Home insurance in Charleston starts in the Kanawha Valley, with your policy, your deductible, and any claim on an older West Virginia house between the river and the hill. A valley-floor basement that took river water and a South Hills roof that took ice are not the same damage. Start with which side of town and what the building did.
Read the declarations page. Note the dwelling limit and the deductible, and whether wind or hail sits apart from the base deductible. Rebuilding an older house stepped into this valley is not the figure the address would sell for. If the limit feels unrelated to the structure, say so. The page is what the policy will use when a claim is opened.
Keep the water stories separate. Rain under ice-lifted shingles, seepage through the uphill foundation, and water in a lower room because the Kanawha or the Elk rose are different events. A standard policy often treats flood differently from a sudden pipe break. Do not choose the word yourself. Say ceiling, hillside joint, or lowest floor. The path is what you can see.
If you are filing, note when you found the damage and which rooms are involved. A house under the hill may hide the roof from the street. Say what the attic or the crawl shows. Prior claims and a roof you already distrusted belong on the call. Photos can follow the description. A freeze that split a line should be described as a freeze, not as the river.
Say whether you are comparing a policy, checking a deductible before work, or reporting damage. Mention a lot by the river or a steep older roof if those are true. Home insurance in Charleston, in the Kanawha Valley, starts with the declarations page and this house. Call the number on this page.