Personal property claims can be some of the most frustrating claims in the insurance claims process. The deck is stacked against you if you have any kind of insurance policy that insures your personal property. This is true for property owned by homeowners and renters as well as the personal property owned by businesses and other commercial entities.
Personal property, also commonly known as “Contents,” is usually described as any property in or on the insured premises not permanently attached to the building. Naturally, your policy will give you a definition that is more exact that this one, and will also have exclusions about some property that is not covered.
Many property insurance policies have the Replacement Cost (RC) Endorsement on the policy that covers the contents. The claims process for your Contents is the trap laid by the insurance companies. Don’t think that your insurer wouldn’t do that to you...they ALL do it.
Here’s the method of settlement found in all policies with the Replacement Cost Endorsement.
You submit your contents claim inventory. On that inventory you will have listed all of your contents, item by item, and the replacement cost. The insurance company will apply depreciation to each item of your contents, based upon its age and condition. Subtracting the depreciation amount from the replacement cost gives you the Actual Cash Value (ACV) of your property, whether business or personal.
The insurance company settles RC claims by issuing two separate checks. The first check will be for the ACV amount. According to the Loss Conditions in the policy, the insurer only pays you the RC of your contents once the replacement has been made.
For example, if you had an item with an RC value of $1000, and the depreciation amount was 30%, or $300, you would receive the first payment of $700. But, $700 does not replace the item. In order to receive the RC amount you will have to use $300 of your own money plus the $700 paid by the insurance company to make the replacement purchase. Then you are eligible for the second check, the $300 reimbursement.
Now...think about the same example if your entire contents claim is $100,000.
The insurance company “holds back” $30,000. In order for you to make the replacement purchases, you will have to find $30,000 of your own money, make the purchases, and then get reimbursed by the insurance company.
Where are you going to get that $30,000? Savings? Credit Card? Get a loan? Or perhaps you’re like many people that don’t have those cash resources available to them. They cannot make the replacements at all.
Do you see the trap?
Here is a strategy of three things you can do to minimize the effects of the Depreciation Trap.
1. Demand that the insurance company provide you a copy of the Depreciation Tables that they used to calculate your loss.
2. Compare each item, line by line, to be certain that the proper amount of depreciation was assessed by the adjuster.
3. Challenge any and all incorrect depreciation amounts.
By using this three-step strategy, you will maximize your Contents claim amount.
There is another Contents strategy that you MUST use when documenting your Personal Property claim. It relates to the personal property you won’t be replacing.
I knew a family that had a major fire loss. The wife was an attorney for many years. Then, when she had her first child, she decided to leave the business world and be a full-time mom. She had a closet full of expensive business suits, blouses, shoes and accessories. She was not going to replace them, since she was not using them any more for work clothing. So, we worked hard at establishing the highest possible value on her wardrobe. The ACV money that the family was paid for her wardrobe was used to make RC purchases of other items that did need replacing.
You can use this strategy in your Contents claim. Your home, condo, apartment or business is full of personal property that you’ve purchased over the years that (a) is obsolete or (b) you’re not using anymore. A business could have inventory items or office equipment that is unsold or obsolete. In each case, you have every right to be paid the correctly calculated ACV for those items. Then, you can use those dollars to offset the “holdback” amount when you are making your replacement purchases.
Don’t be a pushover! Don’t allow the insurance company to depreciate your Contents without a fight!
Fight back and WIN!
Showing posts with label homeowners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeowners. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Saturday, July 12, 2008
What Will Your Insurance Policy Pay If You Break a Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb?
Everybody's singing the praises of the new compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL). And for good reason...they save tons of electricity.
But what happens if one breaks inside your house or business?
