HELP WITH INSURANCE ISSUES
INSURANCE ASSISTANCE:
After the wildfire, two organizations offered help in dealing with insurance agencies. They are United Policy Holders and CARe (Community Assisting Recovery, inc).
United Policy Holders offered the survivors of the wildfire a complete, multi- part program on “the Roadmap to Recovery”. They have been instrumental in lobbying for law changes in California and are active throughout the country.
Many Fired Up Sisters have participated with UPH in Fire Preparedness seminars, conferences or fairs.
United Policy Holders was instrumental to Fired Up Sisters in providing guidance in issues of insurance and recovery. UPH is a very valuable resource.
UP advocates the following:
1) UP says that they are always happy to help people who have insurance related questions or problems. Their “Ask an Expert” forums are free and available, and anyone can email info@uphelp.org any time. They stay in close contact with the CA Department of Insurance, elected officials and lawyers that specialize in insurance disputes. They can guide and advocate for people as appropriate.
2) The UP free home inventory app is great for creating a home inventory pre-loss, but also can be useful to disaster survivors (and their helpers) for pricing/valuing items. It has links to retail outlets that will pop up prices for specific items.
3) California residents now have a new tool for shopping for home insurance. This is useful if your current insurer drops you or raises your rates or does not behave well on a claim: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2015/release049-15.cfm
CARE offered the survivors of the wildfire a diverse program and individual counseling on dealing with insurance agencies. They were especially helpful in navigating the maze of placing and negotiating a claim. CARe is a valuable resource.