Top 10 states for homeowners’ insurance protections
Top 10 states for homeowners’ insurance protections

Agents are well-aware of how state insurance regulations can affect themselves and the insurance industry as a whole. It’s also important to also know how they affect policyholders, especially homeowners. According to a report by the Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility at Rutgers Law…
Rutgers Law School Project Addresses ‘Use It And Lose It’ in Homeowners Insurance
Rutgers Law School Project Addresses ‘Use It And Lose It’ in Homeowners Insurance

The Essential Protections for Policyholders Project is a two-year project that focuses much of its research on consumers that file ordinary claims, examining what they are surprised or disappointed by and how some of the best states are protecting insurance consumers, Feinman said in a…
Online DIY options to bolster your personal finances
Online DIY options to bolster your personal finances

USA TODAY – Once the optimistic glow surrounding New Year’s financial resolutions wears off — hello, February! — it’s time to roll up your sleeves before losing momentum altogether. Whether you aim to save money or get stuff organized, many apps and websites are available…
Calif. Regulation Revival Boosts Home Coverage Confidence
Calif. Regulation Revival Boosts Home Coverage Confidence

The California Supreme Court’s ruling Monday 2017) reviving the state insurance commissioner’s challenged regulation aimed at producing more accurate insurer estimates of home replacement costs provides greater certainty for homeowners on property coverage and should reduce litigation between policyholders and carriers, experts say. In a…
United Policyholders Praises California Supreme Court Decision That Will Help Underinsured Wildfire Victims
United Policyholders Praises California Supreme Court Decision That Will Help Underinsured Wildfire Victims

Insurance Companies now held to a higher standard for setting homeowners policy limits; Court finds Insurance Commissioner has authority to regulate replacement cost estimates SAN FRANCISCO, CA – January 23, 2017 – United Policyholders (UP), a nonprofit insurance consumer organization, today praised a California Supreme…
Court backs rules to protect fire victims from being underinsured
Court backs rules to protect fire victims from being underinsured

California’s insurance commissioner has the authority to adopt rules that protect homeowners whose policies fall far short of the amounts needed to rebuild or replace homes destroyed by wildfires or other disasters, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. Insurance companies usually give homeowners estimates of…
Justices Back Calif. Insurance Commissioner in Feud With Industry
Justices Back Calif. Insurance Commissioner in Feud With Industry

The California Supreme Court dealt property insurers a blow on Monday, reversing lower court rulings that had limited the state insurance commissioner’s authority and blocked a rule the industry had slammed as overly prescriptive and burdensome. The lawsuit by two state industry trade associations challenged…
Prepared, not scared
Prepared, not scared

No, we’re not talking about doomsday predictions… We’re talking about the simple things you can do to create your own financial safety net to prepare for extreme weather and what that weather can do to the roof over your head or your source of income.…
Viking Pump Tops Biggest Insurance Decisions Of 2016
Viking Pump Tops Biggest Insurance Decisions Of 2016

New York’s highest court sent shockwaves through the insurance industry this year when it ruled that Viking Pump and Warren Pumps could hold policies in a single year liable for their entire loss from scores of asbestos claims while other courts issued key guidance on…
Florida Supreme Court rejects shift in insurance claims law
Florida Supreme Court rejects shift in insurance claims law

The Florida Supreme Court has overturned a lower-court ruling that would have made it harder for policyholders to collect on insurance policies when there is more than one cause for their losses. At issue in Sebo v. American Home Assurance Co. was competing doctrines for…
4 Homeowner’s Insurance Pitfalls
4 Homeowner’s Insurance Pitfalls

A home is perhaps the single largest investment of a person’s life. When someone takes out a mortgage, they are also required to take out a homeowners’ insurance policy that is acceptable to their lender. If they let the policy lapse for any reason, while…
5 Hidden Costs of Relocation
5 Hidden Costs of Relocation

If you’ve got your eye on a new city where you can buy a bigger house with an affordable mortgage payment, don’t be too quick to sign those closing documents. If you don’t do a little research first, you may get ambushed by unexpected costs…
Texas insurer drops push to let homeowners forgo right to sue
Texas insurer drops push to let homeowners forgo right to sue

The Texas Farm Bureau said it would offer lower premiums to customers who agreed to arbitration clauses, but consumer rights advocates rebelled. The Texas Farm Bureau has dropped a proposal that would have allowed its homeowner insurance policyholders to pre-emptively sign away their right to…
Wise UP: The Savvy Consumers Guide To Buying Insurance
Wise UP: The Savvy Consumers Guide To Buying Insurance

Wise UP: The Savvy Consumers Guide to Buying Insurance, a United Policyholders’ publication This compact guide will give you the inside scoop on what really matters when buying or renewing insurance for your car, home and assets. It’s short, easy to read and gives you…
25 years later: Oakland hills ripe for another firestorm
25 years later: Oakland hills ripe for another firestorm

Twenty-five years after a horrific firestorm killed 25 people and wiped out nearly 3,500 homes in the Oakland hills, the conditions are ripe once again for a similar — if not worse — disaster. The 1991 inferno led to improved policies and equipment for fire…
What might be lurking inside your next homeowner’s policy
What might be lurking inside your next homeowner’s policy

Hurricane Matthew wreaked a lot of damage in a rather short time, but property insurers have long memories — and clever lawyers. So keep an eye on the changes that will almost certainly be part of your next homeowner’s policy. If hurricane history is any…
Black Forest Fire victim advises Beulah Hill Fire victims
Black Forest Fire victim advises Beulah Hill Fire victims

Sherri Bertrand shares experience of losing home. A previous wildfire victim in El Paso County is offering advice to victims of a recent fire in Pueblo County. Sherri Bertrand of Black Forest said she was out of town the first week of the Beulah Hill…
As fire danger grows, some homeowners are seeing coverage dropped
As fire danger grows, some homeowners are seeing coverage dropped

As California’s five-year drought continues, and with fire danger an ongoing threat to many homeowners, it comes as no surprise that insurance companies are feeling increasingly antsy about the risk of policyholders’ property going up in flames. But that doesn’t mitigate the kick in the…