My opinion is that most people will simply sweep up the mess and not give it much thought. But there is a BIG, dangerous component in a bulb called Mercury, and mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
If you break a CFL bulb, you'll likely find that the proper cleanup could be very costly. And you'll likely find that there is NO COVERAGE in your property insurance policy. Most policies have environmental cleanup exclusions. Even if your home is damaged by a tornado, hurricane or fire, the broken bulbs could cause you to incur thousands of dollars in environmental cleanup costs that your insurance policy will EXCLUDE.
Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:(1)
1. Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room
* Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
* Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
* Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
* Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
* Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
* Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:
* Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
* If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
* Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:
* If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be discarded. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
* You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
* If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials
* Immediately place all cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
* Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
* Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming
* The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
* Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
Man, they are serious, aren't they?
(1) Environmental Protection Agency, www.energystar.com
But what happens if one breaks inside your house or business?
My opinion is that most people will simply sweep up the mess and not give it much thought. But there is a BIG, dangerous component in a bulb called Mercury, and mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
If you break a CFL bulb, you'll likely find that the proper cleanup could be very costly. And you'll likely find that there is NO COVERAGE in your property insurance policy. Most policies have environmental cleanup exclusions. Even if your home is damaged by a tornado, hurricane or fire, the broken bulbs could cause you to incur thousands of dollars in environmental cleanup costs that your insurance policy will EXCLUDE.
Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:(1)
1. Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room
* Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
* Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
* Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
* Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
* Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
* Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:
* Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
* If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
* Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:
* If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be discarded. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
* You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
* If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
5. Disposal of Clean-up Materials
* Immediately place all cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
* Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
* Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming
* The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
* Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
Man, they are serious, aren't they?
(1) Environmental Protection Agency, www.energystar.com
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Wildfire Victims and Their Contents Claims!
CONTENTS, or UNSCHEDULED PERSONAL PROPERTY
Picture a homeowner couple in Southern California. They had a home in a wooded area, and wildfires began. The local Fire Department came to their home and required that they evacuate because the winds shifted and the fire was coming straight for their home. They gather up their most valuable possessions and leave their home. Three days later, they return to find a smouldering pile of ashes...a total loss.
This article is about the Contents portion of the claim. The insurance company will not just write you a check for the policy limits in your Homeowners policy. You're going to have to prove your loss.
The insurance company adjuster MIGHT give you an inventory form to fill out. They might not. But, they ARE going to expect you to submit a complete, accurate inventory list.
I hope that you videotaped all of the interior of your home PRIOR to the loss, and have secured that videotape in a safe deposit box off-site. Then, you could view the tape and write out the inventory.
But let's just assume that all you have is ashes. What to do next?
Get a copy of a JC Penney catalog. Better, get two...one Fall/Winter, one Spring/Summer. Get your hands on as many other catalogs as you can find. As you look at the pages of the catalogs, you'll remember the things that you had in your home. You will find hundreds or thousands of dollars in personal property that you likely would not have remembered owning. Not only will you remember dozens and dozens of items, but you'll have a retail price from a reputable retailer right at your fingertips.
Please don't misunderstand what I'm telling you to do here. I'm NOT telling you to write down items on your inventory list that you did not own. That's fraud, and you can go to jail for fraud. I'm simply showing you a way to remind yourself of things long ago purchased, and possibly stored and forgotten. For example, how many parents bought a vaporizer to run in their childrens' rooms at night when the children were sick? That vaporizer might not have been used in years, but you owned it, and you have a right to collect for it under the terms of your policy.
Write down EVERYTHING. Your inventory list will likely take dozens of pages. Remember to show (1) replacement cost, (2) age of the item, (3) Price paid.
When I say "write down EVERYTHING," I mean it. Thumbtacks, Q tips, makeup, bobby pins, tools, extension cords, light bulbs....if you owned it, record it.
You can be certain that the personal property you DO NOT INVENTORY will NOT be paid for.
Next article will discuss what happens next, when the adjuster begins to apply depreciation to your Contents Inventory. How can you win this fight?
