If your home or business were damaged or destroyed, this section of our library will help you access information and tools through United Policyholders’ Roadmap to Recovery® program for overcoming challenges with property, flood and auto insurance claims and reaching a fair settlement.  Scroll down for key tips and a menu of resources.  Basic info about the 2019 flood damage in Sonoma County, CA is available here.

2019 Sonoma Flooding Claim Help Library

This library is for property and business owners, policyholder advocates, elected officials and the media. The Library contains tips, articles, bulletins, forms, reports, statistics, links and a wealth of information. Common challenges include disputes over deductibles, depreciation, repair methods and costs, rotating/inexperienced adjusters, scams, flood policy limits, water and mold damage exclusions/caps and the “anti-concurrent causation” clause that has deprived hundreds of thousands of consumers of insurance benefits they reasonably expected would protect them after a disaster.

Here is a partial list of claim tips and resources United Policyholders is offering those affected by the 2019 Sonoma Flood:

Key Insurance Claim Tips:

• Focus on completely inventorying and valuing all damage and costs to repair or replace your property, regardless of your insurance situation.

• Keep a diary of conversations with insurance, repair, government and other professionals.

• Flood policies have different rules than home policies.

• If you did not have flood insurance, there may still be damage that may be covered under your homeowner’s policy, depending on how it is written.  Examples could be wind-driven rain, sewage backup due to electrical failure of a pump or other device, other damage due to power outages or surges.

• Give your home and/or flood insurer a chance to do the right thing, but advocate for yourself and get help from the CA Department of Insurance and/or experienced professionals if you feel you’re not being treated fairly.

• If a home or flood insurance adjuster says damage isn’t covered, but you feel it should be, get an independent professional opinion before giving up on getting some or all of your claim paid.

Insurance Recovery Information, Tools and Resources

• Top Ten Insurance Claim Tips
• Flood Insurance Claim Tips
• Roadmap to Recovery Tools Request Form – “Road tested” tools to help document your loss
• Contents Claim Tips – For Recovering the Costs of Repairing and Replacing Damaged/Destroyed Household Items
  Insurance Recovery Tips for the Dwelling Part of Your Claim– How to collect the full amount your insurer owes you for what it would reasonably cost to repair/rebuild
• The Scoop on Scope (of Loss)
• Speak UP: How to communicate with your insurance company
• Mold Damage Guide – Information about resources about mold damage
• Sample Claim and Proof of Loss Form
• Insurance-Related Sandy Deadlines Alert
• Resolving Flood Insurance Disputes
• National Flood Insurance Program Proofs of Loss, Damage Estimates and Supplemental Claims
• State by State Assistance – Find specific information for your state
• Claim Help Library – Search for tips and information on insurance claims, legal matters and the rebuilding/repair proces
• Hiring Professional Help – Read our before you sign on the dotted line
• Post Disaster Income Tax Information

Additional Resources

• National Flood Insurance Program – Summary of Coverage – This document was prepared by the NFIP to help you understand your flood insurance policy
• National Disaster Legal Aid
• The U.S. Small Business Administration Offers Disaster Assistance to California Businesses and Residents Affected by Winter Storms and Flooding

Water Damage Library archive  This Library was originally created after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 as a resource for property and business owners, policyholder advocates, elected officials and the media. It is designed to explain and help solve insurance claim problems faced by home and business owners after large scale catastrophes. The Library contains tips, articles, bulletins, forms, reports, statistics, links and a wealth of information.

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