<prompt> Human: Cross-post from rinsurance and rlegaladviceThe title pretty much says it all. On A Sunday morning a few weeks ago, a neighborhood transformer caused several electrical fires on our block. We werent home, and it ended up consuming our master bedroom and bathroom. Two of our dogs did not make it 3. It has been a pretty shitty few weeks, but we have been trying to move forward.Our coverage is: 270K personal property 144K living expenses 360K building repairs We had a great restoration company come in to clean, pack outinventory, and demo the affected area. We have also shaken off the ambulance chaser contractor that tried to rope us in although, I am grateful he was there to patch up the fence and the roof, given the impending storms and have foregone using a Public Adjuster. We just signed a contract with one of the most highly recommended Fire Restoration GCs in the greater area. They are already in the process of drawing up engineering planscalcs and going through the permitting process. All told, they are saying it will be a six month process.The utility company here in Northern California PGE, relevant due to San Bruno 1 2 has agreed to accept full responsibility for the damages, to include our 1000 deductible. We havent been asked to sign anything from PGE to release them from any further proceedings. Now, we are dealing with our insurance company Farmers, who will front expenses, then pursue subrogation. FWIW, the independent fire investigator estimates that 600v were coming out of our outlets normal 110-120v.Information, explanations, and money has been flying around. We have fronted at least 13k, although I havent looked at the numbers again in the past week. So, more than that, it is safe to say. In order to start getting compensated for the money we have spent, I think we need to finish providing valuations for the inventoried total loss items. But to be honest, we dont know what we are doing. Has anyone been through something similar? Have any suggestions on what to be wary of? Frequently overlooked expensible items?How likely is it that the insurance company will be more lenient with expenses and reimbursement, given that they wont be left holding the bag?  <response>: Ive never experienced this, but I have read that its very important to be as specific as possible when describing the items you lost. Dont tell them you lost a toaster, tell them the exact make and model of your toaster, and mention all the salient features of your former toaster, such as the number of slices of bread it could handle, the nature of all the featuresknobs, the length of the power cord, the colour of the chassis, etc.This will ensure that the insurance company gives you a fully suitable replacement item, or enough cash to buy one. If you just tell them you lost a toaster, you are going to get the worst and cheapest replacement toaster imaginable.The toaster of course is just an example: you need to extend this practice to every item that was lost. Dont lie about anything, just be very detailed and specific. 