Part 3: Wildfires – The Road to Personal Financial Recovery

It’s not enough to have your physical belongings recovered — now that the wildfire is over, you have to take into account the expenses you’ll be confronting due to damages and repairs. As you’ll see below, some of these payments made by you may be eligible for deductions, so it’s critical that you educate yourself on ways to recover financially.

How fallen timber becomes a casualty loss.

Tax Benefits of Wildfire Tolls

• If any timber has fallen or damaged your property as a result of the wildfire, you can claim this as a “casualty loss” on your federal income tax statement.
• If you plan to replace or salvage burned plants, you can claim tax credit for your expenses.
• If your homeowners insurance policy does not cover costs for installation or removal costs, you may claim this as a casualty loss deduction on your federal or state income-tax return.

Insurance

• Update your policy to reflect any financial procurements to your home and verify that your policy is on track with your belongings as well as the cost to restore your surroundings.
• As stated in yesterday’s article, create an inventory of personal belongings, as well as your insurance policy, and retain them in a secure and safe location. You can store them online with us, and retrieve them at any time during these recovery proceedings.
• Similarly, transfer any remaining valuables in a protected area (it wouldn’t help to lose more belongings, would it?)

With enough care and a proper approach, you can restore your home and life.

 Loans

• Check with the Federal Disaster Declaration, as you may be eligible for financial assistance from FEMA. (FIY: they performed corresponding measures during the Great Depression as well)
• Also contact the U.S. Small Business Administration, as they provide access to federal disaster loans with low interest rates.
• FEMA has a great article on avoiding loan scams after natural disasters, identifying scam signs (i.e. a contractor demanding full payment up front or in cash only, or has no physical address and refuses to show identification)
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development also has a page on how to obtain home improvement loans, in a smart and secure way

As always, any financial documents related to the wildfire must always be shielded and invulnerable — we can not stress this enough. Without the security of such documents, you may lose your ability to obtain financial recovery, and you also put your financial identity at risk. By jeopardizing your monetary assets, you allow the fire to destroy not only your home, but also the posterity of your life.

Related posts:

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