If your home or business has been damaged or destroyed in the Woolsey or Hill Fires, use this library and the UP Roadmap to Recovery program to get help.

Through our Roadmap to Recovery program you will find useful information, guidance and help resources. Our main focus is on helping you navigate your insurance claim toward a full, fair and prompt settlement.  We also offer guidance on debris removal, temporary living arrangements, government aid, construction issues, hiring professional help, and deciding how and if you will repair, rebuild or buy a replacement home.

Please watch make use of all the help our non-profit offers.  That includes videos of our past Roadmap to Recovery workshops in other wildfire areas, a library of tips, samples and tools, guidance from past disaster survivors, and answers to individual questions from insurance claim and legal profession expert volunteers via our Ask an Expert forum.

As you move through the process, set up whatever systems will help you stay as organized as possible.  Keep a journal/diary to confirm communications in writing, list and value what you lost and keep on track.  Save receipts for expenses due to losing the use of your home (during or after evacuation) – they should be reimbursable under your “Additional Living Expense” Coverage.  Seek out others who are insured with the same company you’re insured with, share information and stay in touch with them as best you can.  211 and Ventura County Recovers are also good sources of recovery help.

UP is here to support you as best we can.  We’re rooting for you!

If your home was spared but exposed to extreme heat and smoke, we offer specialized guidance on insurance claim issues related to proper cleaning, inspecting for damage, restoring healthy indoor air quality, and repairing obvious as well as hidden damage.

Here are some items to help you keep putting one foot in front of the other on the road to recovery:

• Top Ten Insurance Claim Tips
• FAQs about Home Insurance Claims in California
• Getting an Insurer to Extend Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use Benefits (CA Only)
• Insurance claim rules in California
• Survivors’ Speak (tips written by previous catastrophe survivors) 
• Sample Letter Requesting A Complete Copy of Your Home Insurance Policy
• Simplified Guide to Your Declarations Page
• ALE/Loss of Use: What expenses can you claim on your homeowner’s policy?
• Sample Letter Requesting Information About Insurance Benefits for Temporary Living Expenses (“ALE” or “Loss of Use”)
• Sample Letter Collecting Policy Benefits for Building Code Upgrades That Would Be Required If You Rebuilt Your Damaged or Destroyed Dwelling
• Debris Removal Decisions
• Contents Claim Help and Home Inventory Strategies
• Speak UP: Tips for Communicating with your Insurance Company
• Buy or rebuild?
• Underinsurance 101
• Tax tips for disaster survivors
• IRS tax tips for California wildfire victims
• Mobile home claim tips

Ask an Expert Forum:

The UP ”Ask an Expert” forum is an easy and safe way to ask direct questions and get answers from experienced and reputable consumer-oriented attorneys, claim, construction, tax and finance professionals plus previous disaster survivors who serve as UP volunteers. Your identity and personal information are protected. To use the forum, please visit https://uphelp.org/ask-an-expert/

Additional Information and Resources:

• ReCoverCA: Grants (up to $200,000) to homeowners who need help with reconstruction of their home. (Applications Open Spring 2021) Recover.hcd.ca.gov
• California Insurance Commissioner Order Extending Policy Deadlines Due to Circumstances Beyond Insured’s Control (4/6/20)
• A fire milestone: Last debris cleared, making way to rebuild (last load of debris from Woolsey and Hill fires removed)
• California Department of Insurance Bulletin
  (Expedited Claim Handling Billing Grace Period Procedures for California Wildfires)
• Disaster Legal Aid Hotline: 1-877-301-4448
• Fall 2018 California Wildfires Helping Handbook
• Los Angeles Long Term Recovery Organization (lacro.org)
• www.wildfirerecovery.org
• www.venturacountyrecovers.org
• www.lacounty.gov
• www.malibucity.org/901/Malibu-Rebuilds
• Financial Assistance for Fire Victims in LA and Ventura Counties from JFLA

For more information, visit our Claim Help Library: