All Terrain Thinking

A Compendium of things I think are Important

Generally Speaking, Think on this...

Take care with fire insurance claims

To this day, the insurers think they didn't get a fair shake from Garamendi. They insist that the number of complaints from the 2003 fires was minor compared with the total number of claims processed. And they note that nearly all complaints were resolved before they ever got to court.

“In that kind of situation, I think (the number of complaints) was pretty darned good,” said Bill Sirola, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance.

Nevertheless, the survivors of the 2003 fires say the victims of the 2007 fires should be cautious when dealing with insurers. In a twist on Ronald Reagan's axiom “trust but verify,” homeowners, lawyers and insurance consultants say that the fire victims should “question and document.”

Chris Tuttle, whose home in Julian was destroyed by fire in 2002, rebuilt with insurance money and then damaged by smoke in 2003, recommends a few simple steps in dealing with insurers:

• If your insurance policy burned in the fire, call your insurance company – not your agent – to get a full copy of your policy, including all the disclosure pages. This will help as you discuss with your insurer how much coverage you are entitled to.
  
  
• Check to see if you are entitled to compensation for the costs you incurred while evacuating, including compensation to family members who took you in.
  
  
• Get a notebook and document every conversation with insurance adjusters or contractors, including the date and time that the conversation took place, the name of the person you are speaking to and the topic of what was said.
  
  “If you don't write these things down, you'll forget them,” she said. “You've got a lot of things on your mind in a fire, and if somebody asks you months from now, you won't remember the details.”
  
  
• Do not agree to have your conversations tape-recorded.
  
  “Looking down the road, if things don't go well and you go into court, those tapes could be used against you,” Tuttle said. “When they're talking to you, you'll be frazzled from the fire and you might not be paying attention to everything you're saying. Taking notes is better.”
  
  
• Be careful when signing documents and don't sign checks from insurers that are marked “final payment.”
  
  

“It's important to the insurance companies to get a claim off the books as quickly as possible, so they may tell you 'Sign this and this will be the final payment for your contents of your home.' But don't sign that kind of check until you're absolutely sure that the entire claim is completely done and you haven't missed or forgotten anything.”

Despite following all of those procedures, Tuttle says she did not get enough money out of insurers to restore her house, which was hit by smoke and landscaping damage. She and her husband eventually moved to Arkansas since the cost of repairing their home was too much for them, even though they did get some insurance money.

“I'm not expecting the process to be any different this time,” she said.

Nolo Press, which specializes in publications that provide do-it-yourself legal and business advice, adds a few more recommendations, including:

• Keep track of correspondence from insurers, fire officials, contractors, etc.
  
  
• Be prompt in filing claims and make sure that your insurer is prompt in responding.
  
  
• Find out how to get the best estimate for your repairs.
  
  
• Keep paying your insurance premiums.
  
  
• Hire outside help to assist you when negotiating a settlement of your claim.
  
  

Andy Barile, an insurance industry consultant in Rancho Santa Fe, adds another piece of advice: Fire victims should contact the insurance agents who sold them their policies and ask for their help with the claim.

“The agents aren't usually claims-oriented and the insurance companies usually don't like them to be involved, but the policyholders sometimes don't know enough about the business to get the right answers,” Barile said. “But the policyholder should still to pick on their agents more and force them to get involved.”

Prior | Tell us what you think | Next

Add to Your Social Bookmarks: Del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit Simpy Spurl Y! MyWeb - StumbleUpon