The Wildfire List: 13 Home Improvement Steps to Harden Your Home
The Wildfire List: 13 Home Improvement Steps to Harden Your Home

After a year of work, our WRAP working group issued a list of 13 home improvement steps that we believe should be the official standards for a wildfire prepared home. Here are the 13 recommendations from an array of experts in residential wildfire risk reduction.…
Virtual Roadmap to Recovery
Virtual Roadmap to Recovery

The shelter in place orders that required so many of us to get comfortable (maybe a little too comfortable) on Zoom enabled us to fine-tune our virtual service delivery and give insured loss victims uninterrupted access to the answers and information they need. Virtually, we…
Maienschein Recognizes Valerie Brown as the 77th Assembly District’s “Woman of the Year”
Maienschein Recognizes Valerie Brown as the 77th Assembly District’s “Woman of the Year”

RANCHO BERNARDO – Assemblymember Brian Maienschein proudly honored Valerie Brown as the 77th Assembly District’s 2021 Woman of the Year on Monday. A nearly twenty-year resident of Rancho Bernardo, Brown has served San Diego County as a volunteer with many community organizations and nonprofit organizations.…
Winter 2021 Newsletter
Winter 2021 Newsletter

2021 Highlights: While the pandemichad a profound impact on so much of our world, natural disasters did not stop, and the need for our disaster recovery services remains greater than ever. Since March 2020, our Roadmap to Recovery® Program has supported households impacted by more…
Don’t be “Lapse-adaisical” 
Don’t be “Lapse-adaisical” 

Early in the digital age, insurers lobbied hard to be allowed to switch to paperless (digital) notices and billing. UP pushed back to protect consumers from inadvertently letting their insurance lapse due to missing a late payment or cancellation notice email that got stuck in a spam…
Spooky Language in Your Policy?
Spooky Language in Your Policy?

Getting a notice from a home insurer that they’re dropping you is scary, and UP works hard to help people avoid and deal with that situation. Read our latest tips on shopping for affordable home insurance when your options are limited. Even scarier is hearing…
Thwarting insurers’ campaign to duck interruption compensation obligations to businesses
Thwarting insurers’ campaign to duck interruption compensation obligations to businesses

Fill in the blank and you’ll understand the public relations campaign the insurance industry uses over and over to maintain record profits by shirking obligations to their premium-paying customers and pass the buck to  taxpayers: “If you make us pay ______ claims we’ll go bankrupt.” …
UP shares our story for the 30th Anniversary of the Oakland / Berkeley Firestorm
UP shares our story for the 30th Anniversary of the Oakland / Berkeley Firestorm

United Policyholders was founded in 1991. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Oakland Berkeley Firestorm, UP’s Executive Director Amy Bach shared her story co-founding the nonprofit for the North Hills Phoenix Association Community Comeback: Then and Now video series. This video series delved into…
Thank you for getting Up to Good
Thank you for getting Up to Good

On Friday, October 1st, wildfire survivors, public officials and generous businesses and individuals gathered outdoors at the elegant and historic Buena Vista Winery to raise funds for the our Roadmap to Recovery, Preparedness and Advocacy programs. With the jazz sounds of a Sonoma State student…
UP to Good 10/1/21
UP to Good 10/1/21

Join us for a coast-to-coast virtual party and benefit for United Policyholders ~ 10/1/21
Wildfire Evacuation Tips
Wildfire Evacuation Tips

If you are told to evacuate immediately, do so. If you think you may have to evacuate, we suggest the following ASAP: 1) Document your home and “stuff.” If you do not have a home inventory, create one before you evacuate.  Take pictures or a video of each…
Keeping Score to Avoid Paying More
Keeping Score to Avoid Paying More

Your credit, insurance or risk score may make you “feel like a number”, but that may be more than a feeling.  A low credit score will cause some insurers to offer you inferior coverage at a higher price. Because credit scores are often wrong and…
Restoring the Insurance Safetynet Coalition (RISC), A National Initiative
Restoring the Insurance Safetynet Coalition (RISC), A National Initiative

The Restoring the Insurance Safety Net Coalition (RISC) is a national initiative launched by United Policyholders in 2020.  The purpose of this initiative is to reverse the trend of insurance policy re-writes that are shrinking coverage for damage to homes. These re-writes are dangerously eroding…
Bach Talk – Oregon enacts pro-policyholder wildfire claim reforms
Bach Talk – Oregon enacts pro-policyholder wildfire claim reforms

We’re proud to report that UP recently helped enact H.B. 3272, a new Oregon law that will improve the flow of insurance funds for replacing wildfire-destroyed homes and property. UP has long advocated that on total loss claims where the homeowner did nothing to cause…
Cracking the Code
Cracking the Code

From time to time, state and local building codes get updated to meet current safety and energy efficiency standards. If you own an existing home, you don’t need to worry about paying for upgrades to comply with those new codes unless you’re making major repairs…
Hail, Hail Spring is Here
Hail, Hail Spring is Here

With vaccinations, more daylight and warming weather, things are looking UP. In keeping with our mission of helping people be resilient, here’s an important reminder: It’s hail season and climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of hail events. Now is a great time to check…
Catch UP on Insurance Bad Faith with Bill Shernoff
Catch UP on Insurance Bad Faith with Bill Shernoff

California attorney Bill Shernoff is often described as the “father” of insurance bad faith law.  Amy Bach sits down with insurance expert Bill Shernoff of the law firm Shernoff, Bidart, Echeverria to talk about the status of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing…
Covid-versary…Is there cake?
Covid-versary…Is there cake?

COVID-19 has challenged Americans over the past year in ways that are reminiscent of war times past. There has been much stress and suffering. Sunnier skies lie ahead, but the one year anniversary is far from the end of the recovery work that needs to…