Insurance emergency bulletin issued for West Virginia flood victims
Insurance emergency bulletin issued for West Virginia flood victims

Flash floods are doubly devastating because they often hit areas that had not been classified as flood risk zones.  Because most people only buy flood insurance if they’re in a zone where mortgage lenders by law make them buy it, flash flood victims rarely have…
Bach Talk: Preserving the promise of liability protection
Bach Talk: Preserving the promise of liability protection

I had the privilege of working with Gail Hillebrand in the early 90’s when she was a Senior Attorney in Consumers Union’s West Coast regional office.  Our offices were in the same building, and I was representing Voter Revolt (the predecessor to Consumer Watchdog) in implementing Proposition 103.  Gail…
Bach Talk – Why the CA Supreme Court needs to have Commissioner Jones’ back
Bach Talk – Why the CA Supreme Court needs to have Commissioner Jones’ back

Have you ever contacted an insurance agent or company and asked them to insure your home for a specific dollar amount?  If so, you’re probably in the .00001% of insurance consumers.  That’s just not how it works in real life. In real life, we rely…
Mega Merger Malaise – Bach Talk
Mega Merger Malaise – Bach Talk

As the health insurance marketplace, American citizens, and businesses continue to adapt to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act world, the pending mergers of Aetna/Humana and Cigna/Anthem will provide yet another curveball. Mergers of companies this large are almost never good for consumers.  They…
Bach Talk – The Power of Sunshine
Bach Talk – The Power of Sunshine

UP is constantly working to publish information and guidance on investing your insurance dollars wisely by patronizing companies that offer quality protection and have a record of good claim service.  We promote shopping tools that allow consumers to compare coverage side by side.  We promote…
Keeping UP – Bach Talk
Keeping UP – Bach Talk

Being a small non-profit has its upside:  United Policyholders is dynamic.  We don’t have layers of internal bureaucracy that slow us down when we want to respond to a disaster or make improvements to our programs, publications, and tools.  We are constantly enhancing our tips…
Challenging insurers’ hired guns – Bach Talk
Challenging insurers’ hired guns – Bach Talk

When you buy insurance, you pay for coverage and good service if and when you file a claim.  Good claim service includes estimating the extent and value of your claim fairly and promptly. Insurance company claim adjusters often bring in outside experts to inspect and give their…
Hot at the NAIC – Bach Talk
Hot at the NAIC – Bach Talk

The business of insurance is primarily regulated by individual states with a minimal amount of oversight by the Federal Government.  State regulators coordinate with each other through an organization called The National Association of Insurance Commissioners.  Three times a year, the NAIC hosts a conference…
What’s the point? A “use it and lose it” UPdate
What’s the point? A “use it and lose it” UPdate

Most people pay their home, business, and renters insurance premiums for years and years without ever having a loss or using the policy they’re paying for.  Yet even people who’ve had a long claim-free record are finding that after they do suffer a loss and…
A flood insurance fix is imperative – We have to do better
A flood insurance fix is imperative – We have to do better

Superstorm Sandy hit New York City’s many low-lying areas hard and was a wake-up call for residents and public officials.  Flooding is a serious risk in the entire New York Metropolitan area, and most people are not prepared.  Mandating more people to buy flood insurance…
Statement of California Health Advocates and United Policyholders
Statement of California Health Advocates and United Policyholders

Public Hearing: Minnesota Department of Commerce – Long-Term Care – Rate Increases and Policyholder Protections In late August, 2015, the Minnesota Department of Commerce convened a hearing to assist the Department’s fact-finding effort on long-term care insurance industry issues. The hearing provided consumers, insurance companies, and other…
BACH TALK: Annuity “Whack-a-Mole”
BACH TALK: Annuity “Whack-a-Mole”

It seems like every time you turn around, insurers are peddling a new type of super-complicated annuity whose internal levers and formulae make it virtually impossible that the buyer will collect the promised benefits in their lifetime: Equity-indexed annuities, Medically Underwritten Annuities, Contingent Deferred Annuities…the list goes…
Friends in high places – Congratulations Sallie Clark!
Friends in high places – Congratulations Sallie Clark!

If you follow UP’s work, you know that the relationships we build with public officials in disaster areas are an essential part of how our small staff serves so many consumers far from our base in San Francisco.  El Paso (Colorado) County Commissioner Sallie Clark…
Bach Talk: In praise of contingency fees
Bach Talk: In praise of contingency fees

With surprising (and sad) frequency, United Policyholders hears from senior citizen victims of unfair insurance practices. And as hard as it is for me to understand businesses and people that intentionally take advantage of the elderly – let alone those who lose their homes in…
The “running and gunning” flood claim adjuster life
The “running and gunning” flood claim adjuster life

Why would flood insurance adjusters underpay claims when they get paid a percentage of settlement amounts?  Doesn’t that give them an economic incentive to pay higher settlements to increase the fee they earn?  These questions come up after every flood disaster.  These questions have been…
We love New York
We love New York

We love New York.  That’s why we and our Superstorm Sandy survivor base are pulling out the stops to support legislative reforms this legislative session and are saying: Come on New York! Step up into the 21st century and give your citizens who spend their…
The stakes they gettin’ higher – Captive consumers are vulnerable consumers
The stakes they gettin’ higher – Captive consumers are vulnerable consumers

Insurance has always been a big deal to loss victims, disaster survivors, and needless to say, United Policyholders.  To the rest of the world…not so much. As to paying for insurance policies that are optional, consumers can just say no, not buying. End of story.…
It’s no surprise that an acronym soup designed by committee doesn’t taste good
It’s no surprise that an acronym soup designed by committee doesn’t taste good

Some of you may remember the kid’s song: “I knew an old lady who swallowed a fly…” The Sandy scandal that the National Flood Insurance Program is digging out of reminds me of that song.  An engineer hired by an IA.  A WYO hired the…