Psychologically Surviving the Storm Recovery

While Tropical Storm Emily seems to be lessening in strength and may not effect Florida in any way, the existence of Tropical Storm Emily shows that hurricane season is here and by all estimates, this hurricane season is expected to be active. There are a bevy of available guides that outline hurricane preparedness and what to do before the storm hits but few of these guides outline how to psychologically survive the environmental and financial effects of being hit. The loss of property, personal heirlooms, and independence that stems from surviving a hurricane is devastating enough but they, unfortunately, can be the tip of the iceberg. Many of these stressors outlined in this article are not considered until the situation arises. It is our hope that someone may read this article and find some solace in the guidelines presented.

1. Bored, frightened, and hungry children
In this era of seemingly endless multimedia distractions, many the kids of today are ill equipped for the harsh conditions of the mundane outside world. For the parent who just witnessed the irreversible destruction of their home, personal possessions, and other fruits of their lifelong investment, the inane banter of children whining about being bored can add immense unnecessary stress to an already unbelievably stressful situation. The best solution to this problem is a deck of cards. While Uno, Crazy Eights, and other specialized card games exist, in this reality, space is everything so a simple pack of playing cards can be employed for long term entertainment. The versatility of a standard deck of playing cards is unmatched by any specialized cards and can bring a much needed escape from the harsh post storm conditions.

2. Pets
The financial burden of caring for a pet in a devastated economy can wreak psychological havoc amongst pet owners when they find themselves competing for the same food and water resources as their pet. The pet owners surely has the best intention for the well being of the pet but when the worst has happened and the owner is forced to choose between self preservation and pet preservation, often times it is the pet who suffers. The best solution is to prevent this scenario from happening. Find a pet shelter, find a pet boarding facility, or make arrangements to move the pet to a friend or family member's home - in an unaffected area - before the storm hits. The immeasurable psychological damage of this scenario is easy to stave off with simple prevention.

3. Looting
If you are in an affected area, you need to move to a shelter, friend or relative's house, or to a hotel room where available. While the macho concept of protecting the homestead is honorable and appreciated, the lack of food, clean water, and the constant image of loss is too much on even the toughest psyche. Nothing adds insult to injury better than hunger pains and communicable diseases obtained in a disaster. The need or desire to protect your nonfunctioning and completely unusable 60" HD LCD TV is foolish, it can be replaced... pick up and move on. The best defense against loss is photographic or video evidence. BEFORE the approaching storms hits, photo catalog all of your possessions, heirlooms, expensive electronics, and vehicles; scan all sensitive documents and pictures to your PC; and make a text file of all your Internet usernames and password and then burn all this evidence to a robust medium like DVD. The contents of said DVD can be used for insurance claims, restoration or recreation of lost heirlooms, and is small enough to be easily protected and transported. While other backup methods, including remote backup exist and are reasonable, recovery from these methods can fail when there is no Internet activity, no electricity, no working computers, and your overly stressed mind cannot recall your name let alone Internet passwords. This DVD can put your mind at ease.

4. Money
In a time of disaster the adage of "Cash is king" is never more apparent. All of the modern luxuries of credit cards, debit cards, and electronic bill payment fail when there is no electricity and no ability to withdraw money from an ATM. The solution is cash. You should maintain a cash reserve in your home for emergencies. This reserve does not need to be large, in fact, too much cash would make you a target so a small coin collection or paper currency reserve should be enough to help you get to an unaffected area in order to regroup and survive.

Surviving a disaster is trying enough. The strategies outlined in this article are presented in the hope that this information helps someone who suffers such challenge survive and recover with as little displacement, loss, and psychological scarring as possible.

This article is composed by and offered as a public service by Jimmy K. Jimmy K is the Independent Owner and Operator of Emergency Response Restoration (http://www.emergencyresponserestoration.com/), 2665 N Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home office or asset.

Frequently Asked Questions: Water Damage Remediation

You come home and you find your floor is full of water. You identify the source and stop the leak. Then you grab your wet/dry vacuum cleaner and suck up all the excess water. There are still a few damp area and it smells kind of musty so you open the window and will nature take its course. In your mind your Do-it-Yourself attitude just saved you a ton of money. Case closed.

The Do-it-Yourself attitude is admirable and the laudable hallmark of American culture but such attitude can prove to be, as in this case, misguided and have potential long term health and financial consequences.

