What I tell friends who ask me about insurance claims, like if their truck got hit or they had a water damage event on their property --
1) Be honest with them, they work to ferret out fraud first thing out of the gate and it will -- if the claims people and their hired counsel are good -- bite you in the ass if you try to exaggerate things. I had friends in HS who told me they filed bogus "car stereo theft" claims and got away with them, but I would never use that tale as reason to try it myself.
2) Remember they are trying to save their company money, at all times. The more you ask them, "what do you need from me to fix this situation?" the better your position later if it becomes a beef, and the better your chances of being known inside the company as not a PIA complainer claimant. Because believe me, they deal with a lot of those folks.
3) Even if they are a known "friendly" company remember their job always is to save themselves money, because they don't stay in business by giving it away on fraudulent claims or over-estimated ones.
The best companies will work with you all the way to a happy fix. The worst stonewall you until you give up and take a reduced value or nothing at all. Most are between these two. I hope PV has a USAA styled experience on their claim.
