The Reiumbrusement Process

Derek over at 90weststreet blog went to the Ritz Carlton to see the claims office. He had this to say:

The claim office at the Ritz Carlton 2 West Street Room 417 is open at 7:00 a.m.. I don't remember when it closes. Today I met a sincere and attentive man, G-- who represents John R. riddle Associates, Inc. Third Party Administrator.

I was presented with a form that isn't very interesting so I won't bother scanning it and posting it.

The form asks for Name, Address, Family Members Residing at Address, Home Phone, Cell Phone, Work Phone and Email.

The rest of the form is just space for documenting Out of Pocket Expenses 1.) Clothing, 2.) Meals, 3.) Lodging, 4.) Transportation 5.) Incidental

Numerous pages are also attached to the form to be cited as generic losses.

I was asked to fill out the form but I declined on the excuse of being unprepared and exhausted and G-- told me to just write "will provide reciepts at a later time." sign and date. He made a copy, gave me the wet ink copy and off I went.

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In addition to the form, I also obtained a handwritten note from G--:

Mail Reciepts to:
John Riddle Associates
125 Half Mile Road
Red Bank, NJ 07701
fax: 1-877-231-8636
917-390-2321

There's some discussion now about whether or not they're trying to divide the residents by dealing with us on a personal basis. While dividing large groups into individuals is a tried-and-true method of preventing those groups from acting together, I'm not sure this is the case. With some people staying with friends and family, some in the Ramada that building management is paying for, and some in hotels that they're getting reimbursed for, I'm not sure there's any way to do it that isn't on an individual basis. There's too much variety. Perhaps I'm being optimistic, but it seems that this is really more of an information gathering phase. They appear to be trying to gather data on all the residents so they can start building a record of what expenses people have incurred. Though I agree with some of my neighbors that it is happening surprisingly fast, Leslie Riddle told me yesterday to expect a phone call from them on Monday. It seems they're on the right track, but perhaps jumped the gun a little on acting without bringing everyone else up to speed.

Many residents are now calling for another big meeting to disseminate all the new information. That would certainly help get everyone on the same page.