Next “Roadmap to Recovery” meeting: July 14, 2011. The topic will be “One Year Fire Anniversary Issues: Legal Issues (including the “Suit Against Us” clause and expiration of ALE benefits) and the Social-Emotional Aspect of the Fire Anniversary”. Insurance interest group breakout sessions where fire survivors have an opportunity to interface with other fire survivors will follow the substantive presentation. The meeting will be held in the 3rd floor meeting room of the Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street. The meeting begins at 6:30 pm.
Overview of UP’s Support Resources for Fourmile Canyon Fire Survivors:
Claim Help Library at www.uphelp.org
· Trouble-shooting tips for common issues (e.g.underinsurance, conflicting damage estimates, legal disputes, adjusters, delays)
· Sample letters/ forms/inventories/estimates/scopes of loss
· FAQs and Consumer Guides on dispute resolution, appraisal, rebuild or buy
· Tax tips
“Ask An Expert” Online Forum: A restricted on-line forum where Firestorm Survivors can easily obtain answers to disaster recovery-related questions from experts in the field. Forum participants can direct questions to: 1) an attorney, 2) a claims handling professional, or 3) a previous catastrophic loss survivor. To receive an invite to the restricted forum, send an e-mail to Emily Cabral at emily@uphelp.org.
“Fourmile Fire” Listserve: A restricted listserve for Fourmile Canyon Fire Survivors only. It provides a convenient means of communicating with other Fourmile Canyon Fire Survivors. For more information and/or to receive an invite to the listserve, e-mail Karen Reimus at karen@uphelp.org.
The Disaster Recovery Handbook: “The Disaster Recovery Handbook and Household Inventory Guide”, affectionately known by thousands of disaster survivors as “the little yellow book”, guided them through the process of recovering from the loss of their homes. The Handbook is written by survivors for survivors, along with expert advice from trusted consumer advocates and personal finance professionals. If you lost your home, you can receive a free copy of this book sending an e-mail with your mailing address to emily@uphelp.org.
Home Inventory Flash drives: Most disaster survivors must prepare an itemized and detailed inventory list of every single item they lost in order to recover insurance monies and/or claim tax losses. Creating this inventory is one of the most challenging and time-consuming tasks survivors must complete on the road to recovery. To ease this burden, UP created a home inventory flash drive that’s pre-loaded with helpful content and it’s easy to use. If you lost your home, you can receive a free flash drive by sending an e-mail with your mailing address to emily@uphelp.org.
Disaster Survivor Support Network: Previous catastrophic loss survivors are available to provide emotional support and “real-life” insight about recovering from a catastrophic property loss. For more information, e-mail Karen Reimus at karen@uphelp.org.
(Download a flier detailing the above support resources)
Overview of United Policyholders’ work:
United Policyholders is a national 501(c) (3) non-profit organization serving insurance consumers since 1991. UP helps solve insurance problems and advocates for fairness in insurance transactions. The organization is funded by foundation grants and donations. Our work is divided into 3 program areas: Roadmap to Recovery™, Roadmap to Preparedness, and Advocacy and Action. We offer free tips, information and resources in print and online at http://www.uphelp.org.
Thanks again for including United Policyholders as a resource on your website.
Best regards,
Karen Reimus
Disaster Recovery Aid, Outreach and Education for United Policyholders, a nonprofit organization
