Where We Are
First, it has been five days since CFSIC launched. We have received many Type 1 and Type 2 applications.
All of us at CFSIC thank you for your applications. We also thank you for the many positive comments we’ve received about the way in which our team has been responding to your emails and calls.
The ESIS team is diligently at work reviewing all the applications received and sorting them into active or inactive status, based on the way in which your applications were completed and the completeness of attachments. This is also true about the very few applications that came in by email or the even fewer arriving by post.
This is all going to take some time to work through, because of the volume of applications we’ve received and the complexity of the attachments. Please allow ESIS time to get back to you.
Remember…if you have a CFSIC claim identification number, which would immediately have come up on your screen when you first submitted your application electronically…it means that we have your material and that we know who you are.
We’ve Encountered a Glitch
We’ve encountered a slight glitch, which we want to tell you about. Transparency is important.
The ESIS team and my office are working on a fix for an issue that a few of you are having with the inability for you to receive an automated email providing you with a copy of your completed application, or providing you with a copy of the link (by email) that allows you to re-visit your incomplete application if you needed to walk away and you “saved it for later.”
The problem with you getting these emails is not within the ESIS claims management system…the challenge lies with what are increasingly robust firewalls that are being employed by public and private email servers to block unknown email addresses…particularly those with attachments or links. Everybody knows what’s going on with phishing these days…as well as general cyber security. None of this should be a surprise, as it is clear to all of us that literally on a daily basis some email servers are ramping up security precautions to meet incoming threats.
As a result, for a handful of you, the automatic response emails are perceived by some of your email servers as a “threat.”
What this means is that some of you aren’t getting what you need to from us and what we’ve promised to send you. I wanted you to know that we are working hard on this issue, which has nothing to do with the efficiency of our claims management system…and everything to do with the detection and prevention of cyber threats by your email servers.
Meanwhile, to repeat: if you have a claim registration number…we have you in our system, and we are working on your claim. If there is any doubt in your mind, you can always email ESIS at cfsic@esis.com or phone them at 844-763-1207. They are there to help you.
The Issue of Litigation
I know many of you are facing some tough personal choices about the litigation with commercial insurers that some of you are involved in. I’ve spoken with many homeowners who have asked for my personal advice on this matter.
Unfortunately, neither I nor anyone on the CFSIC team, including our ESIS colleagues, can help you with the decision to continue or abandon litigation. Your best source of advice on that important subject will always be the legal counsel representing you.
But here’s what I can tell you, and how I can advise you:
– An “active” CFSIC claim will always take precedence over an “inactive” CFSIC claim. This is not about a time stamp on your application…it is about the day and the hour your CFSIC claim becomes active. Be guided accordingly with respect to every decision you make if you want access to CFSIC funds. Inactive claimants will never have access to CFSIC funds unless their claims become active. We made a provision in CFSIC to allow claimants to apply, even though their applications might be incomplete in some regard, or even if they had a claim pending with an insurer, or even if they were in litigation with an insurer. We did this to give people a fair shot.
– An active Type 1, severity class code 2 claim will, just as an example, always have precedence over a Type 1, severity class code 3 claim, if that class code 3 claim stays inactive. It doesn’t make any difference, in this example, if the severity class code 3 claim is for a foundation where you can put your whole hand through the cracks, where you can’t close your front door or open your windows. If that class code 3 claimant hasn’t sent us all the requisite attachments, or is still awaiting the outcome of a claim, or the outcome of litigation, the active severity class code 2 claim will get paid ahead of that inactive class 3. Conversion of your inactive claim to active status moves you into the payment stream; inactive status does not and never will.
– We will not be informing either inactive or active Type 1 claimants what their “place in line” is, because that’s impossible to tell. If you are an inactive Type 1 claim, we have your application, we have your attachments, and we know who you are…but beyond that you have no place in line yet, because your claim is inactive until you change your status by making your claim active. You do this by either providing ESIS with what they need if something is missing…or by changing your position relative to the litigation you may be involved in…or by telling us that your claim has been accepted or denied by your current or former homeowner’s insurer.
