Policy Ensurance is written by Tony Braga and published by Acorn
Library. The first copyright was 1977, but has gone through many updates
and was just updated and republished in 2005 which is when I first found
it. The book is available at bookstores and online at stores such as
Amazon. The list price is $17.95, but I had no problem finding it
used for about $11.
He also told me that he makes the download available at
www.disasterprepared.net to anyone
who makes a donation of $2 or more.
Tony was an insurance company
adjuster for many years. He explains his job was to "...make company
inspired settlements with policyholders who lacked fundamental information and
adjusting skills." He explains that "Knowledge is leverage. The more
you know, the more you have adjusting power.... It is the continuing fate of
unknowing, unprepared policyholders to deal ineffectively.... It is difficult to
imagine doing something in an area of which you know little or nothing, no
matter how simple the task."
The first part of the book helps form
the mindset that it is OUR responsibility to determine our loss, not the
adjusters. It is the adjuster's responsibility to determine how much the
insurance company will pay the claimant. The difference between the loss
and what the adjuster initially agrees to pay is where the negotiation (aka
adjusting) begins.
The book is packed with useful
information. It lists insurance deadlines and has blank forms as well as
example forms showing you how you should fill them out. The book covers the
history of property insurance as well as insurance company monetary statistics,
lists of regulatory authorities, unfair claims practices codes and regulations,
quotes from adjusters training books (scary) and California's Unfair Practice
insurance Codes. The middle of the book does get a bit dry with dozens...
if not hundreds... of court cases showing you how the court has ruled in the
past, but can be invaluable for a claimant trying to win a point. In short,
this book is an invaluable resource all in one short (148 page, large type)
book.