Wallow Fire: Property owners facing insurance issues
Wallow Fire: Property owners facing insurance issues

While consuming hundreds of thousands of acres of forest lands and meadows, the Wallow Fire has destroyed more than 50 structures in its path, with more than 5,000 still in danger. Whether the owners of destroyed or damaged buildings will be able to rebuild and…
Activist Seeks Insurance Complaints
Activist Seeks Insurance Complaints
New Orleans area deserves better insurance options, prices as hurricane season begins, officials say
New Orleans area deserves better insurance options, prices as hurricane season begins, officials say

Clad in hard hats and sturdy shoes, about 20 insurance executives from around the country tromped through the new state-of-the art concrete flood defenses fortifying the New Orleans area to decide for themselves whether the region is safer — and more insurable — than it…
Fourmile Canyon rebuilding slowed by claims disputes
Fourmile Canyon rebuilding slowed by claims disputes

Nearly nine months since a wildfire ripped through Fourmile Canyon, frames for new homes are beginning to dot the once ash-covered foothills west of Boulder. But for many victims, the rebuilding process is moving excruciatingly slowly, as they continue to grapple with insurance companies over…
Tornadoes: Extreme Weather Revs Up Insurance Costs
Tornadoes: Extreme Weather Revs Up Insurance Costs

In the wake of more than 245 tornadoes that slammed into parts of North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas and other southern states last weekend, leaving 45 people dead and leveling hundreds of homes, insurance companies have been flooded with thousands of claims, which ultimately could mean…
Got Insurance? Enough? You Sure?
Got Insurance? Enough? You Sure?

Many U.S. homeowners haven’t insured their homes against earthquakes and other disasters, but the devastating losses in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan may cause people to give their insurance policies another look. As well they should. Earthquakes have occurred in…
San Bruno victims get tax breaks on donations
San Bruno victims get tax breaks on donations

San Bruno victims get tax breaks on donationsSurvivors of the San Bruno gas line explosion won’t have to pay state taxes on donations received, state leaders decided this week.Gov. Jerry Brown late Wednesday signed a bill from Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, previously approved by…
Allstate faces whistle-blower suit
Allstate faces whistle-blower suit

Another whistle-blower lawsuit alleges fraudulent handling of federal flood claims after Hurricane Katrina.The case, filed against Allstate, has just been unsealed in Louisiana’s Eastern District. (H/T to slabbed) Policyholder attorney Johnny Denenea filed the lawsuit back in May 2007. He amended it in November 2009,…
Determining the Right Coverage
Determining the Right Coverage

Patrick Rodgers, the Philadelphia homeowner with the “foreclosure” case against Wells Fargo Home Mortgage that made him a national celebrity, declared victory last week. To settle his claim under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, he says, Wells Fargo WFC) agreed to reverse thousands of…
Property Insurance Issues are Primary Focus of 12th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference
Property Insurance Issues are Primary Focus of 12th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference
ConsumerWatch: Is Water Pipeline Insurance Worth It?
ConsumerWatch: Is Water Pipeline Insurance Worth It?

LOS ALTOS CBS 5) — Vivian Barry never thought much about the water pipes under her Los Altos home, until she started getting official-looking letters from a company called Home Emergency Insurance Solutions. They were trying to sell her insurance for the underground water pipes…
Guest Speaker Shares Insurance Buying Tips with RB Community Council
Guest Speaker Shares Insurance Buying Tips with RB Community Council

The topic of insurance may prompt some people to nod off. However, in a community familiar with the ugly side of Mother Nature, the discussion couldn’t be more welcome. The Rancho Bernardo Community Council hosted guest speaker Kaye Coates of United Policyholders on Thursday at…
Majority of Calif. Insurers Agree to More-Responsive Claims Handling Practices
Majority of Calif. Insurers Agree to More-Responsive Claims Handling Practices

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said a group of insurers, that represent 72.1 percent of the homeowners’ multi-peril insurance market, have agreed to comply with voluntary reforms to the claims handling process — the effect of which means consumers will have more-responsive claims handling practices.…
Whistleblower suit filed against Allstate Insurance unsealed in federal court
Whistleblower suit filed against Allstate Insurance unsealed in federal court
Commissioner Poizner Warns Santa Barbara Homeowners To Prepare For Wildfires
Commissioner Poizner Warns Santa Barbara Homeowners To Prepare For Wildfires
Do you have enough homeowner’s insurance?
Do you have enough homeowner’s insurance?

As a public service to residents, the Financial Planning Association of San Diego is answering financial questions for readers of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Today’s question is answered by Lynn Buchholz, CFP, president of Buchholz Financial Planning who teaches the “Fundamentals of Insurance” class in…
Help during the rebuilding process
Help during the rebuilding process

Grass is beginning to grow on the vacant sites where homes once stood four months after the fatal San Bruno explosion and fire, leading residents to consider restarting their lives but some may have questions about the details of construction. The Sept. 9 blast completely…
Water-line insurance could be money down the drain
Water-line insurance could be money down the drain

One company offers policies covering the pipes that bring water to homes for $4.95 a month, but the exclusions are so broad that homeowners could be stuck with the bill for just about all repairs. Thousands of California homeowners recently received official-looking letters from a…