April 7, 2015 It’s no surprise that an acronym soup designed by committee doesn’t taste good Some of you may remember the kid’s song: “I knew an old lady who swallowed a fly…” The Sandy scandal that the National Flood Insurance Program is digging out of reminds me of that song. An engineer hired by an IA. A WYO hired the…
March 30, 2015 Home Warranties: Thanks and no thanks If you’re buying a home and a realtor or the seller gifts you a home warranty plan, you can say, “thank you very much.” If it’s one of the better plans, it can save you hassles and money on minor home repairs during the life…
March 26, 2015 FEMA will allow 144,000 Sandy victims to reopen insurance claims after fraud charges Updated March 25, 2015 10:04 PMBy JOE RYAN joe.ryan@newsday.com The National Flood Insurance Program plans to begin sending 144,000 letters in the coming weeks to homeowners from North Carolina to Maine to begin the complex job of reviewing claims for superstorm Sandy victims who suspect…
March 23, 2015 Price Optimization Allegations Challenged, NAIC Investigating Practice By Don Jergler | December 18, 2014Reaction to industry-wide price optimization allegations from a consumer group known to call out insurers has been somewhat critical yet guarded – however it appears regulators may already be starting to look into the practice.Consumer Federation of America this…
March 19, 2015 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…
March 18, 2015 Colorado disasters lead to home insurance spikes, cancellations Colorado is now one of the worst places in the United States for natural disasters. That’s if your measure is insurance claims filed by homeowners. The state is now second only to tornado-struck Oklahoma for catastrophic claims, according to new data from the Insurance Research…
March 2, 2015 The Storm after the Storm The following is a script from “The Storm after the Storm” which aired on March 1, 2015. Sharyn Alfonsi is the correspondent. Oriana Zill de Granados and Michael Rey, producers.When Hurricane Sandy made its way towards the East Coast in the fall of 2012, residents…
February 27, 2015 TOTALly worth the effort If your car is damaged in an accident to the point where repairs would cost more than the car is worth – it’s a “total loss.” Your, or the other driver’s insurance company, is supposed to offer you the actual cash value of your car.…
February 25, 2015 Good news for insured losses: 2014 was a relatively quiet year Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, a global risk and reinsurance specialist, today released its annual Global Catastrophe Review, which reports that insured losses in 2014 were at the lowest level seen since 2009. According to the report, significant insured losses in 2014 totaled approximately $33…
February 24, 2015 The policyholder’s view on the Restatement of Liability Insurance With spring just around the corner, things at the American Law Institute (“ALI”) are heating up. The ALI is a Philadelphia-based group of law professors and lawyers that draft consensus treatises called “Restatements” on various areas of law. These treatises are oft-cited and taught in law schools…
February 23, 2015 Long-Term Care Insurance: Costs Are Up but Vary Widely By ANN CARRNSRates for long-term care insurance, which can help pay for care in your own house or in a nursing home, rose this year an average of nearly 9 percent, a new industry report finds.Still, rates vary greatly depending on the insurer and the…
February 19, 2015 Lawyers, FEMA in talks to settle Sandy insurance appeals By JOE RYAN joe.ryan@newsday.com After months of deadlock, lawyers for hundreds of homeowners suing over flood insurance claims from superstorm Sandy said they made significant progress in talks Tuesday with federal officials to design a broad framework to settle the cases.The attorneys spent more than…
February 19, 2015 Insurance Commissioner notifies insurers to cease illegal pricing SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today issued a notice to all property and casualty insurers doing business in California advising them that so-called “price optimization” in ratemaking is unfairly discriminatory and violates the law.Price optimization is used by insurers to set rates based…
February 17, 2015 Hurricane Sandy Victims Say Damage Reports Were Altered When Frank Johnston’s insurance carrier rejected his claim that flooding from Hurricane Sandy had severely damaged the foundation of his Fire Island home, the company cited an engineering report that seemed to establish his problems were “unrelated” to the storm, and were caused instead by…
February 12, 2015 Did you not appreciate how an insurer depreciated your stuff? You’re not alone… If you file an insurance claim for property that’s been destroyed, your insurer will value it in one of two ways: Replacement Cost Value (RCV) or Actual Cash Value (ACV). ACV is also known as “depreciated value” because it is based on the age and…
February 6, 2015 How the other half lives The people United Policyholders serves, is in close touch with and advocates for are the ones that fuel the insurance system by buying the products. Their/our perspectives are what we know. Checking in on the other half of the system – the people who run…
February 2, 2015 Insurers Superbowl 49 ad BLITZ rankles In case you missed Lindsay Lohan careening onto the curb just inches away from two dazed school boys to promote Allstate’s Esurance brand, or Nationwide’s more serious but controversial point about avoidable accidents – once again, insurance ads were front and center during yesterday’s Superbowl.…
January 26, 2015 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…
