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CNN Live Today

Top Five Tips for Disaster Recovery

Aired May 06, 2003 - 10:11   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's move from the markets to personal finance on Wall Street and to personal disasters on Main Street. That's what we are seeing with the weather across the country today.
We're going to take a look right now at the best way to file a disaster claim. And for that, we turn to CNNfn contributor, Gerri Willis of "SmartMoney" magazine. She's joining us from New York.

Gerri, good morning. Good to see you...

GERRI WILLIS, "SMARTMONEY" MAGAZINE: Good to see you, Daryn.

KAGAN: ... and have you with us.

It looks if you're unlucky enough to have something like a twister hit your home or some other bad event, there is one phone call you should make first.

WILLIS: That's right. Call your agent immediately. You know, people in this situation are often very upset, and you might forget that if you can't stay at your home, make sure you leave a phone number where you can be contacted.

KAGAN: And don't be stubborn. If there are a couple of things you can do to help out your home right away, do that, and don't wait for someone else to pony up the money.

WILLIS: That's right. You want to make repairs that will save your home from further damage, from rain or wind or even looting. And don't forget, don't throw out things that are damaged. You're going to have to make a claim for reimbursement for those items.

KAGAN: And in terms of those, you want to make a list of everything.

WILLIS: That's right. Make a laundry list of everything that's been damaged that's going to be missing that you're going to want to be reimbursed for. Make sure it's complete. And that's going to be difficult, and you're going to have to spend a lot of time doing it, but it will pay off in the end.

KAGAN: Another thing that's going to pay off, look at paperwork and say that paperwork is your best friend.

WILLIS: That's right. You know, there's going to be a lot of paperwork with this. What happens if you don't own your own home and you have structural damage to it is that the insurance company is actually going to make the check out to your bank, to the bank that holds your mortgage, and they'll set it up in an escrow account. That means you're going to have to wait a while to get your money. Don't fret. That's the way it's normally handled. If you need living expense reimbursement, that will be made out directly to you.

KAGAN: Now, some people are going to get great service from their insurance company, and some people are just going to be so frustrated. What do you do if it's not working out well with your insurance company?

WILLIS: You've got to go to the regulators. The regulators are going to help you out here. Contact your state insurance commissioner if you're not happy with the way you're treated.

KAGAN: And quickly, finally, looking in terms of whether you get FEMA coverage. What difference does that make?

WILLIS: Well, it means you could get extra money and make your life just a little bit easier. People in these areas are going to have to stay tuned to the local news to find out if extra money is going to be made available, but my guess is, is that it probably will be. We've seen it before in these areas, where tornadoes have struck in the past.

KAGAN: Gerri Willis, thank you for those financial tips, very important as people try to get their lives back together.

WILLIS: Thank you.

KAGAN: See you later today on CNNfn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired May 6, 2003 - 10:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's move from the markets to personal finance on Wall Street and to personal disasters on Main Street. That's what we are seeing with the weather across the country today.
We're going to take a look right now at the best way to file a disaster claim. And for that, we turn to CNNfn contributor, Gerri Willis of "SmartMoney" magazine. She's joining us from New York.

Gerri, good morning. Good to see you...

GERRI WILLIS, "SMARTMONEY" MAGAZINE: Good to see you, Daryn.

KAGAN: ... and have you with us.

It looks if you're unlucky enough to have something like a twister hit your home or some other bad event, there is one phone call you should make first.

WILLIS: That's right. Call your agent immediately. You know, people in this situation are often very upset, and you might forget that if you can't stay at your home, make sure you leave a phone number where you can be contacted.

KAGAN: And don't be stubborn. If there are a couple of things you can do to help out your home right away, do that, and don't wait for someone else to pony up the money.

WILLIS: That's right. You want to make repairs that will save your home from further damage, from rain or wind or even looting. And don't forget, don't throw out things that are damaged. You're going to have to make a claim for reimbursement for those items.

KAGAN: And in terms of those, you want to make a list of everything.

WILLIS: That's right. Make a laundry list of everything that's been damaged that's going to be missing that you're going to want to be reimbursed for. Make sure it's complete. And that's going to be difficult, and you're going to have to spend a lot of time doing it, but it will pay off in the end.

KAGAN: Another thing that's going to pay off, look at paperwork and say that paperwork is your best friend.

WILLIS: That's right. You know, there's going to be a lot of paperwork with this. What happens if you don't own your own home and you have structural damage to it is that the insurance company is actually going to make the check out to your bank, to the bank that holds your mortgage, and they'll set it up in an escrow account. That means you're going to have to wait a while to get your money. Don't fret. That's the way it's normally handled. If you need living expense reimbursement, that will be made out directly to you.

KAGAN: Now, some people are going to get great service from their insurance company, and some people are just going to be so frustrated. What do you do if it's not working out well with your insurance company?

WILLIS: You've got to go to the regulators. The regulators are going to help you out here. Contact your state insurance commissioner if you're not happy with the way you're treated.

KAGAN: And quickly, finally, looking in terms of whether you get FEMA coverage. What difference does that make?

WILLIS: Well, it means you could get extra money and make your life just a little bit easier. People in these areas are going to have to stay tuned to the local news to find out if extra money is going to be made available, but my guess is, is that it probably will be. We've seen it before in these areas, where tornadoes have struck in the past.

KAGAN: Gerri Willis, thank you for those financial tips, very important as people try to get their lives back together.

WILLIS: Thank you.

KAGAN: See you later today on CNNfn.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.