Picture a homeowner couple in Southern California. They had a home in a wooded area, and wildfires began. The local Fire Department came to their home and required that they evacuate because the winds shifted and the fire was coming straight for their home. They gather up their most valuable possessions and leave their home. Three days later, they return to find a smouldering pile of ashes...a total loss.
This article is about the Contents portion of the claim. The insurance company will not just write you a check for the policy limits in your Homeowners policy. You're going to have to prove your loss.
The insurance company adjuster MIGHT give you an inventory form to fill out. They might not. But, they ARE going to expect you to submit a complete, accurate inventory list.
I hope that you videotaped all of the interior of your home PRIOR to the loss, and have secured that videotape in a safe deposit box off-site. Then, you could view the tape and write out the inventory.
But let's just assume that all you have is ashes. What to do next?
Get a copy of a JC Penney catalog. Better, get two...one Fall/Winter, one Spring/Summer. Get your hands on as many other catalogs as you can find. As you look at the pages of the catalogs, you'll remember the things that you had in your home. You will find hundreds or thousands of dollars in personal property that you likely would not have remembered owning. Not only will you remember dozens and dozens of items, but you'll have a retail price from a reputable retailer right at your fingertips.
Please don't misunderstand what I'm telling you to do here. I'm NOT telling you to write down items on your inventory list that you did not own. That's fraud, and you can go to jail for fraud. I'm simply showing you a way to remind yourself of things long ago purchased, and possibly stored and forgotten. For example, how many parents bought a vaporizer to run in their childrens' rooms at night when the children were sick? That vaporizer might not have been used in years, but you owned it, and you have a right to collect for it under the terms of your policy.
Write down EVERYTHING. Your inventory list will likely take dozens of pages. Remember to show (1) replacement cost, (2) age of the item, (3) Price paid.
When I say "write down EVERYTHING," I mean it. Thumbtacks, Q tips, makeup, bobby pins, tools, extension cords, light bulbs....if you owned it, record it.
You can be certain that the personal property you DO NOT INVENTORY will NOT be paid for.
Next article will discuss what happens next, when the adjuster begins to apply depreciation to your Contents Inventory. How can you win this fight?
What do you do if wildfires force you to evacuate from your home or business?
Additional Living Expense (ALE) Claims
HERE'S A SUPER IMPORTANT A.L.E. TIP!!
Over the past few years, wildfires in the Western United States have been horrendous, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes and businesses, and causing billions of dollars in fire damages. But what happens when the local authorities force you to evaluate when fire gets too close?
There's coverage in the ALE portion of the policy! I promise that the insurance companies are not running radio and TV ads, alerting their policyholders about THIS coverage!
Here's a exact quote from the ISO homeowners policy:
"If a civil authority prohibits you from use of the "residence premises" as a result of direct damage to neighboring premises by a Peril Insured Against in this policy, We cover the Additional Living Expense and Fair Rental Value loss.....for no more than two weeks." (1)
In a Homeowner insurance policy, you'll usually see ALE coverage listed as Coverage D. Sometimes, it's called Loss of Use.
Additional Living Expense (ALE) coverage is just what you might think it is. When you have a covered loss that makes the place you reside unfit to live in, and it forces you to spend more on normal operating costs than you usually spend, ALE coverage pays.
Your policy probably reads just like the following: "Additional Living Expense, meaning any necessary increases in living expenses incurred by you so that your household can maintain its normal standard of living."
