UPwardly Mobile Insurability
UPwardly Mobile Insurability

“Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like a mobile home. But if you want to protect it, you need to have the right insurance.” Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com.  We saw just how true this is at an emergency shelter for San Mateo, California residents who’d been…
“Sharing Economy” UPdate
“Sharing Economy” UPdate

As they work to establish oversight of new transportation network companies, and set fair rules for licensure, insurance and competition with the taxi industry, regulators are classifying Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing businesses as the “Sharing Economy.” United Policyholders has been engaged in these oversight…
“Use it and lose it” is a very serious threat to the integrity of our insurance system
“Use it and lose it” is a very serious threat to the integrity of our insurance system

This recent “Share Your Story” email to UP from a Wyoming consumer captures how the “use it and lose it” phenomenon is one of the most serious threats to the integrity of the insurance system today. “We had a fire two years ago. It started…
Helping New Jersey residents get fair insurance settlements for Sandy damage
Helping New Jersey residents get fair insurance settlements for Sandy damage

Our ongoing work helping New Jersey homeowners get fair insurance settlements for Sandy damage includes: Distributing sample letters and tips for appealing a claim denial and getting a supplemental claim approved for payment and guiding homeowners and the local aid workers engaged in the long term recovery…
Bach Talk – The “Purely Cosmetic Damage” exclusion’s gonna be ugly
Bach Talk – The “Purely Cosmetic Damage” exclusion’s gonna be ugly

Thanks to a consumer participation program offered by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, I get up close and personal with the nation’s top insurance regulators three times a year.  I’m in my seventh year as an official representative of consumers at the NAIC, and…
Bach Talk – Appropriately regulating Uber and Lyft
Bach Talk – Appropriately regulating Uber and Lyft

Residents of cities throughout the US now have the option to “Uber” or “Lyft” their way to a destination instead of taking a traditional taxicab.  These innovative, tech-sector start-up businesses are labeled “Transportation Network Companies”, (“TNCs”).  Initially, TNCs avoided having to comply with many of…
Bach Talk – Biased expert reports plague policyholders
Bach Talk – Biased expert reports plague policyholders

United States Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown issued a very important decision in a Superstorm Sandy case in November, 2014 that addresses a chronic problem for the policyholders UP serves:  A practice by some insurers of rejecting damage claims based on engineering reports that have…
Bach Talk – The Powerful Voice of Experience
Bach Talk – The Powerful Voice of Experience

A backbone of our Roadmap to Recovery program are the volunteers and staff members who got involved with UP to make constructive use of the knowledge they themselves gained while navigating the recovery process after a catastrophic loss.  Our Survivor’s Speak publication series, workshop speakers…
Bach Talk – Helping policyholders adapt to climate change
Bach Talk – Helping policyholders adapt to climate change

“Public dollars also need to go to the equally important, though less glamorous projects and services that will help us prepare for the coming heavy weather.  That includes things like hiring more firefighters and improving storm barriers.  And it means coming up with new, nonprofit…
Bringing logic and fairness back to California injury victims
Bringing logic and fairness back to California injury victims

Bach Talk:  Let’s not forget that it used to be true in California that if you were injured by someone, you could make a claim directly with that someone’s insurance company.  If their insurance company behaved badly, you could hold them accountable in court.  You…
Bach Talk – Regulators should review policies and get more resources
Bach Talk – Regulators should review policies and get more resources

A recent California legal case shines light on a fact that will surprise many, but not me:  California’s Insurance Commissioner, considered by many to be the most diligent consumer advocate among the 50 state’s regulators – does not as a matter of course, review, approve…
Bach Talk – Healthy insurance decision-making
Bach Talk – Healthy insurance decision-making

Shopping for health insurance? Open enrollment for 2015 plans across the nation starts November 15th, 2014 and ends in February, 2015.  The penalty for not protecting yourself and family by buying health insurance kicks in in 2015. Common questions: https://www.healthcare.gov/apply-and-enroll/ Picking by quality: Consumer satisfaction with health…
Flood insurance program extends Proof of Loss deadline for Sandy claims
Flood insurance program extends Proof of Loss deadline for Sandy claims

On October 1st, 2013, the National Flood Insurance Program extended the deadline for filing Superstorm Sandy proofs of loss for another 6 months past the current October 28th, 2013 deadline. United Policyholders commends the program for giving this much needed breathing room to property owners.…
Bach Talk Summer 2012
Bach Talk Summer 2012

Computers don’t build houses… contractors do. Computers don’t provide medical treatment… doctors and nurses do. So while insurers are infatuated with using claim valuation software tools to increase profits by minimizing payouts… regulators and judges need to limit the use of these tools. Insurance company…
Advocacy in Alabama
Advocacy in Alabama

Property owners in coastal areas in the southeastern United States and as far north as Massachusetts continue to struggle to find home insurance they can afford through a company they can trust. UP recently addressed this issue before Alabama Governor Bentley’s Affordable Homeowners Insurance Commission.…
A watered down NAIC climate change survey; but CA Dept. stands firm on original format
A watered down NAIC climate change survey; but CA Dept. stands firm on original format

For the past four years, UP has been working on insurance issues at the national level by serving as an appointed consumer representative at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).  NAIC meetings are the forum through which regulators in the 50 states coordinate their…