High Park Fire insurance and cleanup deadlines approach

As the second anniversary of the High Park and Woodland Heights fires approach, there are important deadlines in insurance policies and Colorado law that may come up at the two-year mark that will affect the claims and rights of those impacted by the fires. Larimer County has established July 30, 2015 as the deadline for homeowners impacted by the High Park Fire to clean up fire-damaged structures.

United Policyholders, a non-profit consumer organization that has been assisting disaster survivors for over 20 years, encourages fire survivors to review and consider potential deadlines for the expiration of their additional living expense/loss of use of benefits, collecting full replacement value on contents or dwelling, and submitting proofs of loss, inventories, receipts, and estimates. Those who are suing their agent, broker or insurance company must keep this firm deadline in mind as well. Go to www.larimer.org/highparkfire/heads-up_0514.pdf for a full list of anniversary tasks.

Property owners that have not reached an acceptable insurance settlement need to communicate with their insurer ASAP and get written confirmation before the two-year anniversary that: their insurance claim will remain open and payable past the two-year anniversary; that their insurer will continue to honor its obligation to pay all benefits owing, including replacement values, past the two-year anniversary; and that their insurer agrees that it will NOT enforce any “suit against us” provision that may arise at the two-year anniversary.

The Larimer County web site for fire recovery information is at http://larimer.org/highparkfire/

United Policyholders can be contacted at uphelp.org.