ALE covers things like:
a. Temporary housing, like in a hotel, an apartment or rental house. If you lived in a modest home, don't expect the insurance company to pay for the finest hotel room in town. But on the other hand, if you lived in an expensive home, you should EXPECT AND DEMAND that the insurance company pay for temporary accommodations of like kind and quality. Remember, if you had a mortgage on your home, you still have to pay the mortgage payment while the home is being repaired. Lots of times the loss is severe and the adjuster knows you'll be out of your home for weeks or months. The insurance company will save money if it places your family in an extended stay hotel, or in a short term apartment or house lease. In addition to saving money on rent, the insurance company can pay advances on Contents, and if you're in an apartment or house, you'll have a place to store your new contents, like furniture, clothing and kitchenware.
b. Laundry and dry cleaning. If you had laundry facilities at your residence, it will cost you more to get your clothes cleaned. The extra cost you incur is covered.
c. Meals. This is where many people misunderstand their claim. Certainly, if you cannot buy and prepare your own meals, you'll incur higher food prices. But insurance companies won't usually pay for costly steak dinners and high bar tabs. You're going to have to be able to explain your meal purchases, so don't go overboard. You'll have to make an accurate estimate of what your family normally spends per month on food. That can certainly include restaurant meals that you normally buy. Just remember that ALE is paying for items OVER your normal standard of living. Keep METICULOUS RECORDS of your food purchases. If the insurance company places you into a temporary apartment or efficiency hotel that has a kitchen, they'll stop paying for most extra meals.
d. Boarding costs for pets. Someone has to take care of your pets while you cannot live in your home. This is covered.
e. Increased transportation costs for all your vehicles. Do you have to drive your children to school, since your temporary accommodations are not in the old school district? That's covered. Do you have to drive further to and from work? Covered. Do you have further to drive to doctors, dentists, ballet classes, soccer games, etc.? The increased cost is covered. Did I say KEEP METICULOUS RECORDS? Most office supply stores have automobile expense logbooks for sale for a dollar or two. Stop by and pick up one for each car you drive, and write down EVERY TRIP. Keep all receipts for every penny you spend on transportation.
f. Furniture rental for a temporary residence. You have to have chairs and beds and other stuff...even pots and pans, dishes and temporary electronics. However, don't try to get them to pay for a 60" plasma flat screen TV rental if you had a 27" color TV at home.
g. Relocation and storage expenses. Perhaps some of your personal property was not damaged. Perhaps some was damaged, but the restoration contractor is cleaning and repairing it. Once it's cleaned and repaired, it's got to be stored somewhere until you can move back home. Covered.
h. Costs of telephone or utility installation at your temporary residence. This would include deposits that the utility companies might require. Don't forget garbage pickup at your temporary place. It's all covered. Even cable TV hookups would be covered if you had cable at home prior to the loss.
What if you stayed with relatives, and did not incur increased rent, and many of the other expenses shown above? Another scenario is that you just simply do not want to go through the process of documenting all of your extra expenses. The policy gives you the option to be paid "Fair Rental Value", which is: "the fair rental value of that part of the 'residence premises' where you reside less any expenses that do not continue while the premises is not fit to live in."
How much would your house rent for? That's the question.
You'll need to make a comparison between your residence, like it was before the loss, and properties in the neighborhood that are comparable to yours. A good real estate broker can be very helpful in substantiating these comparable properties and the monthly costs of them. Once you determine the Fair Rental Value of your home, you must subtract expenses that do not continue during the restoration period, such as some utilities, garbage pickup, landscaping services or maid services.
Some insurance companies will still pay for extra transportation costs, relocation expenses, storage of contents and utilities in addition to Fair Rental Value. Some will make you choose either ALE or Fair Rental Value. Find out from your insurance company what they are going to do, and make your decision.
Go to the website at: www.insurance-claim-secrets.com and find the Resources tab. Download the ALE worksheet and make as many copies as you need. Use it as your guide to record and submit your ALE claim.
If your records and receipts were damaged in your loss, contact your utility companies, credit card companies and other creditors and get copies of the last couple months' bills. You'll need these records to confirm your normal operating expenses.
Finally: Don't be surprised if your adjuster or claims examiner tries to disqualify some of your legitimate expenses. Don't just accept what the adjuster says. If it's a truly legitimate expense, FIGHT FOR IT!! Go over the adjuster's head to his supervisor. Keep fighting. Send them a letter that insists that they give you written denial of any legitimate expenses. Once you have that in your possession, call your state Department of Insurance (DOI) and register a written complaint. You never know what impact a DOI complaint will have on your claim.