Issue1: Using a wet/dry vacuum cleaner to extract the water
Problem1: This extraction usually does not extract all the moisture from the affected area
Why this matters to you1: The remaining water can promote structural decay and be a catalyst for mold.

Issue2: Opening widow to dry naturally
Problem2: In hot, humid regions, such as FL, the sweltering heat can actually prevent evaporation
Why this matters to you2: This prevents drying and is an IDEAL condition for accelerated mold growth.

Issue3: Employing Do-it-Yourself to save money
Problem3: In many cases, the honorable and honest Do-it-Yourself attempt ends up costing more money
Why this matters to you3: Losing money is bad no matter how you look at it. The potential savings can be offset by having to redo the work and the need for special equipment that is used one time.

Why should I care about Mold?
It is well established that exposure to certain types of mold are well known to have serious health effects in humans. It is certainly not in the interest of anyone to be exposed to mold.

OK, so I'll hire a carpet cleaning company to get rid of my water.
This is a logical step as the typical carpet cleaner will have access to better commercial vacuum equipment than the homeowner but this logic fails in two main areas, cost and ability. Trying to save money by hiring a carpet cleaner can have negative budgetary impact depending on the company used and time involved. While many carpet cleaners are exceptional at their trade and are, usually, worth every penny, carpet cleaners do not know how to remove water from walls, monitor and control ambient moisture, and other such concerns of a professional water damage remediation company.

So how can I get rid of this water and save money?
The best way of getting rid of water damage, preventing or eliminating exposure to mold, and saving money is by hiring a professional water damage restoration company. An independent, professional water damage restoration company is professionally trained and intra-industry certified to thoroughly and professionally handle all aspects of structural drying, odor control, mold handling and removal, and other relevant water damage restoration considerations. More importantly, in many cases, such services can be done at NO or little cost to the property owner using methods including direct insurance billing.

So why pay out of pocket and do the work yourself when the professionals can do the work for you at little to no cost? It's a no brainer.

This article is composed by and offered as a public service by Jimmy K. Jimmy K is the Independent Owner and Operator of Emergency Response Restoration (http://www.emergencyresponserestoration.com/), 2665 N Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home office or asset.

Top Four Reasons to use an Independent Restoration Company for Mold Removal

We recently reviewed a mold remediation (professional removal and control) article that was written by a company that ranked well in a major search engine search.  To be fair it needs to be stated that this company is a carpet cleaning company NOT a water damage remediation company so they may have presented their misguided and potentially tortious information in good faith with the purest intent; unfortunately, however, the information they provided could make a bad situation MUCH worse.

The advice the carpet cleaning company suggested was to open your windows in order to combat the mold.

This advice is dead wrong.

Mold is a decomposer meaning that it's scientific function is to break down waste material into its basic elements.  As such, mold is always in the air but its normal airborne concentration is negligible in effect to most people.  It is only when mold starts to congeal and grow upon a host that the concentration becomes an issue.  There are legally binding and enforced control methods and procedures that MUST be adhered to in order to stave off any liability any time a professional remediation company handles mold and opening the window is NOT one.

In consideration of this grievous error, we present, the " Top Four Reasons to use an Independent Restoration Company for Mold Removal".

1. A less qualified company can make serious errors

As presented in the opening of this document, the company in question, most likely, was presenting the erroneous information in good faith.  They may actually believe that their advice is sound and they may employ their advice in the field which, assumedly unwittingly, exacerbates and compounds the problem by, in this case, spreading mold spores.  Rather than professionally containing the situation, as is professionally expected and legally required, opening the window spreads mold spores throughout the area which can, easily, get into the air conditioning system and infect the entire structure opposed to a smaller contained area which is much easier to control and remediate.  This mistake can have grave effects on health and the eventual remediation costs.

2. A less qualified company may not have the correct equipment or use their equipment effectively

Without professional certification and continuing education a less qualified company may not have made the necessary financial investment in professional equipment for reasons as simple as they do not know they need the equipment.  The less qualified company may, for example, have a basic understanding of the required process and make valiant efforts to employ their existing infrastructure but such infrastructure may neglect a strategic filter that effectively traps mold resulting in the less qualified company unintentionally spreading mold.

