AUBURN, California — By her own account, Laurie Kendall is lucky to be alive…and she’s one very happy CIG homeowners insurance customer. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 31, 2009, Laurie was in her home on the outskirts of Auburn, California, a rustic town in the gold country of Northern California between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.

She happened to take a quick gaze out of her windows overlooking her back yard…and was horrified to see a huge wall of smoke engulfing the property behind hers. She went outside and saw that the fire was at her fence line, and she had only moments to escape.

Laurie grabbed her two dogs, her laptop computer and keys, and ran outside and jumped into her car. The smoke was so thick she could barely see. She inched her way down the street. Fortunately, she came upon a policeman in a squad car alerting neighbors to evacuate. He led her out of the fire zone to safety.

Laurie drove to her son’s home where they watched a local TV station’s news coverage of the fire. She recalled live shots from a helicopter reporting from the scene repeatedly showing the fire descending on her home.

“The second time they showed our house, the whole thing was engulfed in flames. The third time they came back and it was like, ‘oh…there’s the driveway.’ There was nothing left!” Laurie recalls.

The wildfire charred 375 acres and destroyed 66 homes before it was contained several days later.

Everything that Laurie Kendall had left behind was gone. All of her belongings and her home were reduced to ashes. Through the trauma and emotional upheaval of her loss, and the physical and discomfort of her life being so thoroughly disrupted, she had one very important asset still in place: her homeowner’s coverage from CIG Insurance.

Rapid Response

The response and assistance from Laurie’s insurance agent was immediate, and her policy benefits were unmatched. Purves Insurance is an independent agency in Davis, California, that represents CIG Insurance. Scott Purves is Laurie’s CIG insurance advisor. Within hours after the fire began, Scott was in contact with Laurie and got help on its way. CIG Claims Adjuster Mark Hunter was at the fire scene the next morning to assess the damages and meet with Laurie.

“He handed me a check for $50,000 right away, just so I could immediately begin purchasing necessities, pay my normal bills and get my life back in order again,” Laurie explained.

Scott Purves told about Mark’s follow through in the days and months after the fire:

“He followed-up consistently and helped Laurie make arrangements for temporary housing, then set up direct payments to the temp housing so Laurie didn’t even have to think about it. He always made her feel as though she was being taken care of, and then delivered on his promises.”

The Most Protection. Delivered.

Construction costs for homes destroyed by fire or natural disaster are significantly higher than the original cost of building a home. The payout from most insurance companies maxes out at the value of your dwelling coverage plus 20% – usually not nearly enough to rebuild.

But CIG’s coverage is unique. All CIG homeowner policies, including Laurie’s, contain CIG’s exclusive “Think Twice” coverage. CIG pays up to twice the amount of a dwelling’s coverage, if that’s what it will cost to rebuild. No other insurer provides that kind of coverage…or peace of mind.

“Within days we began discussing rebuilding options. My house was among the first in the sub-division to begin re-construction. I was fully covered for my new house and belongings with no significant additional out-of-pocket expenses. CIG’s coverage and timely service really were a Godsend for me,” Laurie said.

According to Scott Purves, “CIG believes in properly insuring a customer’s home from day one. In Laurie’s case, her home was adequately insured at about $192 per square foot. But the final rebuild cost was close to $235 per square foot. Because we properly insured her up-front, and because of CIG’s “Think Twice” policy, she had plenty of coverage.”

A New Beginning

Nine months after the fire, over half of the homeowners in her subdivision had not yet started re-building. But on April 15th, 2010, just 257 days after her home burned to the ground, Laurie Kendall moved into her completely new re-built home on her same property.

On June 5th, 2010 Laurie had a house warming party with friends and family. The new 3-bed, 2-bath home has a big backyard and a giant deck, perfect for family gatherings and visits from her grandchildren.

“It’s hard losing everything and starting over. But now I have a whole new house. It’s all beautiful. Its so nice to get back to your own place, your own things, and the way it always was,” said Laurie.

She added, “Now that my neighbors and I have lived through it and survived it, we’re all moving ahead. Thanks to my family, friends and CIG, it’s a happy end to a nightmare. Life is good again.”