The damage is done.

In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, a company wages Herculean efforts to put the business back on track. The business continuity plan is in play. Labors may include stabilizing the building and adjacent environment, operating from a remote site, and utilizing atypical means of communications, among other measures.

At the same time, the insurance claims process begins. After a thorough on-site inspection, all insurers, brokers and agents are apprised of the initial extent of damage and loss. Working with contractors, forensic attorneys and accountants, photographs are taken, videos are filmed and lists are made compiling the disaster's toll.

Documentation is critical to the claims-recovery process. That process will be easier if the enterprise has stored all its important documents, such as tax, accounting and inventory data, at a remote location.

“You need records to support a claim,” said Ryan Carruth, a partner at RGL Forensics, an Atlanta-based international forensics accounting firm. “One of the obligations under the insurance contract is documentation supporting the claim, particularly when it comes to business interruption claims.”

Mr. Carruth added, “You could be doing millions of dollars of business a day, but if you don't have the records, there is no way to prove it.”

In many post-disaster scenarios, claims will be filed with more than one insurer. Brokers will have the names of emergency contact people at each carrier, although insureds should have this information already in hand.

“Post-disaster, the most important objective is clear communication between the claimant and the insurance adjuster,” said Gerry Alonso, senior vp-claims at Providence, R.I.-based insurer Factory Mutual Insurance Co., which does business as FM Global. “There should be one point of contact who is in charge of this process from the claimant end.”

Triage is a key element in post-disaster actions. “If you see problems like a leaking pipe that you can attend to at the moment, don't wait for the insurance adjuster; take any means necessary to prevent further damage,” said Arnie Goldin, property specialist with the Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. in Tampa, Fla. “Stop the bleeding now.”

But there is one caveat: Emergency repairs should be reviewed beforehand with insurers, said Gary Thompson, a partner in the insurance recovery group in the Washington office of law firm Reed Smith L.L.P. “If you can't do this, then make sure the "before-and-after' situation is clearly documented and photographed,” he said.

Mr. Goldin also advised prioritizing which departments and functions are most crucial to the business returning to normalcy. “You want to get those parts of the organization running smoothly again first, followed by the rest,” he said.

This is the process in place at Miami-Dade County Public Schools. “Our job is to get kids back in the classroom immediately,” said Scott Clark, the district's risk and benefits officer. “We have a...team here that includes principals, chief custodians, maintenance officers, myself and others, under the direction of the superintendent of schools, who sweep in immediately after a disaster to determine the scope of damage at the affected institutions. We have a series of 20 questions we use to guide us in the post-disaster response: Is the power running, is the area flooded, are there physical signs of damage, and so on.”

The responses to these questions are input into a computer at the school superintendent's office. “We're then able to prioritize the schools that can get back on track first, and direct resources accordingly,” Mr. Clark said. “We can run split-day classes so kids from a school that will take longer to repair can attend the ones that are up and running sooner.”

Mr. Thompson, who has worked on dozens of large hurricane claims through the years, recommends that notices be issued to all insurers on a timely basis, given the timing issues of many insurance policies. “If the policy requires a proof of loss within 30 days, obtain a written extension,” he said. “Scrutinize all other time-related policy requirements.”

Copy all loan documents, ground leases and other policy wordings, he added. “Loans and ground leases may require certain insurance conditions, but it is common to have inconsistencies, which is why you want outside counsel to look at this stuff in advance,” he said. “I've seen some business interruption policies, for instance, that are triggered by a cessation in operations. Insurance company lawyers will argue this means "total cessation.' So if your hotel is (virtually) wiped out, (but) a couple rooms remain occupied, you could have trouble collecting on your business interruption claim.”

An attorney can insert guards in a policy protecting against those types of arguments, he added.

Business interruption losses often can be larger than property damage losses after a natural catastrophe—hence the need to take charge of the adjusting process, said Finley Harckham, a partner in the insurance recovery practice at Anderson Kill & Olick P.C., a New York-based law firm. “Many companies make the mistake of dealing with the insurance company's adjuster without having their own adjuster involved,” he said. “You need an advocate—a forensic attorney who can document the business interruption losses for you.”

Without such an advocate, companies risk filing a claim that will be denied. “We saw claims after Katrina that were presented in ways guaranteed not to be paid,” Mr. Harckham said. “For example, the claim will say "the hurricane washed the house away.' But, what really happened was that wind tore the roof off and rain poured in to cause damage—both covered perils. After this, the storm surge came in, and then washed the house away.”

As with everything else in business, the devil is in the details.