One of the impediments to recovery often is due to disputes between homeowners or business owners and insurance companies.  We saw that after H. Katrina and we saw it more recently in Christchurch, NZ.  This artiele explains a pending action by Gov Christie of N.Y.  NJ Plans to Set up Mediation of Disputes with Insurance Companies . Some excerpts:

New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance is setting up a mediation program to give consumers the chance to settle insurance disputes without the time and expense of litigation. The department currently is seeking proposals from companies to provide mediation services, and interested firms have until March 7 to submit a bid.

The program would sit an experienced mediator between policyholders and their insurance companies in order to review the case and assist in settlement discussions. Similar efforts were undertaken with success in Gulf Coast states after hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed the region in 2005, Kenneth Kobylowski, commissioner of the insurance department, said yesterday.