Hurricane Irene wreaked $7 to $10 billion in damages and was reported to be one of the 10 costliest catastrophes in U.S. history. Many hotels will recoup business revenue lost due to wind damage, flooding and apprehensive travelers because they’re well insured.

Others may find their coverage is minimally to totally inadequate.

Whether it’s Irene’s wrath, last month’s East Coast earthquake or another natural disaster, those affected should be talking to their insurance company, says attorney David Killalea.

Now.

“You need to promptly give notice of your loss,” he says. “That includes personal property, real estate and income loss. It doesn’t have to be incredibly detailed. That will come later. You’re putting the insurer on notice so they can investigate.”

Killalea is a partner in the Insurance Recovery litigation practice of law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Killalea works in the Washington, DC, office of the Los Angeles-based firm.

If a property has multiple policies and/or insurers, worry about the details later. Give notice to all insurers. Timely notice helps assure losses will be covered.

There’s yet another reason for getting in early. “You don’t want to start major repairs until the insurer has a chance to come in and take a look around,” says Killalea. “The sooner you give notice, the sooner you can get on with the business of putting your property back in shape. You want to make sure you’ve taken the right steps to prove your claim.”

At the same time managers need to begin documenting losses. “The better you can document your losses the better your claim is going to be,” he says. That includes taking pictures of the damages as well as itemizing losses.

“In property-related disputes, the major battle [with an insurer] is generally over what was the value of the property yesterday, value today, the reasonable cost of repairs, what’s the value of income you lost,” he explains. “Those are the first things the insurer pays.”

“It can be a little scary when you look at the cases out there that insurers have won,” he says. “That can be because of a little mistake the insured has made. All kinds of little things can trip you up, but there’s no need to worry if you follow the steps we’ve outlined.”

If you’ve been spared the recent natural disasters, they can be a lesson for planning.

“It’s really a good idea to do a periodic appraisal of what you have and whether it’s getting you what you want,” says Killalea. “You’re paying a good amount in premiums and you want to be sure you’re getting the right coverage.”

Gather up all of your insurance policies because you may have several beyond disaster damages that are relevant. These include loss-of-income coverage and more.

“Look at your policies to see if they include business interruption or business income coverage,” he says. Oftentimes policies cover physical damages that affect the property or business. In reality, hotels need coverage for business interruption NOT caused by physical property damage; this can be lack of access to their property, government-ordered evacuation, tourist cancellation.

“It could be that a hurricane collapses a building on your street and no one can get to your property even though it’s intact,” says Killalea.

The best way to be sure you’re getting the right coverage is to work closely with a broker and/or consult appropriate legal counsel. Sometimes that may include getting more than one insurance quote to determine the full range of coverage to consider.

Once appropriate coverage is determined, storing the policies in an easily accessible place is important. “You want to know when bad things happen you can get to the documents in the event of a hurricane or whatever,” he says. While a waterproof safe may work, consider electronic copies so you can access the documents remotely.

Take and keep detailed pictures in a safe place as well. These give an advantage when proving a claim.

“The other thing that’s important, the stuff that’s harder to prove,” he says, “is lost income. You want to be sure you know what your reservations were and what they were historically so you can show your lost income. That’s an important element of the proof. Make sure it’s all protected, not lost in a hurricane.”

“At the end of the day there will be more steps, but if you know your coverage, put your carrier(s) on notice, protect against further damage, allow time for insurer to inspect, and begin documenting your losses,” says Killalea, “you’re doing the right thing.”