Guest Blog: Florida Joins the Reinsurance Business
Guest Blog: Florida Joins the Reinsurance Business

As Florida residents, we learn to expect rain on our parade. But Florida policyholders are enduring rising insurance premiums and a drought in available insurance while lawmakers deliver mixed results. Why is this happening? REINSURANCE An insurance rating company, Demotech Inc., recently reviewed Florida’s legislative…
Guest Blog: Mobile Inspections for Property Claims
Guest Blog: Mobile Inspections for Property Claims

When most people file a property claim with their insurer, their insurance company will typically send out an insurance company employee (staff adjuster or claims representative) or a 3rd party insurance company representative (independent adjuster, or other representative), to perform an initial damage inspection. While…
Guest Blog: Fire Resistant Building Materials for New Home Construction
Guest Blog: Fire Resistant Building Materials for New Home Construction

With the climate crisis in full effect, it appears that wildfires are on the rise. Especially in states like California, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Montana, and others, wildfires are a huge issue. Every year there are multiple dangerous outbreaks of fire that spread across countries threatening…
Guest Blog: First Steps for Recovering
Guest Blog: First Steps for Recovering

Written by Bob Hunnes, Originally published as a Letter to the Editor in the Daily Camera This letter is intended to help anyone who was directly impacted by the Marshall Fire disaster. If this is not pertinent to you, please pass it on to someone…
Guest Blog: Fire resistant structures from the ground up, a technology making inroads in disaster affected areas
Guest Blog: Fire resistant structures from the ground up, a technology making inroads in disaster affected areas

by Charles Brooks, Executive Director, Rebuild Paradise Greetings from Paradise, CA! I must first preface this post, by saying we do not specifically endorse any product, technology, home builder, or any service provider.  It is your responsibility to thoroughly research, vet and understand the products…
Guest Blog: An Adjuster’s View on Derecho Claims
Guest Blog: An Adjuster’s View on Derecho Claims

by: Caeden Tinklenberg, Swift Public Adjusters Two months after the August 10 derecho that swept Iowa, many homeowners are realizing they may be left out in the cold by their insurance company. The damage left by the derecho is unfathomable to me as an Iowa…
Guest Blog: The Supreme Court of FL Rules in Favor of Policyholder on Application of Florida’s Bad Faith Law
Guest Blog: The Supreme Court of FL Rules in Favor of Policyholder on Application of Florida’s Bad Faith Law

By Molly Chafe Brockmeyer, Esq., Boyle & Leonard, P.A., Ft. Meyers, FL. UP Volunteer On September 20, 2018, in a case where UP weighed in as amicus curiae, the Supreme Court of Florida issued its opinion, affirming Florida’s long held bad faith precedent.  The state’s high…
Guest Blog: Policyholder Victories Underscore Value of Crime Insurance for Cyber Fraud
Guest Blog: Policyholder Victories Underscore Value of Crime Insurance for Cyber Fraud

If you suffer a theft at the hands of a cybercriminal, promptly check your insurance protection — particularly your crime insurance. Two major federal court cases decided this summer reaffirm the protection many policyholders already have available to them for cyber scams. With cybercrime rampant,…
Guest Blog: Room for improvement in Michigan, Professor Jay Feinman
Guest Blog: Room for improvement in Michigan, Professor Jay Feinman

United Policyholders (UP) and the Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility are partners in an Essential Protections Project (EPP).  We compiled an extensive database of state law and made recommendations for reforms. The goal of EPP is to give lawmakers templates for legislation that will protect…
Guest Blog: Annuity Basics
Guest Blog: Annuity Basics

There are good reasons why you might want or need to buy an annuity: You might want the tax-deferred growth they can offer. They can also provide a guaranteed income in retirement. In some cases, they can be used as an estate-planning tool. Over the…
Guest Blog: Federal judge voids matching exclusion – Good news for homeowners denied coverage under exclusion
Guest Blog: Federal judge voids matching exclusion – Good news for homeowners denied coverage under exclusion

A Minnesota federal judge recently issued an order that has big potential implications for Minnesota homeowners who had part of their claim denied by a “matching” exclusion in their insurance policy.  American Family customers in particular should be aware of this order, especially those covered…
Guest Blog: What is the scope of the “professional services” exclusion in D&O liability policies issued to private companies?
Guest Blog: What is the scope of the “professional services” exclusion in D&O liability policies issued to private companies?

The Hotchalk case highlights a coverage defense that some D&O insurers have aggressively asserted and courts across the country have struggled to address. What is the scope of the “professional services” exclusion in D&O liability policies issued to private companies? Such policies issued to private…
Guest Blog: United Policyholders Amicus Project Scores Victory For Texas Homeowners and Businesses
Guest Blog: United Policyholders Amicus Project Scores Victory For Texas Homeowners and Businesses

The availability of insurance coverage for loss or damage can hinge on the smallest details.  Did your insurer record that it received your notice letter?  Did your insurer’s investigator take note of those small but critical facts you pointed out during the investigation?  Did you…
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Claimant in ERISA Reimbursement Dispute (Guest blog)
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Claimant in ERISA Reimbursement Dispute (Guest blog)

In Montanile v. Bd. of Trs. of the Nat’l Elevator Indus. Health Ben. Plan, No. 14-723, 2016 U.S. LEXIS 843 (2016), the U.C. Supreme Court dealt a decisive victory to employees when it ruled 8-1 that an employee benefit plan may not garnish a plan participant’s general assets in…
Holding the line: The Standard Fire Policy remains a useful floor (Guest blog)
Holding the line: The Standard Fire Policy remains a useful floor (Guest blog)

Most homeowner’s property insurance policies contain “intentional loss” and “concealment and fraud” provisions that exclude or bar coverage if any person who qualifies as an “insured” (typically defined to include the named insured and residents of the named insured’s household who are his or her…
Guest Blog: Flood Claim Guide – A Look Under the Hood
Guest Blog: Flood Claim Guide – A Look Under the Hood

Your flood adjuster arrives with a few forms for you to fill out.  Typically, you will be asked some questions about when the water entered the building, how long it stayed, and that sort of thing.  He/She will also ask some questions to update your…
Guest Blog: Unpaid Life Insurance Benefits Investigation Passes 1 billion dollars (yes, billion!)
Guest Blog: Unpaid Life Insurance Benefits Investigation Passes 1 billion dollars (yes, billion!)

The New York Department of Financial Services has issued a final report on their investigation into unpaid benefits for consumers at life insurance companies.  The report showed that the investigation recovered more than $1.1 billion in unpaid life insurance benefits for consumers nationwide and that…