– An active Type 1 claim WILL BE PAID. You can depend upon this, because our accounting protocols will not allow us to accept any new applications once the total value of all active Type 1 and Type 2 claims held in reserve on CFSIC’s books, plus the total of all our projected administrative expenses to handle those claims, reaches the estimate of our total expected funding from the Bond Commission and the homeowner policy surcharge. In other words, we will not make promises that we can’t keep.
– An active Type 2 claim WILL BE PAID…and for the same reasons noted immediately above. There is one difference, however: our board has committed to paying a total of 100 Type 2 active claims between our launch date and June 30, 2022…and the reserves for that number of Type 2 claims are already part of our protocol. In other words, if 100 active Type 2 claimants present themselves before we go out of business on June 30, 2022, their claims will all be paid, subject at all times to our guidelines and the per claim cap. We don’t know how many Type 1 severity code 3, 2, or 1 claims we will get or how many will become active. It’s for this reason that the Type 1 claim issue is an unknown quantity for us.
– Type 2 claimants whose claims become active will be notified by ESIS as to the number their claim is in line to be paid. ESIS will notify you of this when they notify you that your Type 2 claim becomes active. Please remember, by way of another example, that if you are notified that your active claim is #26 on or before 6/30/19…what this means is that you are in line and your claim will be paid, but it will not be paid in this fiscal year, because I can only pay a total 25. It means that you are #1 in line to be paid as of 12:00 AM on 7/1/19.
– As stated above, we will not be notifying Type 1 claimants of any “place in line” when they become active. Remember, that if ESIS tells you that you have become an active Type 1 claimant, in writing, this means that the only thing standing in the way of your foundation work being paid for by CFSIC is your procuring a minimum of two proposals for contractor services, engaging a contractor, signing our Participation Agreement, and adhering to any other applicable conditions pertaining to your personal circumstances. Again, active trumps inactive every time.
– We will pay between now and the end of our lifespan on June 30, 2022 a total of 100 active Type 2 claims PLUS as many active Type 1 severity coded 3s and 2s and 1s as we can before we simply run out of money.
The Question of Money
I want to be absolutely clear about an important point.
Our ability to pay active Type 1 and Type 2 claims is conditioned on our actually having cash to do that. It’s one thing to have promises made to CFSIC about future funding; it’s another thing to actually have the cash in our checking account. If we run out of cash, we can’t pay anybody; and it is for this reason that we urge a close communication among homeowners, their elected representatives, and our new governor, who we all know has many priorities before him. If we do not get our expected next Bond Commission allotment before 6/30/19, this most likely means that we will actually stop paying claims by mid-May of 2019. If this happens, this does not mean that we are reneging on promises made to you…it just means that we’ve temporarily come to the end of our cash, and that your active claim, which WILL be paid, CAN’T yet be paid, because we haven’t got the funds to pay you, because we have already paid so many of your fellow claimants from the first Bond Commission allotment.
I trust and hope that all of this is clear. Don’t hesitate to email or call ESIS or my office if we can help you understand more about this program and how it works.
Stay patient with us…help is on the way.
If you have any questions about the operation of the program, ESIS is your best source of information on your claim, and their phone number and email are shown below.
Phone: 844-763-1207
Email: cfsic@esis.com
As you work through the information and application process, here’s how you can get help:
– Call ESIS (the claim adjuster) at: 844-763-1207
– Email ESIS at: cfsic@esis.com
– Email CFSIC at: info@crumblingfoundations.org
To view a video of how to complete an electronic application, go here.
To apply for a Type 1 claim, go here.
To apply for a Type 2 claim, go here.
To learn more about the program, if you are a homeowner, including application help, go here.
To learn more about the program, if you are a contractor, go here.
To learn more about the Travelers Benefit Program, go here.
Michael Maglaras, Principal
Michael Maglaras & Company
Superintendent, CFSIC