How to resolve AdBlock issue? The fund collection process for the Valley Fire Debris Insurance Collection Project is being carried out by county staff but the funds aren’t kept by the county; instead, the funds are being paid to the state, as CalRecycle headed up the Valley fire debris program.
Only those community members whose insurance covered debris removal are being asked to pay. Those who don’t have coverage are asked to submit certifications of noncoverage, county officials said.
County Administrative Office staffer Marcy Harrison updated the board on the insurance collection process at the Feb. 13 meeting.
As of Feb. 13, Harrison said the county had received 509 payments totaling approximately $9,767,178. That was an increase of 133 payments totaling $4,208,949 since her January report.
“That’s in part due to a very very large settlement process we finally competed with AAA,” Harrison said. “They came in and made mass payments and provided the documentation we needed so we were able to process those payments.”
She called getting those payments from a larger insurer “a major milestone in this collection process.”
Regarding those without insurance coverage, Harrison said the county has received 297 certifications of noncoverage and have about 100 more to go.
In addition, about 467 of those who are insured have not paid, and Harrison said the county is reaching out directly to insurance companies to follow up on claims. Most of the companies are backlogged.
“So we’re way over halfway,” said Supervisor Rob Brown.
Harrison said yes.
She explained that other major carriers – including Farmers, State Farm, Hartford and Nationwide – are waiting on backup documentation about the cleanup which the county is working to get from CalRecycle.
Once that information is available, Harrison said they should see another influx of payments, as those carriers cover more than half of the accounts that still must be paid.
Harrison said she had visited Calaveras County the previous day, where that county has hired Tetra Tech to collect debris insurance money for the Butte fire.
The supervisors also had considered hiring Tetra Tech to collect the debris insurance funds for Lake County, a decision that was appealed to the board. County Administrative Officer Carol Hutchinson said the county staff instead is doing the work in-house at a greatly reduced cost compared to the more than $1 million it would have paid the firm.
Board members thanked staff for their work on the project.
Huchingson told the board that the county still hasn’t received any information from the state about debris collection for the fires that followed the Valley fire.
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