[StBernard] News You Can Use - 1/19/06

[Westley Annis]

I will be sending out information to people I believe to be either displaced
by Katrina or to people who are housing those of us displaced by Katrina.  I
am doing this to try and help us all.  I realize that many of us are getting
lots of e mails.  If you would like to be taken off of this list, please
reply to that effect and I'll remove you. 

On the other hand, if you know of someone who you think may benefit from
receiving information such as what I've sent here, please let me know that
and I'll add them to the list.

If you have a question on some financial, insurance or related topic, please
let me know.  I'll try to address it and share the information with
everyone!!

 

January 19, 2006

 


Tuition Reimbursement - Act Quickly


 

Students who attended private (including parochial) schools after Katrina
and paid tuition are eligible to have the tuition they paid reimbursed to
them.  That's right. For the first time I can recall, those of us who are
footing the bill for our children to attend school can get reimbursed for
this tuition.

 

Time is of the essence though as the program is on a fast track.   You can
download the form from the Louisiana Department of Educations web site
(http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uploads/8357.pdf) and submit it to the
school where you paid tuition.  The form needs to be back at the private
school by January 24th.  After that, the school sends off their forms by
January 26th and is paid by the Louisiana Department of Education.  If you
paid tuition to the school, they will then reimburse you for your tuition.
If the school waived your tuition, they will keep the payment.

 

To be eligible, your child must attend (or have attended after Katrina) a
school that meets certain criteria.  An alphabetical listing of schools
meeting this criteria is here:
http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uploads/2060.pdf

 

Reimbursements are made on a quarterly basis.   The dates they are using to
verify attendance are October 3rd and December 1st, so if your child
attended two different schools on these dates, complete a form for each
school.  You should also complete a form for each child who now attends the
non public school.

 

This program is as a result of the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, a piece
of federal legislation.  Therefore, I'm inclined to believe that if you are
from one of the affected hurricane areas (Katrina, or Rita) and located in
any state, you are still eligible.  I apologize for the vagueness of the
previous statement, but in the interest of time (the January 24th deadline
is approaching fast), I did not have the time to fully research this.
However, you can bet that if I was paying tuition in Iowa and was from an
area affected by either of the hurricanes, I'd be contacting someone on the
local school level to see if I was eligible for this program.

 

There's a Frequently Asked Questions section available that may be of some
assistance at this address:
http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uploads/8357.pdf.

 

Don't let this one get by.

 

 


Replacement Cost Coverage on Property


 

Those of you who have been "fortunate" enough to have wind damage and
therefore, be eligible to receive benefits under the homeowner's policy you
had on your house may have a "limited replacement cost" provision on the
part of the policy that covers your personal property, or "contents".

 

The settlement process for the contents generally begins with the claimant
sending the insurance company a detailed listing of the property damaged or
destroyed.  Included in this list is information on how old the contents
were.  The age of the contents is required because the company depreciates
the value of the assets before they pay you for them.  For example, if you
bought a dresser for $1,000 last year, it's likely you'll receive most of
that ($900 as an example) as payment for your one-year-old piece of
furniture.  If on the other hand, the dresser was 20 years old, you may be
lucky to get $100 for it.

 

However, under the Limited Replacement Cost Loss Settlement provision that
may be in  your policy, you will be reimbursed for the difference between
the cost to replace less depreciation (what they paid you) and the cost you
have actually and necessarily spent to repair or replace the property.  This
clause is effective only if you replace or repair the contents within two
years from the date of loss.

 

To translate all of this legal mumbo jumbo, let's take a look back at my
dresser example. Today, I would only receive $100 for my 20-year-old dresser
as described above.  However, if I replace that dresser within the next two
years and it cost me $1,000 to replace it, I can submit evidence that it
cost me $1,000 to replace the dresser and will be reimbursed $900 at that
time.   Therefore, keep track of what you are spending to replace your items
so that you can be reimbursed for the difference between what you receive
now (the depreciated settlement amount) and what it actually takes to
replace the items.

 

The provisions I've described above are found in my State Farm Homeowner's
policy.  I have not been able to review the provisions or language of other
insurance companies, but I believe you will find them to be very similar.

 

 


A small commercial


 

Are you wondering what to do when you receive your check in settlement of
your insurance policies?   

 

For many, these checks will total over $100,000.  These funds need to be
placed somewhere safe, so they are available to you when you need them to
rebuild your house, or purchase another property. Do not be tempted to have
someone "put these funds to work for you in the market."

 

Many of you know that professionally, I am a Certified Financial Planner
professional.  If you would like to receive information on a federally
insured savings account paying very attractive rates on money held until it
will be used to rebuild, please give me a call or reply to this e mail.
This account has no fees or minimums and is insured by the FDIC.  I'd be
happy to tell you about it and give you the details.

 

 

Looking for a little help

 

You may be aware that the Environmental Protection Agency's map of the area
affected by the Murphy Oil spill differs significantly from the map Murphy
currently is using to decide if you are in the area affected by their oil.

 

I understand that the map Murphy is currently using differs greatly from a
map they had published on the web, but only for a very brief period (one or
two days is what I've been told) of time.   This is significant to me
personally as well as all of my neighbors because I believe we were in the
affected area according to the map they quickly yanked off the web, but are
not in the affected area according to their current map.

 

I was wondering if by chance, one of the many readers to this newsletter
would have happened to capture that "temporary" map.  I would be very
interested in having a copy of it as would all of the residents in my
neighborhood.

 

If you do per chance have a copy, would you please call me at 504 494 3144
or e mail me at paulvperez at bellsouth.net so that I may obtain a copy from
you.   This is very important to me.  

 

 


Thank You


 

Finally, let me thank all of you who have taken time to acknowledge how much
you enjoy and appreciate this newsletter.  It started off as something to
benefit my clients who were affected by the storm, and has grown to
something that many have found useful.  I'm glad you find it to be
beneficial and hope somehow you get a little nugget of information from each
edition that can make your life after Katrina a bit easier.

 

If you have a topic you'd like to have discussed and it's appropriate for
the "masses", let me know.  One of the reasons I have not published these as
frequently as I had in the past is that I have trouble finding worthwhile
information to convey.  If there's something you'd like me to look into that
can benefit the readers, please drop me a line.

 

May God Bless All of Us

 

DISCLAIMER:  This e mail is intended to help those of us who have been
impacted by Hurricane Katrina.  It may contain information that is somewhat
legal  in nature or affect your taxes.
Paul V. Perez
Certified Financial Planner
 
Financial Network Investment Corporation, Member SIPC
7642 Old Hammond Highway
Baton Rouge, LA  70809
(504) 494 3144
(225) 248 6635
(225) 208 1885 (fax)