Wildfire Relief Donations Distributed
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…
Roofing Regulation Causes Last Minute Controversy
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…
Insurers say EQ Insurance an affordable option in Ohio to cover fracking damage
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…
One homeowner’s travails: Even after more than six years, family can’t move back into “new” house
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…
Here’s the scoop: Bat poop leads to legal fight over home insurance claim
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…
10 signs that your insurance coverage is a turkey
10 signs that your insurance coverage is a turkey

Every Thanksgiving, Americans carve up and savor millions of pounds of turkey. When it comes to insurance, however, a turkey – coverage that doesn’t fit your needs – may leave a bad taste in your mouth. Here are 10 indicators that your current coverage can’t…
Insurers rethink homeowners policies in the wake of major disasters
Insurers rethink homeowners policies in the wake of major disasters

Phillip Berger insured his Maryland home through Allstate for 23 years. But a home disaster forced him to take his business elsewhere, he said. Berger, 58, is not new to property damage or insurer conflict. Years ago, a tornado swept over his home and damaged…
A Terrific Texas Tool
A Terrific Texas Tool

The quality of your insurance policy really does matter, but figuring out which company sells better protection is tricky. Ads are often misleading, and most insurance companies don’t show you a copy of their policy until after you’ve bought it. Then…good luck reading the fine…
How much would it cost to replace your home? We test two online estimator services
How much would it cost to replace your home? We test two online estimator services

When considering how much home insurance to buy, the main issue isn’t how much your house is worth on the real estate market. More important is how much it will cost to rebuild the dwelling if it is destroyed. Your home’s reconstruction cost may be…
Consumer advocates raise the roof over Allstate’s new home insurance rule
Consumer advocates raise the roof over Allstate’s new home insurance rule

Some homeowners soon may see their insurance-related costs go through the roof. Eventually, Allstate customers with roofs more than 10 years old won’t have the full cost of new roofs covered under their home insurance policies. Allstate’s House & Home program will pay the “actual…
New York Probes Home Insurers
New York Probes Home Insurers

New York’s Department of Financial Services has been probing banks and insurance companies for allegedly obtaining excessive fees on homeowners’ policies that they force borrowers to pay for when their insurance lapses, said people familiar with the matter.Superintendent Benjamin M. Lawsky in the fall of…
After the disaster: Uninsured homeowners have little to fall back on
After the disaster: Uninsured homeowners have little to fall back on

The images of the tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfires of 2011 remain seared in our memories. You might live in one of the areas battered by weather tragedies. Or you might have frantically checked on friends and relatives who were affected by natural disasters.…
New rules help CA homeowners with insurance
New rules help CA homeowners with insurance

SACRAMENTO, Calif. KGO) — If a disaster strikes, is your home fully insured? New rules are now in effect to make sure you’re covered. 7 On Your Side’s Michael Finney explains. You pay for insurance for years, hoping to never need it. Then, there’s a…
A Home-Insurance Trap?
A Home-Insurance Trap?

Home-insurance policies are pretty much the same, and carriers compete on the basis of price and service—right? Believe those two myths and you might wind up paying dearly. Homeowner policies have important differences that can affect whether claims are paid, according to a study scheduled…
Understanding endorsements and riders for home insurance policies
Understanding endorsements and riders for home insurance policies

In the insurance world, endorsements have nothing to do with celebrities promoting products, and riders have nothing to do with cowboys. “Endorsement” and “rider” are two interchangeable — and often misunderstood — terms referring to additions to a home insurance policy that alter the policy’s…
Workshops help Boulder County homeowners find out if they’re underinsured
Workshops help Boulder County homeowners find out if they’re underinsured

Once the last embers of the Fourmile Fire were extinguished, the owners of the 169 burned homes were left with another challenge — wrangling with their insurance companies. The results of their efforts may serve as a cautionary tale to other homeowners in Boulder County…
Major Improvements Coming to Crestmoor Neighborhood
Major Improvements Coming to Crestmoor Neighborhood

The city is set to begin the next improvements to the Crestmoor neighborhood as part of the effort to rebuild the area damaged by the Sept. 9, 2010, PG&E pipeline explosion. Some of the rebuilding work has already taken place to bring the neighborhood some…
Sharp Disagreement At NAIC Session On Readability Of Consumer Information
Sharp Disagreement At NAIC Session On Readability Of Consumer Information

Industry representatives sharply disagreed with two law professors who argued personal lines policies should be posted online where they would be readily available to consumers who wanted to look at them prior to signing onto them. Spokesmen for the American Insurance Association and the National…