You have my deepest sympathy. Your lives have been turned upside down by a terrifying event, and now you are facing a painful and difficult aftermath.
Now, in in the first days and weeks after the fire, you must adjust to your family's financial life being in the hands of strangers. Worst of all, these strangers, called catastrophe (or cat) adjusters, do not and cannot have your family's best interests at heart. They are paid by insurance companies to represent insurance companies' best interests, not yours.
In my over 30 years experience in handling fire, floods, and earthquake claims on behalf of policy holders, I have found that most insurance company adjusters will do their best to be fair. Unfortunately, too many won't be as fair, and history shows as many as one-half of wildfire victims are forced to move due to inadequate settlements, delays, stress-induced illness, and so on.
Should you call upon me and my team for help in dealing with this disaster, I promise to do my very best to ensure you're in the first one-half of victims -- the ones with adequate means to rebuild the home you lost and restart your life, as I have done for decades for California and Nevada disaster victims.
For many wildfire, fire, flood, earthquake, and severe weather survivors, I can proudly report that in many cases I have doubled to quadrupled the insurance company’s settlement offers. In some cases, I got policyholders paid even after a denial of coverage. In over 30 years as a public adjuster, I have never failed at increasing a settlement by more than enough to cover my fees.
I am able to do this because of my background, training, and temperament. I don’t give up once a client places their trust in me.
I spent years in the construction industry, with four years of technical school training in the Essex County Building Trade school an in Bloomfield Technical School in New Jersey. I was trained as a construction estimator, can read building plans, and am familiar with all building trades. I also added two years of science courses at Essex County College.
I came to San Francisco in 1981 and was employed as an estimator for Frank Myers Construction, which specialized in direct insurance repairs throughout the Bay Area. After leaving Frank Myers, I was employed and trained for years under Keith Charleston, of Charleston & Associates, who was a noted public adjuster, expert witness, and insurance appraiser. There I learned the inside mechanism and tactics of insurance companies as well as the laws and regulations governing insurance adjusting.
In 1987, having obtained my own license as a public adjuster and having passed the state exam, I began my own practice.
You can read about some of case histories here, and I can provided references and endorsements upon request.
Get comfortable, temporary safe housing.
Your insurance agent’s office or the bank carrying your mortgage will have a copy.
Call, email or fax notice of your loss to the insurance agent or company, and provide them with your contact information, such as phone, email, temporary address, etc.
Have your policy reviewed by an experienced insurance attorney or public insurance adjuster to explain your coverages.
Yes, this is a normal part of the claim process. I always request a written list of the questions they intend to ask beforehand. If they seem confusing, or intimidating, seek legal advice before proceeding.
Yes. Insurance catastrophe adjusters work for three months rotations, and are not familiar with or don’t believe northern California building costs are so high. Ensure you have their damage estimates reviewed by a local contractor or public insurance adjuster before settling your claim.
My experience is from one to three years, so make your family as comfortable as possible at the insurance company’s expense. This is vital to your ability to negotiate a fair settlement.
Yes, but be aware that in some cases policies require you to rebuild (and not relocate) to receive extended benefits (like code, ordinances and law for example ) and/or requires that you rebuild at the same location.
My advice is to complete the claim process for the dwelling. Determine the Full Replacement Cost of the home, and then discuss relocating with an experienced Insurance attorney before discussing with the insurance company.
Yes, but remember that it’s just the stated policy limits. Your policy may have additional payments under certain conditions, and -- VERY IMPORTANT -- Any payment on your claim starts the clock on how long you have to rebuild and claim Replacement Cost or additional dwelling extended benefits and other coverages.
This means it’s your duty to establish the cost to replace your home and contents.
You can let the insurance company estimate your losses (which are notoriously low) or have a local contractor or professional architect of your choosing provide bids or estimates. You are not required to accept the insurance company's estimate of your loss.
The same applies to the contents of your home. It's very helpful to find photos from surviving phones and photo albums of the interior of the home to help you remember and price your contents. Write a list of contents and establish replacement costs as best you can. You are NOT required to accept the insurance company's often highly-discounted replacement values.
535 Sylvan Avenue, #200, San Bruno, CA 94066
+1 (415) 902–8938
art@artfonden.com