Sandy Victims Should Winterize Their Homes
Sandy Victims Should Winterize Their Homes

Coverage Can Exclude Frozen & Burst Pipes, If Precautions Aren’t Taken With winter’s freezing temperatures rapidly approaching, insurance experts are advising victims of Hurricane Sandy to act now to winterize their homes to avoid further damage that won’t be covered by their homeowners policies. Many…
Sandy’s Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles
Sandy’s Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles

An insurance industry that has taken its lumps from hurricanes has come to treat them differently. Today, homeowners insurance often comes with special and potentially steeper deductibles that kick in when claims are related to the punishing storms. Superstorm Sandy recently raised awareness about hurricane…
Wind could blow deductibles higher
Wind could blow deductibles higher

Newsday.com by: Joe Ryan Sandy may not have been a hurricane by the time it slammed into Long Island, but its winds were still powerful enough to trigger higher insurance deductibles that could cost homeowners thousands of dollars. As the tempest swirled toward New York,…
SANDY: Warning on Insurance; Thanks to Sandy, premiums could rise on LI
SANDY: Warning on Insurance; Thanks to Sandy, premiums could rise on LI

www.newsday.com By: Joe Ryan Long after the electricity returns and the gas lines end, last week’s massive storm is likely to take another swipe at Long Islanders by driving up the cost of homeowners insurance, experts say. Private insurance companies are expected to pay out…
Insurance Catch-22; Banks may need to co-endorse checks for repairs
Insurance Catch-22; Banks may need to co-endorse checks for repairs

www.newsday.com By: Joe Ryan For homeowners struggling to rebuild from Sandy, the bureaucratic maze may not end once the insurance settlement check arrives. Consider the plight of Diane Ortiz and George Tranos, whose Amityville home was gutted by a torrent of seawater. Two weeks later,…
Hurricane insurance deductibles: What? When?
Hurricane insurance deductibles: What? When?

An insurance industry that has taken its lumps from hurricanes has come to treat them differently. Today, homeowners insurance often comes with special and potentially steeper deductibles that kick in when claims are related to the punishing storms. Superstorm Sandy recently raised awareness about hurricane…
Speaking UP Pays
Speaking UP Pays

In “Sandy Victims Cry Foul Over Insurance” a recent piece that included Executive Director Amy Bach, CNN reporter Deborah Feyerick captured the bad and good news. The bad news is the fear and frustration Sandy victims are experiencing when told the damage to their home…
Sandy’s victims find flood insurance coverage wanting
Sandy’s victims find flood insurance coverage wanting

As their sodden couches and carpets rot at the curb, Long Islanders are coming to a grim realization: Flood insurance only covers a fraction of what it will cost to replace furniture ravaged by the storm. While most flood policies do cover dining sets, televisions,…
Sandy victims cry foul over insurance
Sandy victims cry foul over insurance

Superstorm Sandy victims say they’ve been denied insurance. Should they be getting payouts? CNN’s Deb Feyerick reports.
Before catastrophe strikes
Before catastrophe strikes

People whose homes were damaged by Superstorm Sandy will soon find out whether they have the right kind of insurance and enough to rebuild. In other recent disasters, one-half to two-thirds of homeowners discovered after the fact that they were underinsured, often by hundreds of…
Tips for making insurance claims after Sandy
Tips for making insurance claims after Sandy

One inevitable consequence of the megastorm named Sandy will linger for a long while after the devastation is cleaned up and the victims buried: a large number of insurance claims from people hoping to rebuild their homes and their lives. Sandy’s historic size and scope…
A 12-step plan for your Sandy insurance claim
A 12-step plan for your Sandy insurance claim

Some consumers will be shocked to learn that superstorm Sandy devastated not only cities, coastal areas and transit systems — but their pocketbooks, too. “A lot of people are going to have a rude wake-up call after this storm and realize that flood damage isn’t…
Governor Cuomo Announces Homeowners Will Not Have To Pay Hurricane Deductibles
Governor Cuomo Announces Homeowners Will Not Have To Pay Hurricane Deductibles

Department of Financial Services Working Closely with Insurers to Speed Response to Homeowners Who Experienced Losses New Yorkers Can Call DFS Disaster Hotline for Help Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York homeowners will not have to pay potentially large hurricane deductibles on…
The overlooked benefits of renters insurance
The overlooked benefits of renters insurance

The storm damage is still be tallied up from Sandy, but lot of New York residents will have to cover their losses themselves. That’s because most households in New York city rent — nearly 70 percent — and renter’s insurance isn’t a very popular product.…
Coverage drying up? UP water alert
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…
Can mortgage lenders hold your insurance money hostage?
Can mortgage lenders hold your insurance money hostage?

If your home has been seriously damaged or destroyed, your insurance company will release a check made out to both you and your mortgage lender to pay for the necessary repairs. “Lenders have a substantial investment in the property, sometimes more than the homeowner, especially…
Consumer Reports Rates Home Insurers
Consumer Reports Rates Home Insurers

Homeowners buy insurance to protect against disaster. But when disaster strikes, your insurer might not live up to your expectations, especially if you have a large claim, according to our survey of 11,250 subscribers who filed claims in the past few years. The greater the…
One homeowner’s travails: Even after more than six years, family can’t move back into “new” house
One homeowner’s travails: Even after more than six years, family can’t move back into “new” house

By Bob Butler, Fellow, G.W. Williams Center for Independent Journalism, and Jessica Williams, The Lens staff writer |Each day, after wrapping up work as a streetcar operator, Kisa Holmes drives by to check on the house she bought in the Upper 9th Ward just weeks…