The property insurance “policy” is a contract and the eventual payment of your claim by the insurance company is first conditioned upon your performance of certain contractual obligations.

When water, wind or fire damage occurs, the policyholder owes to their insurance company a contractual duty to immediately protect both damaged, and undamaged property from further or continuing loss and damage. The insurance industry refers to these compulsory activities as “loss mitigation measures”.
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Loss mitigation services are delivered by specialty vendors and IICRC / ANSI certified restoration technicians. The performance of this work should be executed quickly in order to:

1. meets the specific needs of your property and;
2. complies with the terms of insurance policy language.

Policyholders who fail to mitigate additional loss and damage become financially responsible for damage that was unnecessarily created by their neglect. To place this into context: If water isn’t stopped, removed and dried-out immediately, tens of thousands of dollars worth of additional or ‘secondary’ damages can occur within a very short period of time. In the worst case, a failure to promptly mitigate may become cause for the insurance company to claim breach-of-contract followed by either an apportionment of liability to you or, depending upon severity, a denial of coverage in whole or in part. 
A list of your duties to your insurance company may be found in your policy jacket under: Section 1. - Conditions: “Your Duties After/Following a Loss”. 

Content excerpted by permission. ©Henry Kraft August 2017. From an article submitted by Henry Kraft, CPCU, SCLA, GA published August 12, 2016 Property Claims Digest (PCDnet.org)
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Disclaimer: FWR Professionals, Div. is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice or claim advocacy services. If you have questions about your policy language or the interpretation thereof, please review your insuring agreement and all endorsements with your insurance broker and/or retain the services of a competent attorney specializing in insurance matters.