Station Fire Insurance Settlement
For those of you with real estate in neighborhoods affected by the station fire such as La Crescenta, La Canada, Sunland, Tujunga, Pasadena or Altadena, your home was likely as smelly as mine. 
About a month ago, I contacted my insurance carrier and they sent an adjuster to my home. This week I obtained estimates for heating and air duct cleaning, and attic insulation replacement – I am working diligently on spending my station fire insurance settlement.
I was disappointed to learn that when you hire a roofer you need to contract for them to remove their debris. The insulation company is charging nearly $1,000 to remove the old roofing material still in our attic (and according to San Gabriel Insulation, roofers almost always leave their mess behind). The good news is that there are some tax rebates associated with the (green/energy efficient) new insulation and there will be future energy savings as well.
My second disappointment was that in addition to duct cleaning I have one leaky air conditioning unit. Home inspector Keith Swift highly recommends HEPA filters and so did the air conditioning contractor. I will likely add the filters to each of my three a/c units (one in the guest house too). There’s always the upgrade isn’t there?
If your home was impacted by soot and ash from the station fire, contact your insurance carrier, they likely (at a minimum) will pay to have your ducts cleaned and your insulation replaced.
Categories: Insurance, Green Living
Tags: Station fire insurance claims
What a pity that you can get some costs back, but not all ... especially for something that should have been done a long time ago! Removal of debris certainly doesn’t ‘sound’ like a $1000 job ... though I personally haven’t done it before
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Good points - will you be eligible for the tax rebate if it was the insurance company that paid for the new green insulation though? Also it will be interesting to see how the different carriers will respond to such widespread claims … could be cause to switch insurance providers.
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I think the tax question is for a CPA
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I'm wondering about the flyers that we are getting in the mail about Public Adjusters claiming they could get more money from the insurance by representing us. Have you heard any good news on this being a realtor in La Canada?
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Danny, you should not have any problems with your insurance carrier. I did not and neither did my clients. I don't know anyone who hired outside help.
Statute of limitations, deadline is fast approaching.
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Has the Statute of Limitations run out on Station Fire Claims? May I still file a claim?
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I would think it would be one year.. but you certainly should contact your insurance carrier to determine if you can file a claim.
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@Donia D. Keys: do not take more than one year to file any claims. Certain clauses are automatically struck off due to time (and logistical sense as well). Best is to keep them within 6 months or so, what with the mess, smell and all. Good luck!
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