With 15,000 Santa Cruz County homeowners being ‘non-renewed’ for insurance, anxieties grow as plans are hatched in Sacramento
With 15,000 Santa Cruz County homeowners being ‘non-renewed’ for insurance, anxieties grow as plans are hatched in Sacramento

When Scotts Valley Vice Mayor Derek Timm asked a crowd of about 100 how many had been dropped by their insurance or otherwise not renewed, nearly every audience member raised a hand. The crowd had assembled Tuesday evening for a forum at the Scotts Valley…
What to do if you’ve been ‘non-renewed’ by your insurance company
What to do if you’ve been ‘non-renewed’ by your insurance company

Homeowners are trying to figure out a way forward in this new non-renewal landscape. The law requires that homeowners receive a non-renewal notice at least 75 days before the policy expires. Some agents have alerted long-standing clients, even if their parent companies have not provided…
Bach Talk: Skyfall(out) – Aerial photos impacting property insurance
Bach Talk: Skyfall(out) – Aerial photos impacting property insurance

One of the tools property insurance companies are using to screen potential and existing customers are aerial images captured by satellites and drones of  homes, surroundings and roof conditions.  When the images show damage or hazards, they can trigger a non-renewal or rejected application. This…
Coverage cuts, digital claims and other changes impacting the P&C market
Coverage cuts, digital claims and other changes impacting the P&C market

The proliferation of risks impacting the property and casualty insurance market means that insurers have to be constantly aware of the latest developments that are reshaping their business. On the West Coast, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) announced in March a sustainable insurance strategy…
GUEST BLOG: Replacement Cost Estimates: A Crucial Aspect of Home Insurance
GUEST BLOG: Replacement Cost Estimates: A Crucial Aspect of Home Insurance

This guest blog was written by Matt Everson, co-owner of BW Builder and a United Policyholders’ professional volunteer.  Has your application at the California Fair Plan stalled? Are you finding it hard to figure out why? It might be because Fair Plan requires a Replacement…
Fed up Scotts Valley residents look for answers after insurance companies drop coverage
Fed up Scotts Valley residents look for answers after insurance companies drop coverage

Fed up residents in the Santa Cruz mountains packed a community center and overflow room on Tuesday night to voice concerns about being left without homeowners insurance. According to an independent insurance agent at the meeting, none of the major insurance companies are issuing new…
As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose
As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose

At first glance, Dave Langston’s predicament seems similar to headaches facing homeowners in coastal states vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes: As disasters have become more frequent and severe, his insurance company has been losing money. Then, it canceled his coverage and left the state. But Langston…
California home insurance: Map reveals State Farm’s latest price hikes by ZIP code
California home insurance: Map reveals State Farm’s latest price hikes by ZIP code

State Farm just raised home insurance rates an average of 20% across California, but some homeowners will pay far more. This map shows where. This spring, State Farm General Insurance Company raised homeowners insurance rates an average of 20% in California — but the size…
HOT TOPIC: HOME INSURANCE
HOT TOPIC: HOME INSURANCE

Insurance Commissioner Rep to Visit May 14 A representative of California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will be in Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley Tuesday, May 14, to discuss the vanishing insurance market for residents in what’s known as the the wildland-urban interface. Major insurers paying…
Authorities offer tips on homeowners insurance, wildfire protection
Authorities offer tips on homeowners insurance, wildfire protection

1 p.m. Tuesday, May 14 / Online and at 701 Ocean St., Room 525, Santa Cruz California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is expected to speak to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors at their May 14 meeting about how homeowners can get insurance and…
California Insurance Commissioner’s Office to make stop in Santa Cruz County
California Insurance Commissioner’s Office to make stop in Santa Cruz County

Amid an escalating crisis in homeowners insurance both locally and statewide, a representative from California’s Department of Insurance — the nation’s largest state consumer protection agency — will come to Santa Cruz County to discuss recent market shifts and answer questions from county leaders. The…
2 insurance firms agree to collaborate to write California home policies
2 insurance firms agree to collaborate to write California home policies

Tokio Marine America and Mercury Insurance announced Thursday the former’s home policies would transition to the Los Angeles-based firm. As firms continue to pull out of the California market, a Los Angeles insurance company is teaming up with a Texas-based insurer to write homeowners insurance…
Complaints dominate insurance forum
Complaints dominate insurance forum

Legislative remedy seems unlikely A forum organized by San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller last week to address California’s insurance crisis provided a lot of information about increasing costs and decreasing availability of home insurance, as well as an outlet for mounting consumer frustration. The…
No special session on home insurance is ‘truly disappointing,’ state Rep. Jervonte Edmonds says
No special session on home insurance is ‘truly disappointing,’ state Rep. Jervonte Edmonds says

‘Right now, it doesn’t look like Tallahassee is focused on the insurance crisis,’ Edmonds says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear earlier this week that lawmakers will not be tackling any more issues in the near future. “I have no plans to call a…
State Farm denies renter’s claim for roof leak damages
State Farm denies renter’s claim for roof leak damages

A University City man wants moving and displacement expenses during repair work on his home. CBS 8 is Working for You to get answers after a University City man says State Farm denied his claim on a renter’s insurance policy. The man has to move…
How much will the insurance premium tax cut save policyholders?
How much will the insurance premium tax cut save policyholders?

‘I think that the legislature has done a lot of tinkering and I’m not sure we’re seeing great benefits come out of that,’ Amy Bach says The savings should start in October for homeowners insurance policyholders, as a one year cut in the tax on…
Small insurers are growing in Louisiana. Will more go insolvent after the next big storm?
Small insurers are growing in Louisiana. Will more go insolvent after the next big storm?

The dozen insurers that failed after two busy hurricane seasons left hundreds of thousands of Louisiana homeowners scrambling for new insurance policies at a time when premiums were soaring. A review of new state market share data and financial filings shows the void left by…
First Steps After a Tornado
First Steps After a Tornado

United Policyholders is a nonprofit organization that is a voice and an information resource for insurance consumers in all 50 states.  UP has helped guide disaster survivors on the road to recovery since 1991. Use this information with The Disaster Recovery Handbook and Household Inventory…