Thanks Borski for sharing the link for the Home Loss File System - Digital Resource that my family has been working on.

Were continuing to work to get the word out about this and the physical file boxes were creating for folks who are not tech savvy (homelossfilesystem.com).

We've disseminated 2700 of the physical file boxes to fire survivors over the last 15 years and excited about what the digital resource can become.

We welcome contributors/volunteers/suggestions/feedback - feel free to add them here or email us homelossfilesystem@gmail.com

The GoFundMe is 65% the way to its goal. If you wish you contribute you can here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-deliver-mor-1500-home-los...

Thanks again all! Please continue to share with any fire survivors!

Great advice, especially in the second tab (how to deal with insurers).

I've always considered insurance false-economy and avoided it wherever possible, especially for events with losses <$20k. This is because the value of the three time-costs of insurance (time to find, time to monitor, and time to claim) generally exceed the expected value the claim.

For example, if my flight were cancelled, I might lose $1000. But all the hassle signing up for, monitoring (to ensure conditions don't change significantly in the insurer's favour; often conveyed by an email to a spam folder), and going through a stereotypically labyrinthine claims process is significantly worse than being out of pocket $1000. Or another way to put it, I'd pay $1000 just to avoid having to do all that. Or a third way to put it, if someone offered me $1000 to find them a suitable insurance policy, monitor it to make sure the company didn't spontaneously alter it, and make a claim on their behalf, I wouldn't do it, it's just not worth it.

I get why insurers are like this. If they can sneak you a letter/email(/fax) and on in a foot note on page 43 'notify' you of a reduction in your coverage (for unchanged premiums), they make money. And if they make lodging a claim as onerous as possible, some % of claimants will abandon the claim, making them even more money. So insurance companies are just doing what they're legally allowed to do to make as much money as possible.

Where possible (e.g. for events without enormous payouts [obviously not so helpful in the case of LA fires]) it can be better to DIY insurance, i.e. put a little savings aside for those events (just as one may pay insurance premiums), that way, you actually have it when you need it, unlike insurance payouts from insurers who generally try to make it as difficult as possible to obtain.

This is perhaps only a problem with the niche HN user base, but “Filing System” would be more accurate. Thought this had to do with damaged hard disk recovery or redundant file systems or something technical like that.

A spreadsheet tool with guidance on what to do before and after the catastrophic loss of your house, and what information to collect.

You have to remove "/htmlview" from the URL, otherwise the "File > Make a copy" interface is not available

There is no "File" menu in the current link because it's been shared in HTML view mode. To make a local copy, use this link to open it in edit mode instead (only the last path of the URL should be different): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TPeJzW5pa-BiJZjuEa1y...

> This tool was created by former California wildfire survivors committed to supporting you through the challenging process of disaster recovery. We hope to provide essential resources, checklists, and organizational tools to help you manage insurance claims, document losses, and track expenses efficiently. By staying organized, you hope you can regain a sense of control during this difficult time. We are truly sorry for your loss and hope this tool offers clarity, support, and empowerment as you move forward on your path to recovery.

Thanks for the link. I learned that CA bans insurers from deducting the value of land when purchasing a new home instead of rebuilding.

Land Value Deduction – In the event of a total loss to your property, the amount owed to you by the insurer is the cost to rebuild your home at its original location, including building code upgrade coverage and extended replacement cost coverage. Your insurer is not allowed to take a deduction for the value of land under the replacement home you purchase. [Cal Ins. Code 2051.5 (c)(2)]

Yes, first take a detailed slow panned video of each room, wall by wall, ceiling and carpets. Basement and all tools (open all and spread). Every appliance and fixtures get the medicine cabinet and under all sinks. Same with garage and all in there, same with shed and all vehicles/tools/bikes etc. You can then slowly advance the video, list the books etc, all the kitchen cabinet/freezer/clothes/bedding/frozen foods as well as dry foods etc and amass a fully exhaustive home inventory. An amazing amount of stuff = $$ builds up over the years and few people have such a detailed loss record. You can do the video in 15 minutes and as long as you save in the cloud - in a few places even - you can tabulate that aspect of your loss in detail later - even after the fact if well saved.

This is a useful tool for any homeowner, not just those threatened by wildfire. Good luck and godspeed to those currently in harm's way in California.

If we click that link, who besides Google can instantly identify us?

This is a very clever idea. Cudos.

I'm not 100% a fan of the google doc format, but whatever.