2017 Advocacy & Action UPdate
2017 Advocacy & Action UPdate

Insurance impacts every American in some way. Not a day goes by when UP doesn’t hear from a person, business, public official or community with an insurance problem. With 25 years of pro-consumer engagement in sales, claims and dispute resolution scenarios, we have a solid…
Ruling puts California insurers on notice that their policies are unlawful
Ruling puts California insurers on notice that their policies are unlawful

In an a recent order, Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl of the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that Travelers’ California home insurance policies contain an unlawful notice provision related to smoke damage. Travelers is one of a handful of insurance companies that have begun to include…
Texas Senate Bill 10 Would Adversely Affect All Insureds
Texas Senate Bill 10 Would Adversely Affect All Insureds

All Texas businesses should be concerned about the potential passage of Senate Bill 10 (SB 10). While several lawmakers tout SB 10 as tailored legislation to curb “hailstorm lawsuit abuse,” SB 10 is much broader and impacts all policyholders. Indeed, SB 10 fails to reference…
A Flood of (tightening the) Belt(way) Attention
A Flood of (tightening the) Belt(way) Attention

Reforming and/or re-authorizing the ​National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has moved front and center in our nation’s Capitol in the past month, and was mentioned prominently in the budget proposal recently issued by the White House. The NFIP is basically a privatized government program created by Congress through which insurance companies and vendors…
The “Catch UP” webinar series: Making appraisal work for your client
The “Catch UP” webinar series: Making appraisal work for your client

Catch UP on how to use the appraisal process to settle an insurance dispute from the comfort of your home or office.  Lawyers can earn continuing ed credit for registering for the webinar.  And best of all, your registration fee supports our non-profit’s important work…
Texas Businesses Line Up Against Lt. Governor’s High-Priority Insurance Bill
Texas Businesses Line Up Against Lt. Governor’s High-Priority Insurance Bill

Major business interests are lining up against one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s top priorities — a bill that would make it harder for Texans to force their insurance companies to pay up when calamity strikes. Patrick and his allies say the bill, Senate Bill…
Ability re: disability
Ability re: disability

If you’re fortunate to have disability insurance, but unfortunate to need to use it, there are a few key points to keep in mind when gathering proof of your eligibility for benefits, presenting it and completing insurance claim paperwork. The bottom line is, take a…
First Steps After a Flood
First Steps After a Flood

United Policyholders is a nonprofit organization that is a voice and an information resource for insurance consumers in all 50 states.  UP has helped guide disaster survivors on the road to recovery since 1991.  This information will walk you through the first few weeks.  Here…
Rainpocalypse
Rainpocalypse

If your property has been damaged due to a heavy rain and high winds, it can be tricky to collect insurance benefits to pay for repairs. Home and renters policies exclude some but not all types of water damage.  “Flood” damage (the policy should define…
The “Catch UP” webinar series: Surplus lines/non-admitted insurers
The “Catch UP” webinar series: Surplus lines/non-admitted insurers

Representing policyholders in litigation involving surplus lines/”non-admitted” insurance companies: “Surplus lines” (also known as “non-admitted”) insurers are a form of company set up in part to avoid the full spectrum of regulations, solvency and other oversight requirements that apply to “admitted” companies. Surplus lines companies often…
Texas Stamping Office: Upward Trend Continues for Surplus Lines
Texas Stamping Office: Upward Trend Continues for Surplus Lines

Overall, 2016 ended on a positive note for the U.S. excess and surplus lines insurance industry, according to the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX). Nationally, nearly $26 billion in surplus lines insurance premium was recorded for end-of-year 2016, which is a 3.27 percent…
California Surplus Lines Are Now A Bigger Chunk of the Commercial Market
California Surplus Lines Are Now A Bigger Chunk of the Commercial Market

The phrase “new normal” might be a cliché, but it was too hard for Ben McKay, executive director of the Surplus Lines Association of California, to avoid using when describing the state’s excess and surplus market in 2016 and going forward. Surplus lines has become…
Here to help
Here to help

The insurance premiums you pay as an individual or business entitle you to benefits and good claim service in the event of a loss. You should not have to hire professional help to get your claim paid fairly, and often you don’t. But when you…
United Policyholders Praises California Supreme Court Decision That Will Help Underinsured Wildfire Victims
United Policyholders Praises California Supreme Court Decision That Will Help Underinsured Wildfire Victims

Insurance Companies now held to a higher standard for setting homeowners policy limits; Court finds Insurance Commissioner has authority to regulate replacement cost estimates SAN FRANCISCO, CA – January 23, 2017 – United Policyholders (UP), a nonprofit insurance consumer organization, today praised a California Supreme…
Wildfire Risk Reduction and Insurability
Wildfire Risk Reduction and Insurability

In the age of big data and GPS mapping, insurers are increasingly using complicated and opaque models to set their rates. FireLine is one name brand model created and sold to insurers by Verisk/Insurance Services Office. FireLine looks at a number of criteria (slope, access,…
Prepared, not scared
Prepared, not scared

No, we’re not talking about doomsday predictions… We’re talking about the simple things you can do to create your own financial safety net to prepare for extreme weather and what that weather can do to the roof over your head or your source of income.…
Reforming Disability Claim Procedures Under ERISA
Reforming Disability Claim Procedures Under ERISA

On Dec. 19, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor published in the Federal Register sweeping reforms to the regulations it issues under Section 503 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, aimed at eliminating bias in the ERISA disability claims and review process. Despite ERISA’s…
Keeping “Affordable” in the ACA
Keeping “Affordable” in the ACA

Before Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as “PPACA”) and President Obama signed it into law, Americans with pre-existing medical conditions were struggling mightily to find and pay for essential health insurance.  The ACA solved that problem for a large number of…