September 11, 2012 When it comes to home insurance, read the fine print Andi O’Conor has twice lost a home to fire: The first time she was 12, the second time was two years ago. It was Labor Day. She was kayaking hundreds of miles away, when a friend told her about a wildfire near O’Conor’s home on…
September 10, 2012 Insured see climbing rates, as coverage declines Hurricanes, wildfires, hail storms: all the wild weather the past few years is taking a toll on homeowners’ insurance rates. Many premiums are up 10 percent or more this year. And you may be getting less for your money. Merle Scheiber filed his first-ever hail…
August 27, 2012 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…
August 8, 2012 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…
August 8, 2012 Let go (please) lender… If you have a mortgage, the lender is almost always listed on your home insurance as an additional insured. So if your home is significantly damaged ($5,000 or more) and your insurer sends a check for the repairs, that check will usually be made out…
July 26, 2012 Enough’ Insurance is Often Not Enough In the past few weeks, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history claimed two lives, burned nearly 30 square miles and totally destroyed more than 350 homes. Like almost all homeowners everywhere in the United States, nearly everyone who lost their house to this massive…
July 26, 2012 Larimer County Holds Free Workshop for Fire Survivors on Insurance, Rebuilding & Recovery Larimer County will hold a public update meeting for High Park and Woodland Heights Fire survivors on Thursday, August 2 beginning at 6:30p.m. in the Hearing Room, 1st floor, Larimer County Courthouse Offices Building, 200 West Oak Street, Fort Collins for information on how to…
July 18, 2012 Family: State Farm Forced Us Into Tent, Onto Food Stamps Members of a Boulder County family whose home was damaged by smoke during the Four Mile fire say they’re now living in a tent because their insurance company stopped paying for repairs and stopped paying their temporary rent. Linda Tarr and her husband David Doherty…
July 11, 2012 Insurance Rates: Will Mother Nature Raise Yours? The wildfires raging out West and the freakish storms that ravaged much of the east have property insurers scrambling to keep up with all the claims. The current blitz of wildfires in Colorado is already the most destructive in the state’s history, and the blazes…
July 11, 2012 More public meetings for fire survivors The recovery process for survivors of the High Park Fire, their homes and land continues. Several workshops are planned to assist in the process. A Colorado State Forest Workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, July 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Cache La Poudre Middle School, 3515…
July 6, 2012 Check Up on Your Home Insurance The national average premium for homeowners insurance will increase by 5% in 2012, according to forecasts by the Insurance Information Institute. That follows an increase of nearly 4% in 2011, and it will bring the average annual premium to an all-time high of $1,000. At…
July 6, 2012 Estes Park fire victims learn of help and insurance Estes Park town administrator Frank Lancaster told victims of the Woodland Heights fire that swept through the High Drive neighborhood June 23, turning 23 homes to soot and dust, that many organizations are available to help them. The burned-out residents attended an informational evening last…
May 23, 2012 Save big on homeowners insurance Reviewing your homeowners policy may not rank high on our annual home-maintenance checklist. Yet following the five steps below will save you big bucks now and a lot of grief own the road. After the recent slew of natural disasters, average annual premiums are expected…
May 23, 2012 Wildfire Relief Donations Distributed Today the Austin Community Foundation is awarding more than $830,000 in grant money from the Central Texas Wildfire Fund. The money was donated by people from across the country and raised through the “Fire Relief” concert held last October. Nine organizations are receiving between $2,000…
May 16, 2012 Roofing Regulation Causes Last Minute Controversy A bill designed to protect homeowners when hiring a roofing company is on its way to Governor Hickenlooper’s office, but critics are spearheading an effort to get the measure vetoed. Their concern with the bill is the way it could be interpreted. Colorado’s historic hail…
April 23, 2012 Insurers say EQ Insurance an affordable option in Ohio to cover fracking damage April 16, 2012 – Last year’s uptick in the state’s seismic activity may have some Ohioans rethinking about the overall risk for earthquakes and the need for earthquake (EQ) insurance coverage. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Geological Survey Ohio Seismic Network reports…
April 16, 2012 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…
April 11, 2012 Here’s the scoop: Bat poop leads to legal fight over home insurance claim Homeowners worried about problems that their insurance policies might not cover can add one more item to the list: bat scat. That’s right, bat poop. In a case so strange that many insurance experts say they’ve never heard of a similar one, the Wisconsin Supreme…