3. A less qualified company may underestimate the situation

Without the proper equipment and education a less qualified company can easily misstate the problem simply because they cannot adequately assess the true scope of the issue.  It is common for a less qualified company to assess and "control" surface mold - mold that is easy to see with the naked eye - because they lack wall penetrating equipment, for example, and the expertise to use such equipment.  The lack of such equipment and expertise can result in a less qualified company cleaning the tip of the iceberg but never seeing or knowing the true depth of the iceberg.  Such underestimation can easily lead to future service calls for a much more severe problem.

4. A less qualified company may not adhere to current standards

Unless the less qualified company takes it upon themselves to learn and maintain currency with professional standards and legal requirements, the working knowledge they have, is likely to be dated and could have a detrimental aggregate effect.  The professional water damage industry is constantly introducing new and improved techniques and technology to assist the in-field professional and is constantly being subjected to new and emerging government regulations to maintain quality.  Such advancements are likely to be unknown to a less qualified company which could entail significant issues down the road for the less qualified company and the property owner.

Using an Independent Restoration Company for Mold Removal protects the interests of the structure owner.  There is no guarantee that using an less qualified company can save the structure owner any money but using an Independent Restoration Company does guarantee that the job is done to all industry and governmental standards as efficiently as possible with the assurance that the Independent Restoration Company is using the latest and greatest technology and techniques.

Now you know.

It's your money.

It's your choice.

Choose Wisely

Choose a customer focused, independent emergency restoration company.

This article is composed by and offered as a public service by Jimmy K. Jimmy K is the Independent Owner and Operator of Emergency Response Restoration (http://www.emergencyresponserestoration.com/), 2665 N Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home office or asset.

Unreasonable Water Damage Insurance Claim Denials

This article is written to illustrate what bad faith insurance practices look like in the real world and to offer victims of such unfair practices some avenues for correction or remedy.  We are certified water damage restoration experts not attorneys or public adjustors.  As such, no part of this article will offer any type of advice or instruction so the reader should consider and hold all information herein as being presented for informational purposes only.

1. A customer had a hot water heater break while on vacation which caused a lot of damage to the floor.  The claim was denied because the insurance adjustor stated it water damage was not controlled in a reasonable amount of time despite the customer calling immediately upon discovery and taking all reasonably possible and layman known measures to stem further damage.  The customer pursued the claim which promoted the adjustor to send the customer a form demanding an insane amount of information covering a period of several years which had little to do with the water damage incident and was nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to trap the customer into making any possible error or omission to further deny the claim.
   
   
2. A customer went through their adjustor preferred and recommended water damage restoration company to remediate damage caused by an appliance malfunction.  The customer was not pleased with the performance or quality of the service and sought out an independent water damage restoration company to review the work of the adjustor preferred and recommended company only to find that the adjustor preferred water damage restoration company failed to dry many areas to professional water damage restoration industry specification.  The customer presented the independent review to the insurance adjustor and found the claim was denied as the adjustor stated the second company's interference exacerbated the situation which caused further damage despite the second company coming in after the adjustor preferred and recommended company pulled out.
    
3. A customer noticed the flooring looked unusual and was surprised to find it saturated when the customer stepped on it to see what was happening.  A plumber found a hidden leak that the customer had no knowledge of until the flooring reacted as it did.  The water damage required the customer rip up the affected flooring and drywall for repair.  The insurance company denied the claim citing the policy required a sudden and accidental break for coverage which they verified was not the case by the amount of mold growing in the affected area.

It is unfortunate but cases such as these are more common than not as it is the insurance company's standard operating procedure to make every effort to deny the claim thereby frustrating the customer which ultimately negates or severally reduces the ultimate payout when the claim denial is appealed.  This unscrupulous and predatory methodology is unfair and sadistic and should not be leveraged against an in-duress customer who has paid all bills honorably and on time and is simply looking to have their elected insurance company adhere to its contractually obligated commitment by restoring their asset to its preloss condition.

The insurance claim battle is purposely designed to be a long, daunting, and harrowing task but a task that a professional independent water damage restoration company ("PIWDRC") can assist with.  Such a PIWDRC will have the industry longevity and experience necessary to help its customer successfully navigate the insurance minefield.  Each of the cases presented herein, for example, were successfully remediated to professional water damage restoration industry standards and closed with such PIWDRC assistance.

It's your money.

It's your choice.

Choose Wisely

Choose a customer focused, independent emergency restoration company.