(1) Insurance Service Office, Inc., "Policy Kit for Insurance Professionals," 1990.
HERE'S A SUPER IMPORTANT A.L.E. TIP!!
Over the past few years, wildfires in the Western United States have been horrendous, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes and businesses, and causing billions of dollars in fire damages. But what happens when the local authorities force you to evaluate when fire gets too close?
There's coverage in the ALE portion of the policy! I promise that the insurance companies are not running radio and TV ads, alerting their policyholders about THIS coverage!
Here's a exact quote from the ISO homeowners policy:
"If a civil authority prohibits you from use of the "residence premises" as a result of direct damage to neighboring premises by a Peril Insured Against in this policy, We cover the Additional Living Expense and Fair Rental Value loss.....for no more than two weeks." (1)
In a Homeowner insurance policy, you'll usually see ALE coverage listed as Coverage D. Sometimes, it's called Loss of Use.
Additional Living Expense (ALE) coverage is just what you might think it is. When you have a covered loss that makes the place you reside unfit to live in, and it forces you to spend more on normal operating costs than you usually spend, ALE coverage pays.
Your policy probably reads just like the following: "Additional Living Expense, meaning any necessary increases in living expenses incurred by you so that your household can maintain its normal standard of living."
ALE covers things like:
a. Temporary housing, like in a hotel, an apartment or rental house. If you lived in a modest home, don't expect the insurance company to pay for the finest hotel room in town. But on the other hand, if you lived in an expensive home, you should EXPECT AND DEMAND that the insurance company pay for temporary accommodations of like kind and quality. Remember, if you had a mortgage on your home, you still have to pay the mortgage payment while the home is being repaired. Lots of times the loss is severe and the adjuster knows you'll be out of your home for weeks or months. The insurance company will save money if it places your family in an extended stay hotel, or in a short term apartment or house lease. In addition to saving money on rent, the insurance company can pay advances on Contents, and if you're in an apartment or house, you'll have a place to store your new contents, like furniture, clothing and kitchenware.
b. Laundry and dry cleaning. If you had laundry facilities at your residence, it will cost you more to get your clothes cleaned. The extra cost you incur is covered.
c. Meals. This is where many people misunderstand their claim. Certainly, if you cannot buy and prepare your own meals, you'll incur higher food prices. But insurance companies won't usually pay for costly steak dinners and high bar tabs. You're going to have to be able to explain your meal purchases, so don't go overboard. You'll have to make an accurate estimate of what your family normally spends per month on food. That can certainly include restaurant meals that you normally buy. Just remember that ALE is paying for items OVER your normal standard of living. Keep METICULOUS RECORDS of your food purchases. If the insurance company places you into a temporary apartment or efficiency hotel that has a kitchen, they'll stop paying for most extra meals.
d. Boarding costs for pets. Someone has to take care of your pets while you cannot live in your home. This is covered.
e. Increased transportation costs for all your vehicles. Do you have to drive your children to school, since your temporary accommodations are not in the old school district? That's covered. Do you have to drive further to and from work? Covered. Do you have further to drive to doctors, dentists, ballet classes, soccer games, etc.? The increased cost is covered. Did I say KEEP METICULOUS RECORDS? Most office supply stores have automobile expense logbooks for sale for a dollar or two. Stop by and pick up one for each car you drive, and write down EVERY TRIP. Keep all receipts for every penny you spend on transportation.
f. Furniture rental for a temporary residence. You have to have chairs and beds and other stuff...even pots and pans, dishes and temporary electronics. However, don't try to get them to pay for a 60" plasma flat screen TV rental if you had a 27" color TV at home.
g. Relocation and storage expenses. Perhaps some of your personal property was not damaged. Perhaps some was damaged, but the restoration contractor is cleaning and repairing it. Once it's cleaned and repaired, it's got to be stored somewhere until you can move back home. Covered.
h. Costs of telephone or utility installation at your temporary residence. This would include deposits that the utility companies might require. Don't forget garbage pickup at your temporary place. It's all covered. Even cable TV hookups would be covered if you had cable at home prior to the loss.
