Homeowner insurance dilemma may turn into a full blown crisis
Homeowner insurance dilemma may turn into a full blown crisis

SANTA ROSA, CA – Consumer advocates say a homeowners insurance crunch may soon become a homeowners insurance crisis as customers face huge rate increases or out-and-out cancellations. Experts say the major reasons homeowner policies get giant rate hikes or out-and-out cancellations is that their homes…
Dropped by your home insurer? What to do…
Dropped by your home insurer? What to do…

In some parts of the country, home insurance is not as available and affordable as in the past, so UP is working hard to help consumers shop for asset protection. Avoid wasting energy being angry or scared when your insurer “breaks up” with you… Don’t…
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara Holds Malibu Town Hall
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara Holds Malibu Town Hall

Even six months after the Woolsey Fire, some fire victims are still having difficulties collecting what they’re owed by their insurers; that includes residents with partial damage to their homes as well as those experiencing total losses. To help smooth the way, California’s top insurance…
Minding the Protection Gap
Minding the Protection Gap

Ever since my own home burned down in the 2003 Cedar Fire, I have worked to understand why so many people think they have a fully insured home, only to later learn they do not. This is a particularly troubling and stubborn problem because it…
UP presentation to state regulators on Disasters and Insurance – Marketplace Gaps and Fillers
UP presentation to state regulators on Disasters and Insurance – Marketplace Gaps and Fillers

In this Power Point, UP Co-Founder Amy Bach and Professor Peter Kochenburger, (U.Conn Law) presented points to state regulators on the topic of insurance gaps that surface after disasters, and products to fill those gaps that may or should be available in the marketplace. November,…
Explaining to Homeowners Reconstruction Costs Versus Other Valuations
Explaining to Homeowners Reconstruction Costs Versus Other Valuations

The source of this article is a business that provides services to the insurance industry. According to a recent CoreLogic Natural Hazard Press Release, the 2018 Camp and Woolsey Wildfires in California caused devastating losses between $15 and $19 billon. Because a home is most…
A dark cloud over the Sunshine State
A dark cloud over the Sunshine State

UP weighed in today with a letter to Florida state lawmakers to urge their no votes on three bills that will gut policyholder protections in that state if enacted as written.  House Bill 301, Senate Bill 714,  House Bill 751. Honorable Florida lawmakers: Our non-profit…
Hurry up and wait? What to do when your insurer goes “insolvent.”
Hurry up and wait? What to do when your insurer goes “insolvent.”

Disasters strain insurer’s claim-paying capacity in situations where they have alot of customers in the impacted region that all make claims at the same time. The vast majority of insurers have enough money on hand to pay their claims after disasters, thanks to regulations that…
North Bay fire victims should be aware of deadlines to sue their homeowner insurers
North Bay fire victims should be aware of deadlines to sue their homeowner insurers

As the first anniversary of the North Bay wildfires approaches, people who lost their homes in the natural disasters should take steps to ensure they do not lose the ability to sue their homeowner insurers if they think they have been treated unfairly, according to…
Footing The Bill For Climate Change: ‘By The End Of The Day, Someone Has To Pay’
Footing The Bill For Climate Change: ‘By The End Of The Day, Someone Has To Pay’

By all accounts, Florence was a massive, wet monster of a storm — and an expensive one, too. Its historic deluge swelled inland rivers and wrecked homes across the Carolinas, racking up costs that early estimates set as high as $22 billion. When the floodwaters…
No flood insurance? You can still get help
No flood insurance? You can still get help

More than a million people in North and South Carolina have suffered from the flood waters driven ashore by Hurricane Florence. Nearly 750,000 of them were forced to evacuate, while others were trapped by a deluge of more than 30 inches of rain. Even when…
Third Lava Lawsuit Filed Against Lloyd’s of London
Third Lava Lawsuit Filed Against Lloyd’s of London

Two homes are consumed by the massive flow and a third is threatened as the lava advances downslope. PC: Paradise Helicopters/ExtremeExposure/Bruce Omori Another lava lawsuit has been filed against Lloyd’s of London, according to Hawai‘i Attorney Jeffrey Foster, who is representing Susie Osborne, the founder…
Do you have enough homeowner insurance? Here’s how to find out
Do you have enough homeowner insurance? Here’s how to find out

Three of every five homes in America are underinsured by an average of 20 percent less than full value, according to analytics firm CoreLogic. Is yours one of them? Could you easily put your hands on $50,000 to help rebuild a house with a $250,000…
Thomas Fire and Debris Flow – Roadmap to Recovery Workshop June 26, 2018
Thomas Fire and Debris Flow – Roadmap to Recovery Workshop June 26, 2018

Our next Roadmap to Recovery workshop for Thomas Fire Survivors will be held on: Tuesday, June 26th from 5:30-7:30pm Montecito Union School Auditorium 385 San Ysidro Rd., Santa Barbara This workshop will cover navigating your insurance claim, asserting your rights, and sources of help. This workshop…
Hawaii Big Island UPdate
Hawaii Big Island UPdate

SPECIAL ALERT FOR PUNA RESIDENTS: Organizations to host insurance forum for residents affected by lava flows PUNA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the number of homes lost to lava since eruptions began climbs to 87, many lower Puna residents are uncertain about what — if anything — they’ll have to…
Homeowners insurance customers in Oklahoma still paying high rates
Homeowners insurance customers in Oklahoma still paying high rates

Residents of the state are still seeing costs that are among the highest in the United States. Property owners in Oklahoma are already paying some of the highest homeowners insurance rates in the country due to the state’s high risk of severe weather such as…
Oakland Hills homeowners finding it harder to get fire insurance
Oakland Hills homeowners finding it harder to get fire insurance

OAKLAND, Calif. KGO) — Homeowners in the Oakland Hills have joined those in the Wine Country in expressing fears about the increasing difficulties they’ve faced getting fire coverage. It’s part of 7 On Your Side’s continuing investigation into the non-renewal of home insurance policies. As…
Insurers should be on the hook for Montecito mudslide damage, commissioner says
Insurers should be on the hook for Montecito mudslide damage, commissioner says

Montecito residents who are hoping that insurance will cover damage to their homes from recent mudslides received a word of support from an important ally on Monday. California insurance commissioner Dave Jones issued a notice to insurers outlining his office’s position that they should be…