This article is composed by and offered as a public service by Jimmy K. Jimmy K is the Independent Owner and Operator of Emergency Response Restoration (http://www.emergencyresponserestoration.com/), 2665 N Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home office or asset.

Insurance to Cover Insurance

Yes it has come to this. Customers who honorably pay their inflated insurance premiums dutifully and on time have to wonder what games their insurance company will play to deny or reduce their claim should the time arise that they ever need to file a claim. This insurance lunacy runs the gambit of all insurance arenas including auto, health, life, and property and has customers so scared of being denied or canceled when they file a legitimate and contractually obligated claim that people who have acute chest pains, for example, refuse to get checked out as they do not want to pay the bill and they are deathly afraid of a negative result getting back to their insurance carrier as either their premiums would increase dramatically or they will be canceled. Enough is enough.

It is not fair that a consumer who pays on time and in good faith is subjected to such demeaning and bad faith practices by the company the consumer specifically contracted to offset perceived and potential risk. It is not fair that the insurance company immediately takes an adversarial and intimidating stance any time any of its customers files a claim as the insurance company tortuously and unconstitutionally convicts the customer of filing a fraudulent claim without probable cause or evidence and mandates that the burden of proof of innocence is on the consumer. It is not fair that the insurance company adjustor is working against the interest of the customer while acting like the customer's best friend. It is not fair that the adjustor will savagely and sadistically employ psychological warfare against the in-duress customer in order to trap the customer in to making statements that will be leveraged to reduce or deny the claim. It is not fair that all regulatory bodies consider such unethical consumer abusing and bad faith practices as legitimate and fair practices. It is truly not fair that a consumer who employs the same bad faith tactics against the insurance company is guilty of insurance fraud but there are no penalties or consideration for the reverse injustice herein coined as "consumer fraud". No, consumer fraud is BIG business and the insurance companies are well leveraged to protect themselves from any potential liability for their bad faith policies and procedures.

While the concept of insurance to cover insurance is enticing, alas, it is unreasonable. Any risk assessment professional would cower at the prospect of insuring that the insurance company lives up to its contractually obligated policy. The risk assessment professional would know that despite the insurance company parking its Lamborghini outside the governmental assistance office and changing into its designer "poor" clothes before crying poverty, the insurance company is flush with cash and has spent a considerable amount to protect its "good neighbor" image. The costs and time associated with having to mitigate of all the insurance company's lies, deception, manipulation, and bad faith legalese make the concept of insurance to cover insurance a losing proposition.

As destitute as it sounds... there is HOPE. A professional independent water damage restoration company will have the resources and experience required to help its customer to force the customer's insurance company into restoring the customer's water damaged asset to its preloss condition by using a restoration company that is customer focused and will do everything it takes to satisfy the customer - not the lap dog of the insurance adjustor whose only ambition is to get a bone from the adjuster.

It's your money.

It's your choice.

Choose Wisely

Choose a customer focused, independent emergency restoration company.

This article is composed by and offered as a public service by Jimmy K. Jimmy K is the Independent Owner and Operator of Emergency Response Restoration (http://www.emergencyresponserestoration.com/), 2665 N Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home office or asset.

Looking for the Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act

Emergency Response Restoration recently reviewed an attorney written article, on an attorney owned blog, which outlines the Unfair Insurance Trade Practices Act ("UITPA") and the reason for its inception in the 70's.  The article revels that Florida became the first state to implement portions of the UITPA into its  Florida's “Civil Remedy Statute” FL § 624.155, commonly known as the Florida Bad Faith Statute, in 1982 but a Google search for UITPA finds nothing and Google insists UITPA is spelled incorrectly and recommends UTPA or the University of Texas - Pan American.  Wikipedia and Bing had similar results which really makes one wonder why such pertinent and relevant consumer focused information is, apparently, not to be found although history revels the need for such information and governmental protection as early as the 1970's.  Similarly, a web search for "bad faith insurance florida" brings hundreds of hits and even revels attorneys and law firms that specialize in holding insurance companies accountable for their bad faith insurance practices.  It is clear that Bad Faith Insurance is BIG business and the insurance industry will stop at nothing to control all aspects of this vital and consumer necessitated information to unscrupulously protect its fraudulent and widely promoted "good neighbor" image.

