UP alerts CA legislators to proceed with caution on insurers’ wish list
UP alerts CA legislators to proceed with caution on insurers’ wish list

California consumers have long enjoyed the benefits of property insurance premium savings thanks to the voter-enacted Proposition 103 rate regulation regime, and insurers have long decried that regime. United Policyholders generally focuses on helping consumers get treated fairly by insurers, avoid and solve coverage gaps,…
Is Your Car Insurance Due for a Tune Up?
Is Your Car Insurance Due for a Tune Up?

Why pay for comprehensive coverage on your car? To save money, many people drop both comprehensive and collision coverage as their cars age. However, ask anyone whose car has been damaged or totaled in severe weather…If your auto policy includes comprehensive coverage, insurance kicks in.…
Winter storm recovery and insurance: Baby, it’s cold…
Winter storm recovery and insurance: Baby, it’s cold…

Collecting insurance funds to pay for damage from heavy rains and localized flooding can be tricky. Insurers have been excluding floods in standard home policies since the 1960s, but the cost of repairing damage from water intrusion due to wind-driven rain, fallen trees, flying debris,…
Catch UP on Water and Mold Damage with Kris Griffith
Catch UP on Water and Mold Damage with Kris Griffith

In this Catch UP segment, restoration and remediation contractor Kristofer Griffith of Anderson Group International shares insights on water and mold damage repairs and insurance.    
Businesses and Residents Hope for Post-Storm Relief
Businesses and Residents Hope for Post-Storm Relief

Costs continue to add up even with assistance from FEMA and flood insurance When Watsonville resident Amy Thomas reached out to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for help, she had already paid thousands of dollars to repair damages caused by a spate of recent…
Video: Why few California homeowners have flood insurance
Video: Why few California homeowners have flood insurance

Something doesn’t compute. Some 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow has fallen in California since Christmas. Yet, only about 2% of properties are covered against flooding, according to the Associated Press. Thats means only 230,000 homes and other buildings have flood insurance policies, which…
FEMA can help California communities recover under the Stafford Act
FEMA can help California communities recover under the Stafford Act

When disaster hits, FEMA can help communities recover under the Stafford Act (Disasterassistance.gov). If a Disaster Declaration is issued, it can be either a Emergency Declaration (to supplement state, local, and tribal government efforts to provide debris removal and emergency protective measures or to lessen/avert…
Ain’t no Sunshine When Policyholders’ Leverage is Gone
Ain’t no Sunshine When Policyholders’ Leverage is Gone

It looks like the Florida legislature is about to pass a set of radical amendments that will deprive property owners in the Sunshine State of the power to enforce the laws that give them the right to be treated fairly by insurance companies…and with no…
Who can home and business owners impacted by Hurricane Ian trust?
Who can home and business owners impacted by Hurricane Ian trust?

The amount of destruction, dislocation and loss of life caused by Hurricane Ian is still being calculated, but it’s horrendous, record-breaking and very sad.  Wind damage is bad enough, but when combined with water, repairs are challenging and drying out is essential.  Qualified and reputable…
Guest Blog: Florida Joins the Reinsurance Business
Guest Blog: Florida Joins the Reinsurance Business

As Florida residents, we learn to expect rain on our parade. But Florida policyholders are enduring rising insurance premiums and a drought in available insurance while lawmakers deliver mixed results. Why is this happening? REINSURANCE An insurance rating company, Demotech Inc., recently reviewed Florida’s legislative…
Guest Blog: Mobile Inspections for Property Claims
Guest Blog: Mobile Inspections for Property Claims

When most people file a property claim with their insurer, their insurance company will typically send out an insurance company employee (staff adjuster or claims representative) or a 3rd party insurance company representative (independent adjuster, or other representative), to perform an initial damage inspection. While…
A Fairer California Fair Plan
A Fairer California Fair Plan

State and Federal public officials have protected homeowners by creating insurers of last resort that people can turn to when they’re unable to find a company willing to insure their property. Well known examples are Florida and Louisiana Citizens Insurance Corporations, the National Flood Insurance…
BACH TALK: Whoomp! (there it is)
BACH TALK: Whoomp! (there it is)

In a recent blog, a Texas lawyer revealed an industry secret that is common knowledge to policyholder advocates and claimants but rarely publicly revealed or admitted by insurers:  By dragging out claims and failing to timely pay benefits owed, insurers can pressure policyholders to accept…
Breaking through indecision…
Breaking through indecision…

When you’re under stress and need to make major decisions, it can be paralyzing. After Don and Lee Lehrman lost their home to a wildfire, they used a “forced-choice decision matrix” to decide how to replace it. You make a list of your wants, then…
Bars and restaurants lose COVID insurance decision at Wisconsin Supreme Court
Bars and restaurants lose COVID insurance decision at Wisconsin Supreme Court

Bars and restaurants that counted on business insurance to help cover major losses from 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns are out of luck, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has found. To the layperson, the forced closures due to the pandemic would seem to meet the definition of a…
Misunderstood California law could protect your home’s fire insurance. How does it work?
Misunderstood California law could protect your home’s fire insurance. How does it work?

Your insurance company may be required to maintain your fire coverage if you live in a high-risk area in California — but the law that protects your home can be misinterpreted, as was the case for a Shasta Valley resident after she received a premature…
Waiting On Wheels? Call Kurtis Investigates How Supply Chain Issues Are Impacting Car Repairs
Waiting On Wheels? Call Kurtis Investigates How Supply Chain Issues Are Impacting Car Repairs

ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — After waiting five months to get a new gas tank, a Roseville viewer called Kurtis to investigate cars that aren’t getting fixed because of supply chain issues. Vicki Robinson was out to dinner in Roseville last November when a thief drilled a…
Mind the Gap
Mind the Gap

This is your friendly reminder that earthquake damage is NOT covered by your home or renters insurance policy unless you’ve paid extra for that protection. UP keeps tabs on earthquake insurance options and we recently moderated a National “Mind the Gap” Earthquake Insurance Forum in…