Claim Guidance Library

Taking it in and Getting Started

• Top 10 Insurance Claim Tips
• Speak UP: How to communicate with your insurance company
• Sample Letter Requesting Complete Copy of Homeowners Policy
• Returning to your home after a wildfire: A post-evacuation checklist
• Mobile/Manufactured Home Insurance Claim Tips
• First Steps After a Wildfire
• Survivors Speak: Forced Choice Matrix for Decision-making
• What’s UP With Home Insurance Deductibles?
• FEMA and SBA 2024 Updates Overview
• Smoke Damage and Remediation Resources

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Arranging Temporary Housing

• Survivors Speak: Additional Living Expense (ALE)/Loss of Use
• Sample Letter Requesting Information About Insurance Benefits for Temporary Living Expenses (“ALE” or “Loss of Use”)
• Survivors Speak: Underinsured, Delayed Rebuild, Buying a temporary home

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Getting Organized

• Organizing Carrier-Specific Disaster Survivor Groups
• Insurance Accounting Spreadsheet
• FAQ’s about Property Damage Insurance Claims
• Insurance Claim Tips For Partial Loss Fires
• Sample Letters and Claim Documents
• What to Do With Checks from Your Insurance Company

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Getting Debris Removed

• Debris Removal After a Disaster
• What’s UP with Trees, Shrubs, and Landscaping Insurance Coverage?

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Being Proactive in Documenting and Valuing Your Losses

• The Scoop on “Scope” (of loss)
• Xactimate Demystified
• Insurance Recovery Tips for the Dwelling Part of Your Claim
• Smoke and ash damage from a wildfire
• Reimbursement for Claim Preparation Expenses
• Survivors Speak: Partial Loss Remediation Tips
• Thermal (“extreme heat”) damage from a nearby wildfire
• Sample Letter for Requesting Copies of Claim-Related Documents
• Building Code, Ordinance or Law Compliance
• Smoke Restoration Guide
• Buy or Rebuild? FAQs on replacing a dwelling after a total loss
• Sample Letter Requesting Inspection, Scoping and Remediation Plan for Wildfire Damaged Structure
• Sample Letter Requesting Re-inspection and Re-testing of a Partially-Damaged Home
• Insurance Coverage for Damaged or Destroyed Septic Systems
• What’s UP with Trees, Shrubs, and Landscaping Insurance Coverage?
• Sample Letter Requesting Full Benefits Payout (Total Wildfire Loss)

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Creating Your Home Inventory and Navigating Your Contents Claim

• Sample Letter Asking for a Waiver of the Contents Itemization Requirement
• 10 tips for settling a contents (personal property) claim
• Depreciation Basics
• Sample Letter Asking for a Personal Property Claim Settlement
• Home Inventory and Contents Claim Tips
• Survivors Speak: Strategies for preparing your home inventory
• Survivors Speak: Personal Property / Contents List for Insurance for Total Loss
• Sample Letter for a Renter to Request a Contents Itemization Waiver and ALE limits settlement

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Making Financial Decisions

• Updating your home insurance after a loss…Staying protected without wasting money
• Survivors Speak: Coping With Underinsurance
• Tax Tips for Disaster Survivors
• Underinsurance 101
• Tax Information for Disaster Survivors
• What to Do With Checks from Your Insurance Company

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Choosing a Contractor

• Survivors Speak: Working With Your Contractor
• Survivors Speak: The Rebuilding Process
• Questions to ask a repair/rebuilding contractor
• Guidelines For Reviewing Adjusters’ And Contractors’ Estimates
• What’s UP with Overhead and Profit?
• Rebuilding 101: A Guide to the Reconstruction Process

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Working with Your Mortgage Company

• Sample Letter Requesting Mortgage Company Release Insurance Proceeds
• Sample Letters and Claim Documents

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Getting Help If/When You Need It

• A Policyholders Guide to Mediation
• Examinations Under Oath – “EUO”
• Getting Help From the CA. Dept. of Insurance
• Hiring an Attorney for an Insurance Claim
• Insurance Appraisal Simplified
• Making the Best Choice When Hiring a Public Adjuster
• Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Public Adjuster
• Hiring Professional Help for an Insurance Claim
• Survivors Speak: Hiring an Attorney to Sue a Utility That Caused or Contributed to a Wildfire

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Overcoming Obstacles

• Policyholders Can Win in Appraisal
• Sample Letter Requesting Claim Payment History
• Resolving Claim Disputes
• Using social media to be the squeaky wheel
• Belly UP: Navigating a claim when your insurer becomes “insolvent”
• Sample Letter to Collect Policy Benefits for Building Code Upgrades (non-CA)
• Sample Letter Requesting Retroactive Increase of Your Dwelling Limit

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Taking Care of Yourself Along the Way

• Survivors Speak: Observations from a Teenage Wildfire Survivor
• “Survivors Speak” Tip Series
• Survivors Speak: Self-Care After a Disaster

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