October 29, 2012 Coverage drying up? UP water alert As a downpour drenched but did not deter our Giants this week and we watched the East Coast brace for Frankenstorm, it reminded me that it is time to remind our readers that there are now big differences in how property policies cover (and don’t…
October 1, 2012 Bach to moderate water damage panel at First Party Claims Conference UP Executive Director Amy Bach will be moderating a panel of experts on water damage claims during the First Party Claims Conference in Rhode Island in October. This unique conference brings together experts from both the policyholder and insurer side and is a great place…
September 29, 2012 San Bruno Emergency Preparedness Day On Saturday, September 29th, 2012 United Policyholders participated in the first annual San Bruno Emergency Preparedness Fair.
September 15, 2012 Two UP advisers score an important legal win for disability policyholders UP advisers and sponsors Daley, Debofsky and Bryant and Pillsbury and Levinson recently scored a victory for disability insurance policyholders in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of how an annual bonus gets factored in when calculating lost income.
September 13, 2012 Tiny words… big $ meaning Disability insurance alert Losing your job and income due to a disabling injury or illness is a scary prospect. 3 in 10 workers will become disabled for some period of time before they retire. Yet people often overlook buying the insurance that replaces lost income.…
August 22, 2012 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.…
August 22, 2012 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 and non-profit groups to educate and…
August 22, 2012 Amicus wins in CA and HI After reviewing a brief filed by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and an amicus brief filed by United Policyholders this spring, the California Court of Appeal flatly rejected a lawsuit filed by the Association of California Insurance Companies that tried to overturn regulations designed to reduce…
August 22, 2012 Disaster preparedness at the local and national level. Our Roadmap to Preparedness outreach team has been busy this year spreading our unique and important messages on insurance preparedness at the local level all the way up to the national level. So far in 2012, UP staff has shared our survey results on the…
August 22, 2012 From Recovery to Reform We’re thankful that many people who’ve used our Roadmap to Recovery services over the years have followed through on volunteering with UP. These superstars have gone above and beyond… pitching in on legislative reform efforts, flying out of state to present at a UP workshop…being…
August 22, 2012 Let go (please) lender We’re hearing a lot more often about lender banks being uncooperative and refusing to disburse the insurance funds that loss victims need in order to repair their damaged homes. UP published Texas tips on your insurance money and your mortgage to supplement our popular Getting…
August 21, 2012 (Bad night) Irene Tropical Storm/Hurricane Irene inundated homes and businesses throughout the Northeast and the insurance problems have been so severe that the New York State Senate recently held a public hearing to call for action. One Senator shared his constituents’ perspective; “Was it a hurricane or a…
August 21, 2012 UP featured at national FEMA webinar At FEMA’s invitation, UP Executive Director Amy Bach was recently the featured presenter at a national webinar for “Voluntary Agency Liaisons” (VALs) and Emergency Managers throughout the United States. Bach focused on insurance problems after Tropical Storm Irene and reviewed the resources UP offers through…
August 21, 2012 UP mediation research wins award After Hurricane Katrina a number of states rushed to set up insurance claim mediation programs. We offered suggestions to those that were interested in our input, then published a Policyholders Guide to Mediation to help consumers get better results. Policyholders who have used state-sponsored mediation…
August 21, 2012 Great grant news United Policyholders recently received renewed funding from the Austin Community Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation for the long term recovery support services we are providing through our Roadmap to Recovery program in Central Texas and in Northern California. We’re grateful to the donors…
August 21, 2012 Bach Talk Summer 2012 Computers don’t build houses… contractors do. Computers don’t provide medical treatment… doctors and nurses do. So while insurers are infatuated with using claim valuation software tools to increase profits by minimizing payouts… regulators and judges need to limit the use of these tools. Insurance company…
August 12, 2012 Thank you to our Bastrop Roadmap to Recovery speakers Thank you… To the volunteers who have donated their time and expertise as guest speakers at UP Roadmap to Recovery meetings and events in Bastrop, Texas. Tony Slagle, Office of the Public Insurance Council Les Little, Buck Keenan, LLP Andrew Slania, Doyle Raizner, LLP Clay…
August 8, 2012 Let go (please) lender… If you have a mortgage, the lender is almost always listed on your home insurance as an additional insured. So if your home is significantly damaged ($5,000 or more) and your insurer sends a check for the repairs, that check will usually be made out…