Having served the our fellow Floridians for numerous years in good faith, Emergency Response Restoration can vividly recall a personal brush with such bad faith practices when a major insurance company dropped all of it FL Homeowner's Insurance customers, to protect its profits, but in the same breath told the same customers - it just purposely blighted - that they want to keep the automobile policies.  Any person or company with honorable intentions would be floored by the audacity of this asinine and other worldly concept but this insurance company was serious which reveals how out-of-touch these companies are with their customers and how inelastic and beyond reproach the insurance companies really envision themselves to be.

It is for these reasons that a customer who is suffering from accidental or emergency water damage needs to choose a company that is not the lap dog of the insurance company.  These adjustor preferred and adjustor recommended companies are preferred and recommended because they have demonstrated to the insurance company adjustor that they will cut whatever corners necessary to appease the adjustor meaning protect the profits and reduce costs by using substandard equipment, labor, or practices.  In turn, the insurance company then employs these same protected profits and cut costs to maintain the insurance company's image of being consumer focused while doing all it can to implement further bad faith practices and control all points to the contrary.

It's your money.

It's your choice.

Choose Wisely

Choose a customer focused, independent emergency restoration company.

This article is composed by and offered as a public service by Jimmy K. Jimmy K is the Independent Owner and Operator of Emergency Response Restoration (http://www.emergencyresponserestoration.com/), 2665 N Atlantic Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32118. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home office or asset.

Insurance Claims & Your Right to Choose

It has been said that if the client defrauds the insurance company it is criminal but if the insurance company defrauds the customer then it is a denial of claim.  This unfair and imbalanced hypocrisy seems to be the standard operating procedure for the insurance industry who on one hand virtually robs the working person in order to transfer funds to its overly engorged coffers while on the other hand it unrelentingly and incessantly cries poverty all the while maintaining record profits and AAA solvency.  The true sentiment of how the insurance industry thinks of the customers who fund its insatiable greed is underscored by its development of a "Dead Peasants Policy."  This masterful stroke of unbridled contempt for the common man pays the decedent's employer a cash award that is, often times, equal to or greater than what the hard working employee earned while employed.  In consideration of these well known points, one has to consider if the insurance company is in business solely to please the legendary Sheriff of Nottingham.

Such Nottingham appeasement certainly extends to your water damage restoration claim.  The first sure sign of contempt for the customer is by the adjustor dispatching a water damage restoration company that is the lap dog of the adjustor.  This water damage restoration lap dog earned it's "prestigious" position by cutting every corner and completing all work to subpar insurance industry standards.  This lap dog certainly does not have the customer's interest in mind and seeks only to maintain its position by maintaining the same subpar level of service that made it the adjustor's pet.

The next sign of the insurance company's consideration of the claimant as being a low priority peasant is by their intentional and standard practice of denying or delaying your claim.  The insurance company has spent umpteen millions in lobbying and social analysis and they KNOW that by simply denying or delaying your claim, the customer will either absorb the financial loss themselves or take a reduced payment.  This predatory and unfair manipulation has been carefully crafted and mastered over several decades and it works.  Any and all submitted claims fall under the jurisdiction of this unfair and borderline breach-of-contract standard operating procedure.

But... you have a choice.

Despite the smoke and mirrors illusion the insurance company has carefully crafted, and vigorously protects, the customer is still has the right to choose.  The consumer has the full legal right and authority to choose the water damage restoration company it wants to handle the water damage.  In spite of the adjustor's biased and self-serving "concerns" about using a company outside of its lap dog, the consumer has the right and personal obligation to elect a water damage restoration company that will restore the damage to its preloss condition, guarantee its work will adhere to or exceed professional restoration industry standards, and can assist the consumer in defeating the Goliath adjustor.

Exercise your right to choose - choose your local, industry certified Emergency Response Water Damage Restoration Company to handle your water damage restoration need(s) and remind the insurance industry that the customer is in charge.

It's your choice.  It's your money.  Choose wisely.  Choose your local Emergency Response Water Damage Restoration Company.

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Jimmy K is the Independent owner and operator of Emergency Response Restoration, 2665 North Atlantic Avenue, #314, Daytona Beach, FL 32118, 386-597-1132 - a professional & local Independent Restoration Company that has 22 years of experience in dealing with the insurance industry and holds over well over 20 professional industry certifications. Jimmy K is a true consumer advocate who is not afraid to battle the insurance company to ensure the proper restoration of the consumer's water damaged home, office, or asset.