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Officials to Valley fire survivors: Even if you have insurance, register with FEMA
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – If you live in Lake County, were affected by the Valley fire and are insured, you may still be eligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
By law, FEMA cannot duplicate insurance or other benefits. However, FEMA may be able to help survivors with uninsured or underinsured losses or if their insurance settlement is delayed.
Applicants should notify FEMA of their situation and provide insurance company documentation.
If a survivor received a settlement from their insurance company and still has unmet disaster-related needs, they may be eligible for a grant.
If a survivor has exhausted the settlement from their insurance for Additional Living Expenses (ALE for loss of use) FEMA may be able to assist with disaster-related temporary housing.
If an insurance settlement is insufficient to cover disaster-related needs, survivors may be eligible for grants to cover emergency home repairs, disaster-related medical, dental and funeral costs and other disaster-related expenses.
If a survivor’s insurance settlement has been delayed longer than 30 days from the time they filed the claim, they should contact FEMA.
After providing the necessary documentation – the claim number, date applied, and an estimate of how long it will take to receive a settlement – a survivor may qualify for an advance that would have to be repaid to FEMA once the insurance settlement is received.
Survivors can register for FEMA assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 800-621-3362; TTY 800-462-7585; 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362.
Online registration also is available by using a Web-enabled mobile device at http://m.fema.gov .