. Louis metro, so we have written dedicated guides for them. For any other carrier, the documentation and coordination flow is the same; we just have not published a dedicated page yet. Call (314) 947-3419 and we will walk you through how your specific carrier handles things.
Already filing a claim?
Call us. We will be on-site within 90 minutes most of the time, and we will help open the claim while we work.