Your assets – Your flood risk?
Your assets – Your flood risk?

After insurers began excluding coverage for flood damage in the 1960’s, most people’s homes became unprotected for that risk. The federal government and the lending and insurance industries created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and a requirement that homes with mortgages in high flood…
Gender can no longer be used to calculate auto insurance rates in California and other states
Gender can no longer be used to calculate auto insurance rates in California and other states

As rates go higher, insurers have other ways to calculate risk, including the monitoring of driving behavior. California has become the seventh state to ban auto insurers from using gender as a factor for calculating the rates customers pay. But as regulators push the industry…
Regulating financial practices is critical to a healthy economy
Regulating financial practices is critical to a healthy economy

Some leaders in the financial services community work hard to weaken consumer protection regulations and the agencies that enforce them.  But it clear from recent history (2008) that the American economy works much better when financial consumer protections are in place and being enforced. UP…
A coverage win for energy sector policyholders
A coverage win for energy sector policyholders

In a significant win for all policyholders in the energy sector, the Supreme Court of Texas reversed a lower appellate court ruling which allowed a consortium of Lloyd’s underwriters to limit their indemnity obligations to pay for defense expenses incurred by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and…
Keeping home insurance available and affordable in our era of climate change and tech tools
Keeping home insurance available and affordable in our era of climate change and tech tools

Generally speaking, home insurance companies are free to pick which homes they want to insure and which they don’t.  There has been an explosion in tech tools that insurance companies can use to assess risks and decide who and what they are willing to insure…
Debris Removal Decisions for 2018 Camp and Woolsey Wildfire Survivors
Debris Removal Decisions for 2018 Camp and Woolsey Wildfire Survivors

Clearing wildfire debris is the responsibility of each individual property owner.  Help is available to get the work done safely, completely, and legally.  For your and your neighbor’s protection, wildfire debris must be removed from your property and disposed of properly. Items such as retaining…
BACH TALK: Crumbling foundation owners in CT await insurance rulings
BACH TALK: Crumbling foundation owners in CT await insurance rulings

So many home foundations are crumbling in the state of Connecticut that the legislature passed a special law sealing their records, in part to protect their ongoing efforts to secure insurance coverage to help cover repairs and prevent collapse, damage and injuries.  The widespread problem…
December Roadmap to Recovery Workshops
December Roadmap to Recovery Workshops

Through our Roadmap to Recovery program, United Policyholders is presenting an Insurance and Recovery Orientation workshop to help recent wildfire survivors understand insurance lingo, insurance rights and figure out next steps. Woolsey Fire Insurance and Recovery Orientation Saturday, December 15th 10am-12pm Malibu Public Library 23519 West Civic…
Hurry up and wait? What to do when your insurer goes “insolvent.”
Hurry up and wait? What to do when your insurer goes “insolvent.”

Disasters strain insurer’s claim-paying capacity in situations where they have alot of customers in the impacted region that all make claims at the same time. The vast majority of insurers have enough money on hand to pay their claims after disasters, thanks to regulations that…
Wildfires and Insurance: Recovery of Impacted Communities Recap
Wildfires and Insurance: Recovery of Impacted Communities Recap

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018 the California Senate Insurance Committee and Assembly Insurance Committee held an informational hearing, “Wildfires and Insurance: Recovery of Impacted Communities” at Napa Valley College. The hearing focused on rebuilding after the 2017 wildfires that destroyed over 6,000 homes in the…
In praise of a policyholder hero – Cal Thur
In praise of a policyholder hero – Cal Thur

Chip Merlin, a policyholder hero himself, alerted me that we’ve recently lost a champion – Cal Thur.  I was introduced to Cal by the late, great Eugene Anderson many moons ago, and he was an important United Policyholders volunteer and supporter. Cal was a highly…
Roadmap to Recovery focuses on Paying the Bills
Roadmap to Recovery focuses on Paying the Bills

On Wednesday, November 7th at 6pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 547 Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa, United Policyholders hosted our 17th public Roadmap to Recovery workshop for people impacted by the devastating 2017 wildfires.  Our panel of experts featured local officials and experts in…
What’s behind your insurer’s brand curtain?
What’s behind your insurer’s brand curtain?

Brand names matter to consumers, and that includes insurance company brands.  Consumers seek out company names they recognize and associate with reliability, especially when insuring a home, which for most people is their biggest asset. As a brand name, Lloyd’s of London is generally very…
UP on panel at joint Senate/Assembly Hearing on Post-Wildfire Insurance Issues
UP on panel at joint Senate/Assembly Hearing on Post-Wildfire Insurance Issues

On Tuesday, October 30th, 2018 UP Executive Director Amy Bach will be on the speaker panel at a joint public hearing at Napa Valley College convened by the California Senate and Insurance Committees to examine root causes and potential solutions for solving the post-wildfire underinsurance…
Climate change and tech innovation: An imperative for the insurance industry to adapt responsibly
Climate change and tech innovation: An imperative for the insurance industry to adapt responsibly

There is no shortage of opinions and predictions about how climate change and the tech explosion will reshape the insurance landscape as we know it.  Here are just a few of the predictions we’re hearing: “Insurance deserts will proliferate” (regions where people and businesses can’t…
Trick or treat…what’s in yours?
Trick or treat…what’s in yours?

Make sure your policy has more treats than tricks! The only thing scarier than how devastating the last year has been with wildfires, lava, flooding and hurricanes is language we’ve been finding buried in some of the insurance policies that impacted people have been showing…
What’s UP? Fall 2018
What’s UP? Fall 2018

BACH TALK A message from Co-Founder and Executive Director, Amy Bach Scaling UP: Extreme weather, wildfires and torrential rains are impacting a growing number of homes and businesses across our country. Collecting insurance funds for repairs and rebuilding can be very challenging. Demand for our services…
How claims SHOULD be handled
How claims SHOULD be handled

Although this is an insurance company advertisement, and the policyholder is clearly reading from a script presumably written by the insurance company, it highlights how claims should be handled, and how they shouldn’t.  We at UP fully recognize that catastrophe claims put strains on insurance company resources, and…