CA legislature enacts helpful insurance reforms
CA legislature enacts helpful insurance reforms

The California legislature, after hard work by North Bay lawmakers, the Department of Insurance, concerned citizens, and United Policyholders enacted several useful insurance-related bills this session that are awaiting the Governor’s signature. Although retroactivity provisions were removed, (which means victims of the 2017 wildfires can only use them indirectly as…
Slow as molasses in January? MS residents deserve insurance fairness
Slow as molasses in January? MS residents deserve insurance fairness

After Hurricane Katrina decimated communities in his home state of Mississippi, concerned citizen Kevin Buckel was outraged to learn that the average insurance payout to the victims was only $15,000 – far below what people needed to repair, rebuild and recover.  He looked around at…
UP to FEMA – Please extend Harvey and Irma deadlines
UP to FEMA – Please extend Harvey and Irma deadlines

On August 22, 2018, United Policyholders asked the top brass at FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program to give hurricane-impacted residents until the end of this year to fully document their 2017 Harvey and Irma damage claims and collect all flood insurance benefits owed…
Below the law, below the belt
Below the law, below the belt

Liability insurance is considered such an essential protection in our society that anyone who drives is required by law to buy it in every state except New Hampshire. Renters and homeowners buy it. Businesses buy it. Why? Because accidents happen, people get hurt, property gets…
Hawaii Big Island UPdate
Hawaii Big Island UPdate

SPECIAL ALERT FOR PUNA RESIDENTS: Organizations to host insurance forum for residents affected by lava flows PUNA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the number of homes lost to lava since eruptions began climbs to 87, many lower Puna residents are uncertain about what — if anything — they’ll have to…
Improve disaster recovery through insurance reform
Improve disaster recovery through insurance reform

Insurance funds can and should fuel an individual’s or business’s ability to repair, rebuild, and regain financial health after a disaster. But as our surveys show, these funds don’t always flow as they should. Overly detailed proof requirements, bureaucratic delays, confusing depreciation, and unreasonably short…
UPdate on remedies for UNDERINSURED CA disaster survivors
UPdate on remedies for UNDERINSURED CA disaster survivors

Wildfire survivors in regions throughout California are using UP’s guidance on how to remedy the fact that they are grossly underinsured.  Upon learning that assurances they’d gotten and relied upon from insurers, agents, and brokers that their homes were adequately insured were untrue – these…
While Congress kicks it down the road, FEMA implements it’s own NFIP reforms
While Congress kicks it down the road, FEMA implements it’s own NFIP reforms

Congress has again reauthorized, not reformed the National Flood Insurance Program in another in a series of short-term extensions that began in September, 2017 when the program expired. FEMA instituted some reforms of it’s own via the agency notice/rulemaking process and will be accepting public…
Bach Talk: Impressive stats on the value of investing in mitigation
Bach Talk: Impressive stats on the value of investing in mitigation

According to recently released findings of the National Institute of Building Science, 23 years of federal mitigation grants provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Economic Development Administration (EDA) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), resulted in a national benefit of $6 for every $1…
Post wildfire flooding and insurance? Forecast muddy
Post wildfire flooding and insurance? Forecast muddy

A wildfire destroys the trees, plants, bushes, and roots that hold soil in place and soak up rainwater, which in turn can lead to the kind of damage that occurred in Montecito in the aftermath of the Thomas Fire.  The “Fire-Flood Sequence” is a well-known phenomenon,…
Financial Decision-Making for Wildfire Survivors
Financial Decision-Making for Wildfire Survivors

On Thursday, January 25th, 2018 United Policyholders will host a Roadmap to Recovery workshop at the Santa Rosa High School Auditorium on Financial Decision-Making For Wildfire Survivors, 6-8 pm This workshop will cover financial and tax implications related to casualty losses and insurance proceeds.  A…
UP to the challenge: 4 simultaneous Roadmap to Recovery operations
UP to the challenge: 4 simultaneous Roadmap to Recovery operations

Last night in Ventura, California, UP oriented and empowered a room full of 200 people whose homes were destroyed in the Thomas wildfire.  Bringing the combination of seasoned empathy and technical/legal expertise that makes UP’s Roadmap to Recovery program a unique and valuable source of disaster recovery…
Our nation’s flood resiliency imperative
Our nation’s flood resiliency imperative

Our non-profit’s mission is to inform and advocate for the interests of insurance consumers – policyholders.  When it comes to flood insurance, those interests are fairly simple: Access to affordable coverage for the damage that floods do to property Policies that pay on time to repair that…
Roadmap to Recovery Report
Roadmap to Recovery Report

The scale of the devastation from the recent Northern California wildfires is just as mind-boggling as the number of homes, businesses, and lives that were impacted by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria just a few months ago. All we can do is all we can…
Private Client Wildfire Protection
Private Client Wildfire Protection

Recent media coverage has spotlighted the handful of insurance companies that offer “private fire protection” to clients who can afford the cost.  AIG was the first on the block and several others have followed suit.  The recent North Bay wildfires will generate new data on how effective this special protection…
Politics and Policyholders
Politics and Policyholders

United Policyholders is a 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation, which means we can’t endorse or oppose candidates for public office.  But without a doubt – the outcomes of elections impact our work in many ways:  Partisan elected officials choose the judges that preside over insurance matters.…
UP Petitions for CA Wildfire Insurance Investigation
UP Petitions for CA Wildfire Insurance Investigation

  United Policyholders launched a Wildfire Mitigation and Insurance Project in California in 2016 to help households in brush areas maintain insurance protection on their homes, and participate in related public policy discussions with public officials, insurance companies and other stakeholders.  In addition to publishing tips for consumers, UP is…
7 Habits of Highly Effective Roadmap to Recovery Volunteers*
7 Habits of Highly Effective Roadmap to Recovery Volunteers*

Thank you Board member Jennifer Rosdail for distributing Roadmap to Recovery Guides to Hurricane Harvey Victims in Texas and being a highly effective UP volunteer.  Jennifer is pictured here doing relief work in the Lone Star State this week with a KW Cares team member and son…