Homeowners: Consumer Protection

Welcome Page - You’re not Alone. We are here for the journey.

1. What to expect

2. Day 1 essentials

3. Helpful emotional support apps

Toolkit 1 - Your First Steps After a Disaster. Hope starts here.

Module 1: Insurance First Steps

1. How to locate your policy and declaration page

2. Create a new email address

3. Filing a claim

Module 2: Insurance Terms & Basics

1. Common Insurance Terms

2. Insurance Basics for Renters and Insurance Basics for Homeowners

Module 3: Your Survival Mantra

1. “Don’t rush. Take a breath. Ask for help.”

2. Don’t rush into signing contracts and What to Look for in a Contract guide

Module 4: Calming your nervous system

1. Box breathing

2. Acute Stress Disorder

3. Finding a therapist: Open Path, SonderMind, and Better Help

Module 5: First Steps for Renters

1. Renters Next Steps

2. Housing voucher holders

Toolkit 2 - Navigating Claims, Housing, and Your Rights. And ensuring you get a good night's sleep. 

Module 1: The first conversation with your adjuster

1. Renters: First Conversation with your Insurance Adjuster

2. Homeowners: First Conversation with your Insurance Adjuster

Module 2: Homeowners Proof of Loss & Mortgage Implications

1. Proof of Loss

2. The role of your mortgage company and limit on lender involvement

Module 3: Additional Living Expenses

1. ALE - what it is and what it covers

2. Other things ALE can cover and how to track them

Module 4: The Guide for Renters

1. Getting your rent money back

2. Getting your security deposit to be returned

3. Dealing with your personal property

Module 5: Get Sleep

1. Why sleep is so important

2. Adults: ways to establish a bedtime routine

3. Kids: ways to establish a bedtime routine

Toolkit 3 - Disaster-Related Grief: Understanding Loss and Healing

Module 1: Loss of Home and Possessions 

Module 2: Loss of a Pet or Animal 

Module 3: Loss of a Loved One 

Module 4: Coping Skills for Grief

Toolkit 4 - Asbestos and Smoke Contamination. And how to move your frustration.

Module 1: Asbestos

1. Asbestos video

2. Testing and abatement: the details

Module 2: Smoke contamination

1. Why smoke can be toxic 

2. How to test for smoke, soot, and ash contamination

Module 3: Cleaning up

1. Recipe for getting smoke smell out

2. Best practices for cleaning your home 

3. Cleaning tips & guidelines 

Module 4: Daily Movement

1. Some simple, helpful ways to move throughout the day

2. Yoga practices

Toolkit 5 - Post-Disaster Logistics: Documents, Insurance, and Finding your Next Rental. A reminder to stay connected with support. 

Module 1: Replacing documents 

Module 2: Renters - Managing the Emotional Side of Moving

Module 3: Insuring your uninhabitable home and new rental

1. Homeowners: what insurance to have on home under repair and temporary home

2. Renters: what to get in your next renter’s policy. Get your own, don’t use the property management’s one

Module 4: Paying for Utilities 

1. Turn off utilities and pay minimum to keep accounts open. 

2. Spreadsheet to calculate what ALE will cover for utility overages

Module 5: Stay connected to family, friends, faith, and your therapist!

Toolkit 6 - Communication Support for Families. And understanding it can affect everyone differently.

Module 1: Helping kids understand disasters and the rebuilding process

1. Explaining this event to a school-aged child

Module 2: Your Kids’ Reactions Make Sense

1. Naming the feelings

Module 3: Family Conversation topics

1. How to start the conversation

2. Family Check-in

Module 4: How a Disaster Can Impact My Relationship

1. Different coping styles are normal

2. Why intimacy looks different

Toolkit 7 - Replacing Belongings, Contents Pack Out & Setting Up Your Next Home. Moving forward and staying grounded amidst the turmoil. 

Module 1: The First Steps to Replacing your Belongings

1. Use shopping apps

2. Save receipts

Module 2: Restoration Companies & Your Contents

1. Content Pack Out: What you need to know

2. What your contractor provided inventory list should look like

Module 3: Getting settled into new or temporary housing 

1. Get what you are entitled to in your rental

2. Setting up your new or temporary home after a disaster

Module 4: Grounding Exercise

1. Helpful emotional support apps

Toolkit 8 - The First Rebuild Decisions. Understanding your options and taking it slow.

Module 1: Shop around for contractors

1. Take your time and compare options

2. Contractor red flags

3. Interviewing contractors

Module 2: Contract fine print

1. What to look for in contract

2. Beware of Assignment of Benefits

Module 3: Should You Rebuild or Sell?

1. Understanding your options

2. Questions to ask yourself 

Toolkit 9 - The Personal Property Inventory Guide. And why it starts with taking a breath.

Module 1: Grounding exercise before you start

Module 2: Making your inventory list

1. Personal Property Spreadsheet

2. Helpful hints

Module 3: Recoverable Depreciation explained

1. Recoverable depreciation video

2. How insurance calculates recoverable depreciation 

Toolkit 10 - HOAs, Subrogation, and Renters Being Held Responsible. And managing the anger that comes with these issues.

Module 1: Homeowners Associations: What to know 

1. Whose insurance covers what?

2. Loss Assessment Coverage

3. Paying your HOA dues 

Module 2: Subrogation

1. What is it and how it works

Module 3: As a renter, how much am I responsible for?  

1. Can my landlord charge me for damages?

2. Your Liability insurance can help

Module 4: What to do with my anger

1. Being angry, releasing it, and getting support

2. Helpful emotional support apps

Toolkit 11 - Common Roadblocks with Insurance. But keep going, you’ve got this.

Module 1: Unresponsive adjusters and delays

1. You’re not the only one

2. Ask for a supervisor

3. File a complaint

4. The last resort

Module 2: Proving your loss: Ownership and Damage

1. Proving you owned it

2. Proving it needs replacement

Module 3: Third Party Administrators

1. Who are they and what do they do

Module 4: Public Adjusters

1. When to hire one, what to know: 

2. What’s the Deal with Public Adjusters

Module 5: Quiet Victories

1. One step wins, signs of healing, and movement toward healing 

Toolkit 12 - Getting the Rebuilding Process Started. Why clear communication will get you through.

Module 1: Agreeing on the estimate

1. The reconstruction estimate

2. Building ordinance or code upgrades

Module 2: Managing the construction process

1. You’re the project manager

2. Schedule weekly meetings

3. Stick to the payment schedule

4. The permit process 

Module 3: Avoiding Foreclosure

1. Types of loss mitigation

Module 4: Clear communication

Module 5: Handling the emotional waves of rebuilding

Toolkit 13 - What Happens Next

Module 1: Toolkit Index

Module 2: Resource Guide