Roadmap to Recovery™ Program Update: June 2009
Santa Barbara Wildfire Recovery
UP is in Santa Barbara assisting homeowners impacted by the Jesusita fire, an unseasonably early wildfire that hit in May. Staffer Rebecca Huston manned a table at the Local Assistance Center the week after the fire. Volunteer and Roadmap Advisor Ken Klein represented UP and introduced California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner at an Insurance Recovery Forum the following week. Then Amy Bach flew down to participate in a resource fair sponsored by the Mission Canyon and Mountain Drive Homeowners Associations. In addition to giving survivors one-on-one guidance, UP is distributing Roadmap to Recovery Organizers, home inventory flash drives, and Disaster Recovery Handbooks. Help us cover the cost of these emergency supplies by donating today!
Ongoing support in SoCal
Our work continues in Rancho Bernardo/San Diego County where we’re currently conducting our third wildfire claim survey and continuing to provide trouble-shooting and networking help to ’07 fire families. Karen Reimus is spearheading UP’s ongoing outreach in Yorba Linda (Orange County) for ’08 fire families. Our most recent program was a Claim Process Refresher. Rebecca Huston and Ken Klein are assisting ’09 fire families in Santa Barbara (see article above). The services UP is offering in each region are outlined in our Roadmap to Recovery 2009 Bulletin, which can be read online at http://unitedpolicyholders.org/pdfs/2009Bulletin.pdf.
Rebuilding “green” AIG insured wildfire survivors in Sylmar, CA get big help from CDI
In April, UP Executive Director Amy Bach joined California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner at a news conference to announce an agreement with AIG to deliver up to $46 million in additional claim payments to people whose homes were destroyed in the November 2008 “Sayre” wildfire. The agreement virtually doubles the dwelling replacement benefits available to AIG policyholders who suffered total losses in the Sylmar, CA disaster. To read the details of the agreement, visit: http://tinyurl.com/AIGfactsheet.
“Integrating Sustainability at ANY Stage of the Rebuild” is one of the many topics that have been covered at UP Roadmap to Recovery meetings in 2009. The speakers (including 2007 Witch Creek fire survivor Jacques Lord) discussed how sustainability can be incorporated into your new home whether you are still at the planning stage or have already moved back in. Especially with today’s rising energy costs, it’s important to remember that it’s never too late to integrate sustainable energy measures.
The live meetings/workshops component of UP’s Roadmap to Recovery™ program feature expert speakers on a wide variety of topics. Videos of some of our recent presentations can be viewed from a home page link at http://www.uphelp.org. At our live meetings, we hold insurance interest group break out sessions following the speaker portion.