TerraBites

A short newsletter of bite-size ideas to chew on for Terrafirma owner-member land trusts, released January, February, May, June, September, October and November.

 

Posts tagged grace period

Join the club! Submit a claim.

Each year Terrafirma sees an increase in claims. If you have already submitted one, you’re in good company – 281 other land trusts have too, or over half of Terrafirma members.

Accredited land trusts are the most likely to submit a claim. You don’t have to be accredited to be in Terrafirma, but 68% of members are.

Terrafirma received 204 claims for the 2018 policy year, up from 182 in the 2017 policy year. The 2018 grace period for submitting claims ended on April 30. Not sure when to file, or if you need to? You can see our handy primer here, and reach out with questions at any time.

Terrafirma members are doing their job by diligently monitoring issues and submitting them to Terrafirma in the claims year that they were first discovered. Thank you all for submitting your claims, and keep up the good work!

We’re here to help! If you have any questions, please let us know. You can e-mail us directly or call 202-800-2248 for Hannah or 802-262-6051 for Leslie.

 

Thank you,

Hannah

 
 

Hold Your Place in Line by April 30

Note: The process to close a claim has changed since this post was written in 2019. Instead of sending an e-mail, please update the status of your claim online to let the ARMS team know that you are ready to close the claim.

 

When you file a claim at www.terrafirma.org, you’ll see two options – one for a “placeholder” claim, and one that just says claim. Do you know the difference? You’ll want to know by 4/30, which is the deadline to file claims under your 2018 Terrafirma policy.

While both a claim and a placeholder claim satisfy the requirement to give notice to Terrafirma, a placeholder claim is not automatically evaluated and brought before the Terrafirma Claims Committee. 

When you file a placeholder claim, you’ll receive an e-mail every quarter asking for an update status on the claim. When you want to close the claim or have it seen by the committee, all you have to do is send an e-mail. There’s no need to switch status from placeholder claim to normal claim, or to re-file.

Don't wait until you have to hire a lawyer to file a claim. File a placeholder claim right away to make sure that if you need to switch the status to a normal claim, you can. Remember, if you don’t file 2018 policy year claims by 4/30, you will not be able to file them later.

We’re here to help! If you have any questions about when to file a claim, please let us know. You can email us directly or call 202-800-2248 for Hannah or 802-262-6051 for Leslie.

 

Thank you,

Hannah

Conservation Defense Coordinator
ALLIANCE RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC
(202) 800-2248  | 

 

P.S. The grace period for Terrafirma claims for the 2018 policy year period ends April 30 at midnight local time. Please remember to file any lingering claims from incidents that you first learned of between March 1, 2018 and March 1, 2019 by that day! Check out our handy infographic for more tips on when to file.

 

Terrafirma Tips

Terrafirma is a unique insurance company – a nonprofit, member-owned risk retention group, created specifically to help land trusts. Being so different can lead to some confusion. We'd like to address a few common questions and misconceptions:

  • You must file a claim when you first learn of the incident – not when litigation starts. For example, if a land trust discovers a trespass involving cut trees in January of 2019, but waits until after April 30 (the end of the 2018 grace period for filing claims) to file the claim, they will likely be barred from coverage for not reporting in time.
  • The policy year is not the same as the calendar year – it is March 1 to March 1. There is a 60 day grace period at the end of each policy period.
  • Rates won’t go up because you filed a claim. Claim history and rates are completely independent - $63 per parcel for everyone, minus any discounts.
  • A placeholder is a full claim, and there is no need to re-file the claim to be heard for a coverage determination. Just send us a quick e-mail! See more information on placeholder versus regular claims here.
  • Everything is online except for payments, which must be sent in via check. We use check payments for maximum security and cost efficiency.
 
 

File any 2017 policy year claims by Monday, April 30

TerraBite Ideas to chew on for Terrafirma owner-member land trusts 

Dear Hannah,

Phew – taxes are out of the way. On to the next important deadline!

The grace period for Terrafirma claims for the 2017 policy year period ends April 30 at midnight local time. Please remember to file any lingering claims from incidents that you first learned of between March 1, 2017 and March 1, 2018 by that day! Check out our handy infographic for more tips on when to file.

To file a claim for 2017, log into your account at www.terrafirma.org and click on “Submit a Claim” on the menu on the left side of your screen. You will see a dropdown menu that allows you to pick 2017 or 2018 for the policy year.

Lastly, don’t forget to download and review your new 2018 policy! This is also available on your land trust’s account at www.terrafirma.org – there should now be a green button that says “Download Policy” at the top of your home page.

We’re here to help! If you have any questions about when to file a claim, please let us know. You can email us directly or call 202-800-2219 for Lorri, 202-800-2248 for Hannah, or 802-262-6051 for Leslie.

Thanks,
Hannah

Hannah Flake

Conservation Defense Associate

ALLIANCE RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC

(202) 800-2248  | 

Hungry for more TerraBites? Check out our LinkedIn.

 

It's your lucky month! Pots o' benefits and grace

As a member of Terrafirma and the Land Trust Alliance, you have access to many great resources — plus help from dedicated staff!

On The Learning Center:

On the Nonprofit Risk Management Center:

 

Log on as a Land Trust Alliance affiliate by clicking on this logo on the right side of the Conservation Defense Clearinghouse home page and get free and discounted risk and insurance resources.

 

We’re here to help! If you have any questions about risk management resources or anything else, please let us know. You can email us directly or call 202-800-2219 for Lorri, 202-800-2248 for Hannah or 802-262-6051 for Leslie.

Thanks,
Hannah
 
P.S. Please be sure to get in any lingering 2016 claims before the grace period ends on April 30, 2017. File a claim under your 2016 policy by heading to our website and clicking on your 2016 Application on the Welcome screen, then “submit a claim” from the menu on the left.

 

2015 isn’t over…yet

 

The 2015 Terrafirma policy period ends at midnight, March 1, 2016. However, the policy allows members a last chance to submit claims for issues that started in the 2015 policy period. From March 1 to April 30, 2016 (60 days) you will have the option to file under your 2015 policy (for claims that started before March 1) or under your 2016 policy (for brand spanking new claims).

This means that you have options.

To file a claim for 2015, go to your welcome screen and click “View 2015 Application.” From there, select “File a Claim” from the menu on the left side of your screen.

We’re here to help! If you have questions about the grace period or anything else, please let us know. You can email us directly or call 202-800-2219 for Lorri, 202-800-2248 for myself or 802-262-6051 for Leslie.

Thanks,
Hannah

P.S. The IRS announced that as of February 29, organizations who file Form 990-N electronic submissions must file forms on the IRS website (IRS.gov) instead of the Urban Institute's website. Form 990-N only applies to charities with net annual receipts of less than $50,000.

 

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