Phoenix Business Group - Friends and Family

Phoenix Business Group
Consumer Advocacy Services

Friends & Family of Disaster Victims

Friends and Family of Disaster Victims:
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A Story

There is a doctor in Southern California whose home was damaged in the Northridge Earthquake. He is affluent, well educated and a respected member of his profession and the community. He promptly reported the damage to his insurer, a major insurance company who had issued many Earthquake policies in Southern California. The insurance company sent out an adjuster, prepared a scope of loss and estimate, paid the doctor and he had “the work” done. He said he was pleased and satisfied. A happy ending to a disastrous beginning. Well, not quite. The story continues ...

The doctor has a father whose home was also damaged in the Northridge Earthquake. Apparently the father had chosen to use the services of a Public Insurance Adjuster who PBG refers to consumers. His claim was also settled. When the dad heard about his son’s settlement he told his son that the insurance company had cheated him. The son listened, sighed and ignored his father’s comments. Sometimes it’s like that between parents and children, particularly when the children are grown, successful professionals with children of their own. Anyway, the doctor’s father kept nagging him.

After many months, probably to get his dad off his back, the son finally agreed to let the Public Insurance Adjuster look over his claim and see if anything had been overlooked. The Public Insurance Adjuster reopened the claim and meticulously reviewed the damages and what had been paid. The doctor told me that when the Public Insurance Adjuster had completed his work the insurance company paid him more than five (5) times what they had already paid him. The insurance company gave him nothing that had not always been owed. They did not pay him a dime more than they had promised to pay. If it hadn't been for a pesky dad, the doctor would have been another of the tens of thousands of “satisfied claimants” who had lost a fortune by not being paid everything to which they were legitimately entitled.

The doctor’s home was a nice one, but not extraordinary. The damage was the same kind of damage that affected hundreds of thousands of properties during the Northridge Earthquake and its many aftershocks. The insurer knew, or should have known, about each element of damage in the doctor’s home from the thousands of other claims that had been made. The doctor trusted them to give him what he was owed and they didn’t - an “oversight”. Oh, by the way, if he had not recouped these funds from the insurer now, when he went to sell the property at some future time, he probably would have had to pay for the additional repairs himself or lower the price to account for the unrepaired damage.

This is not a strange or unusual tale. If you or any of your friends or family members sustained damage to their property in the Earthquakes or any other disaster, even if they have already settled, you may be doing them a bigger favor than they can imagine if you pester them into contacting PBG or finding professional help through some other means to review the claim. Just be aware that each day that goes by gives the insurer more of an excuse not to pay, no matter how much they otherwise owe. The insurer could owe $1,000,000 today and nothing tomorrow.

PBG may be able to arrange to have
the claim reviewed at no charge.

Minimize unnecessary risks.
No one wins but the insurance company if you don't act now!

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For more information call
1-800-TRUSTEEsm
(1-800-878-7833)
or email us.

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