2016 Advocacy and Action Wrap UP
2016 Advocacy and Action Wrap UP

Post-election predictions suggest our consumer protection work will get even harder and safeguards Congress put in place after the 2008 meltdown to prevent financial abuse may be in jeopardy. But UP scored some very significant gains this year through our Advocacy and Action program and…
Advocacy and Action Update
Advocacy and Action Update

In addition to educating the 400,000 people that used our website last year and the people that call us on the phone or use the buying and claim guidance we distribute through partners like the American Red Cross and United Methodist Committee on Relief, we…
2 Wins in 2 Weeks!
2 Wins in 2 Weeks!

Every day, UP staff and volunteers fight to level the playing field for insurance consumers. UP added 35 policyholder attorneys to our Amicus Project volunteer corps over the last 12 months, bringing our total count to 275! Thanks to these heroes, we are celebrating two…
Spring UPward: A Roadmap to Recovery™ UPdate
Spring UPward: A Roadmap to Recovery™ UPdate

Bach Talk As we work to stay the course in two communities ravaged by wildfires and strive to raise the necessary funds to cover the costs, we are connecting with flood victims and our partners in the Lone Star State.  We are beefing up our Flood…
Onward and UPward – Advocacy and Action Alert
Onward and UPward – Advocacy and Action Alert

This year marks UP’s 25th year and we are off to a productive start. We’ve already racked up two policyholder legal wins and weighed in on legislation that would impact insurance consumers in Arizona, Washington D.C., Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, California, and Hawaii. We’ve hosted…
Things are looking UP – Advocacy and Action UPdate
Things are looking UP – Advocacy and Action UPdate

UP aids in landmark ruling for Pennsylvania policyholders The main purpose of liability insurance is to defend, protect and cover you if you get the scary and expensive news that you’ve been named in a lawsuit. The vast majority of lawsuits get resolved through settlements, not…
Building you UP – Roadmap to Preparedness UPdate
Building you UP – Roadmap to Preparedness UPdate

THRIVE-ing after a flood After a winter storm caused severe flooding south of San Francisco, UP answered evacuees’ insurance questions at a temporary shelter and help center in San Mateo, California. Several months later at an Enhancing Community Resilience Conference hosted by the THRIVE alliance…
Looking UP – Advocacy and Action
Looking UP – Advocacy and Action

The NFIP on the hot seat UP is using the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain important data for our advocacy work on behalf of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders impacted by Superstorm Sandy. We began digging for information on NFIP claim…
Three Tidings to Cheer – Amicus Project UPdate
Three Tidings to Cheer – Amicus Project UPdate

Glad tidings…three consumer wins for the Amicus Project: Allstate Property and Casualty Co. v. Jared Wolfe The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled 5-1 in favor of the position we took as a friend of the court, concluding that statutory bad faith damages may be assigned…
Amicus Project UPdate
Amicus Project UPdate

UP and Running – Our Amicus Project is stronger than ever We have filed 25 briefs since our last newsletter was published and 22 in 2014 alone; state and federal courts across the country are hearing the policyholder voice loud and clear. In California, Indiana,…
Happy Summer!
Happy Summer!

We’re over halfway through 2014 and the UP team is busy as ever… guiding people recovering from floods and fires; helping people make good insurance decisions in preparation for wildfire, tornado, and hurricane seasons; and speaking UP for consumers in courts, the media and legislatures…
3 ways to get prepared this summer
3 ways to get prepared this summer

As summer heats up, spend a few minutes on a home insurance check-up. As many Colorado disaster survivors will tell you, the trauma of a loss is ten times worse if your coverage is out of date or has major gaps. Check your “Coverage A” dwelling…
What’s UP? January 2014
What’s UP? January 2014

We have dived in to another year of working hard and being useful throughout the nation.  We’ve got six disaster recovery and two preparedness workshops coming up in February, amicus briefs, reports and new buyers’ guides in production.  Our newWhat’s UP with Renter’s Insurance is now available in…
What’s UP? May 2013
What’s UP? May 2013

Bach Talk We were excited to begin this newsletter with three major announcements: A recent legislative victory for policyholders in Colorado and two significant grants: One supporting Roadmap to Recovery services to Sandy victims in New Jersey, and another from FEMA to help the Bay…
Life Insurers on the Hot Seat
Life Insurers on the Hot Seat

Retained Asset Accounts (RAAs) were a relatively obscure feature of certain life insurance policies until a bloomberg News series thrust them into the limelight of controversy in the summer of 2010. Since that time UP has been engaged on several fronts in improving conditions related to these accounts for consumers.…
Summer 2018 Newsletter
Summer 2018 Newsletter

Hard work lies ahead in Colorado Our Roadmap to Recovery services will be in high demand again in Colorado when this summer’s horrendous wildfires are contained. Just as we did in Boulder in 2010, we’ll be deploying staff and volunteers and partnering with local government…
What’s UP? ENews is Back!
What’s UP? ENews is Back!

Roadmap to Recovery Thanks to a grant from the Austin Community Foundation, UP is currently providing wildfire insurance recovery support services in Bastrop, Texas (a half hour southeast of Austin). The homes of thousands of families were destroyed or damaged in a fast-moving wildfire in…
Roadmap to Recovery™ Program Update: June 2009
Roadmap to Recovery™ Program Update: June 2009

Santa Barbara Wildfire Recovery UP is in Santa Barbara assisting homeowners impacted by the Jesusita fire, an unseasonably early wildfire that hit in May. Staffer Rebecca Huston manned a table at the Local Assistance Center the week after the fire. Volunteer and Roadmap Advisor Ken…