What if you stayed with relatives, and did not incur increased rent, and many of the other expenses shown above? Another scenario is that you just simply do not want to go through the process of documenting all of your extra expenses. The policy gives you the option to be paid "Fair Rental Value", which is: "the fair rental value of that part of the 'residence premises' where you reside less any expenses that do not continue while the premises is not fit to live in."
How much would your house rent for? That's the question.
You'll need to make a comparison between your residence, like it was before the loss, and properties in the neighborhood that are comparable to yours. A good real estate broker can be very helpful in substantiating these comparable properties and the monthly costs of them. Once you determine the Fair Rental Value of your home, you must subtract expenses that do not continue during the restoration period, such as some utilities, garbage pickup, landscaping services or maid services.
Some insurance companies will still pay for extra transportation costs, relocation expenses, storage of contents and utilities in addition to Fair Rental Value. Some will make you choose either ALE or Fair Rental Value. Find out from your insurance company what they are going to do, and make your decision.
Go to the website at: www.insurance-claim-secrets.com and find the Resources tab. Download the ALE worksheet and make as many copies as you need. Use it as your guide to record and submit your ALE claim.
If your records and receipts were damaged in your loss, contact your utility companies, credit card companies and other creditors and get copies of the last couple months' bills. You'll need these records to confirm your normal operating expenses.
Finally: Don't be surprised if your adjuster or claims examiner tries to disqualify some of your legitimate expenses. Don't just accept what the adjuster says. If it's a truly legitimate expense, FIGHT FOR IT!! Go over the adjuster's head to his supervisor. Keep fighting. Send them a letter that insists that they give you written denial of any legitimate expenses. Once you have that in your possession, call your state Department of Insurance (DOI) and register a written complaint. You never know what impact a DOI complaint will have on your claim.
(1) Insurance Service Office, Inc., "Policy Kit for Insurance Professionals," 1990.
Wildfire victims will lose tens of millions without this information!
The Southern California wildfires are causing the largest population evacuation in California
You can win the insurance game when you have the right tools!!
I spent the last 15 years of my 34-year insurance career in the claims adjusting side of the business. I became increasingly sickened by the ways that insurance companies minimized, shrunk, depreciated and flat-out denied claims that they knew were legitimate claims. So, I wrote a book showing consumers how to take control AWAY from the insurance companies. I know ALL the tricks, and I reveal them in my book.
The “devil” of the claim is in the details of the claims PROCESS, and the insurance companies hardly EVER explain the process. If they did, it would cost them millions more. Insurance companies do whatever they can to control the CLAIMS PROCESS. But, if you learn the CLAIMS PROCESS from me, you'll be able to take control of the process away from the insurance companies, and add hundreds or even thousands more dollars to your claim settlements!
- For the hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes, there is coverage in the homeowners or renters insurance policy for living expenses while you were displaced. In that coverage, there is a whole list of eligible expenses that you don’t know about and it’s not listed in the policy. The insurance companies will likely not tell you this, but I’ll tell you.
- How will you reconstruct your inventory of personal property? I’ll show you how.
- The insurance company will depreciate your dwelling and personal property, even if you have replacement cost coverage. Let me tell you how to beat this process.
- Are you underinsured? If you don’t FIGHT THIS PROCESS, the insurance company will determine how much your dwelling is worth, and if you have enough insurance. If THEY say you’re underinsured, they’ll hit you with a penalty. I can show you how to fight and get the correct valuation on your property.
You can win the insurance game when you have the right tools!!
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