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From
: Lila Hayes
Sent : June 01, 2005
Subject : OFRG weekly update
Meeting
Reminder
Our next meeting will be on June 12 we will be having Chris Kincaid from Milgard Windows and
Doors who will be sharing information regarding
their products.
---
Index
1. Electricity Discounts
2. Book Review :Policy Ensurance
3. Gas hook-up procedures and
fees
---
In The News
1. Calif. Senate Passes Bill to Help
Homeowners Following Disasters, May 25, 2005, Insurance
Journal
2. AIA Opposes California Bill to Limit Home
Inventories, May 26, 2005, Insurance Journal
3. Laguna Beach Homes Destroyed in Slide,
June 1 2005, LA Times
4. Public will hear water options, May 20, 2005, SB Sun
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1.
Electricity Discounts
---
Please do not forget to contact Neil Derry when you
get a temporary power pole and have him change you from the higher commercial
rate to the lower residential rate. Customer service does NOT know about
this procedure. Only Neil Derry can help you. If you are already
past this stage, call him anyway so you can get a rebate for the
difference. My mother received over $200 (if not $300) credit on her
bill. His number is 909-930-8501 /PAX 16501.
If you don't mind, let me know the
result.
---
2.
Book Review :Policy Ensurance
---
Policy Ensurance is written by Tony Braga and published
by Acorn Library. The first copyright was 1977, but has gone through many
updates and was just updated and republished this year (2005). The book
is available at bookstores and online at stores such as Amazon. The list
price is $17.95, but I had no problem finding it for about $11 and even Amazon
is selling it now for $12.21. It is also available for download for $6.95
on his website at www.sure-net.com
Tony was an insurance company adjuster for many
years. He explains his job was to "...make company inspired settlements
with policyholders who lacked fundamental information and adjusting
skills." He explains that "Knowledge is leverage. The more you know,
the more you have adjusting power.... It is the continuing fate of unknowing,
unprepared policyholders to deal ineffectively.... It is difficult to imagine
doing something in an area of which you know little or nothing, no matter how
simple the task."
This book is a must have for anyone filing a
claim. We all should've read it BEFORE we even called the insurance
company. In a perfect world it would've been handed out at the FEMA
center with a note as to where the next insurance class would be
held. (Okay, now I am dreaming.)
The first part of the book helps form the mindset
that it is OUR responsibility to determine our loss, not the adjusters. It
is the adjuster's responsibility to determine how much the insurance company
will pay the claimant. The difference between the loss and what the
adjuster initially agrees to pay is where the bargaining (aka adjusting)
begins.
The book is packed with useful
information. It lists insurance deadlines and has blank forms as well
as example forms showing you how you should fill them
out. The book covers the history of
property insurance as well as insurance company monetary statistics, lists of
regulatory authorities, unfair claims practices codes and regulations, quotes
from adjusters training books (scary) and California's Unfair Practice
insurance Codes. The middle of the book does get a bit dry with dozens...
if not hundreds... of court cases showing you how the court has ruled in the
past, but can be invaluable for a claimant trying to win a point. In
short, this book is an invaluable resource all in one short (148 page, large
type) book.
The author maintains a website with active
newsgroups where you can post questions and get answers. The author has
even extended a bulk discount on the book to community leaders in a disaster
area. The following could be printed out and given to survivors informing
them of the book's existence.
In the end, this book would have a hard time
replacing a face-to-face seminar. Right after a disaster people are still
in shock so reading a book and absorbing something of this nature might prove
difficult, but this would be invaluable for any disaster relief worker to read
and even hand out (or at least inform using a flyer) to survivors. It
could also be used as a type of text book (and an inexpensive one at that) for
someone holding a face-to-face seminar.
I highly encourage everyone to read this book. Many people have said
they want to help future disaster survivors, and handing out this book
(along with CARe and other information we have collected) would be a great first
step.
---
3. Gas hookup procedures
and fees
---
Recently I had a flyer at our meeting explaining
the gas hookup procedure. This can also be found on our website at www.oldfirerecoverygroup.org
and clicking on "Resources" then on "Cleanup & Rebuilding". Scroll
down to the center of the page and look for "Gas Service Re-Instatement for Firestorm
Victims"
You should be aware that there will still be a $25
reinstatement fee for survivors hooking up after the one year anniversary,
however the normal fees (which can range from $500 - $750) will be
waived.
---
In The News
---
1. Calif. Senate Passes Bill to Help Homeowners
Following Disasters
May 25, 2005
Insurance companies would be required to pay living
expenses for two years instead of one for homeowners who lose their houses in
fires or other natural disasters under a bill approved Monday by the state
Senate.
2. AIA Opposes
California Bill to Limit Home Inventories
May 26, 2005
A bill approved by the California Senate May 25
that prevents insurers from requiring claimants to itemize personal property
lost in a disaster is well intended, but will invite padding of claims and raise
costs for all policyholders, according to the American Insurance Association. SB
2, authored by Senator Jackie Speier (D), will also require insurers to give
policyholders a copy of their loss history report, which is duplicative and
eventually costly to all policyholders.
[more HERE]
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2005/05/26/55480.htm
3. Laguna Beach Homes Destroyed in
Slide
June 1, 2005
By Mai
Tran, William Lobdell and Christine Hanley, LA Times Staff
Writers
Houses cracked, telephone poles
snapped and streets buckled as a landslide sent homes sliding down a hill in
Laguna Beach before dawn this morning, leaving large homes dangling in the
air.
[more HERE]
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-060105slide_lat,0,118386.story?coll=la-home-headlines
4. Public will hear water
options
Study of Cedar Glen's system conducted
May 20, 2005
By George Watson, SB Sun Staff
Writer
In an attempt to clear up questions regarding the water system in Cedar Glen,
residents can listen today to the results of a feasibility study of the complex
situation.
[more HERE]
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E2880646,00.html?search=filter
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