Harvey’s Catastrophic Costs Mount; Many Lack Adequate Insurance
Harvey’s Catastrophic Costs Mount; Many Lack Adequate Insurance

Hurricane Harvey’s second act across southern Texas is turning into an economic catastrophe — with damages likely to stretch into tens of billions of dollars and an unusually large share of victims lacking adequate insurance, according to early estimates. Harvey’s cost could mount to $24…
Wells Fargo Borrower Got Unneeded Insurance, and Ruined Credit
Wells Fargo Borrower Got Unneeded Insurance, and Ruined Credit

Wells Fargo has promised to make amends to the customers it forced to buy car insurance that they didn’t need. Allan Dunlap, a former Wells Fargo borrower who spent months trying to get the bank to correct an insurance error that marred his credit report,…
Be Prepared to Push Insurance Companies for Fair Treatment After Hurricane Harvey, UP Advises
Be Prepared to Push Insurance Companies for Fair Treatment After Hurricane Harvey, UP Advises

United Policyholders Offers Texans Free Home Inventory App, Provides Guidance to Residents for Before and After the Storm As Gulf Coast communities brace for Hurricane Harvey, the national insurance consumer non-profit United Policyholders UP) has a special message for Texans: “Be prepared to push for…
Sen. Menendez, Rep. Pallone Visit Union Beach to Push Sweeping Flood Insurance Reforms to Fix Problems Exposed by Sandy
Sen. Menendez, Rep. Pallone Visit Union Beach to Push Sweeping Flood Insurance Reforms to Fix Problems Exposed by Sandy

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez D-N.J.), chair of the Sandy Task Force and a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee that oversees the National Flood Insurance Program NFIP), and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. N.J.-06), traveled today to Union Beach–a community on Raritan Bay devastated by…
NJ Flood Damage Victim Can’t Hold Its Insurance Company Liable For Failing To Disclose The Risk Of Flooding And Neglecting To Recommend Flood Insurance
NJ Flood Damage Victim Can’t Hold Its Insurance Company Liable For Failing To Disclose The Risk Of Flooding And Neglecting To Recommend Flood Insurance

The New Jersey Appellate Division on Monday ruled that an insurance broker sued by a tool manufacturer whose flood policy didn’t cover all of the Superstorm Sandy damage it incurred hadn’t been required to sell the client a policy with higher limits. The three-judge panel’s…
Insurer Off Hook For Flood Claim Despite Knowing Co.’s Risk
Insurer Off Hook For Flood Claim Despite Knowing Co.’s Risk

An electricity meter vendor that suffered flood damage at a New Jersey warehouse caused by Hurricane Irene can’t hold its insurance company or the broker liable for failing to disclose the risk of flooding and neglecting to recommend flood insurance, a New Jersey appellate court…
State Supreme Court affirms homeowner reimbursement protections supported by Commissioner Jones
State Supreme Court affirms homeowner reimbursement protections supported by Commissioner Jones

The State Supreme Court Wednesday ended a long legal battle between a Richmond homeowner and her homeowner insurance company when the court refused to consider the insurance industry’s petition to overturn a lower court’s precedent setting decision that insurers must pay to repair a home…
FEMA extends deadline for Superstorm Sandy flood insurance claims review
FEMA extends deadline for Superstorm Sandy flood insurance claims review

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has extended the deadline for policyholders to respond to its offers under the Superstorm Sandy flood insurance claims review process. Lack of responses Last month, FEMA sent out a letter notifying policyholders, many of whom had been offered money…
Wells Fargo Has Yet Another Scandal Brewing, This Time Over Car Loans
Wells Fargo Has Yet Another Scandal Brewing, This Time Over Car Loans

Wells Fargo is in the hot seat again. The jumbo bank, which is still recovering from a massive fake account scandal that broke less than a year ago, is now under fire for its auto loan practices. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has…
Delaware Governor Carney Signs Insurance Consumer Fairness Bill
Delaware Governor Carney Signs Insurance Consumer Fairness Bill

On Tuesday, August 1, 2017, Delaware Governor John Carney signed into law House Substitute 1 for House Bill 80 (HS 1 for HB 80), a consumer fairness bill that targets unfair discriminatory practices by automobile and homeowners insurance companies to determine premium costs. “Insurance rates…
Wells Fargo To Repay Borrowers $80M For Insurance Charges
Wells Fargo To Repay Borrowers $80M For Insurance Charges

Wells Fargo will reimburse $80 million to car loan borrowers who were wrongly charged by the bank for insurance, it said late Thursday. The 570,000 borrowers had car loans with Wells Fargo but, because “there was no evidence” that they had car insurance, the bank…
Minnesota Insurance Commissioner Acts to Protect Drivers from Unfair Auto Insurance Prices
Minnesota Insurance Commissioner Acts to Protect Drivers from Unfair Auto Insurance Prices

Insurance giant Farmers has been ordered to refund money, pay a penalty, and change its pricing practices in Minnesota by Insurance Commissioner Mike Rothman after the state’s Commerce Department found that the company charged higher auto insurance premiums to drivers who did not own their…
Louisiana Supreme Court gives ‘duty to defend’ new meaning for insurance lawyers
Louisiana Supreme Court gives ‘duty to defend’ new meaning for insurance lawyers

For decades, Louisiana law maintained that—under standard language found in most commercial general liability policies—insurers who had a duty to defend their policyholders must defend the entire lawsuit, including in long-latency cases. In other words, your defense attorney was on the case—at the insurance company’s…
If you’re on a spouse’s health plan, what happens if the worst should happen?
If you’re on a spouse’s health plan, what happens if the worst should happen?

My wife and I were chatting the other night about Republican efforts to reboot the U.S. healthcare system as a horror movie — stripping health coverage from more than 20 million Americans, boosting premiums for many and gutting Medicaid. She finally brought the conversation home…
New York Regulator Seeks Details From Life Insurers Using Algorithms to Issue Policies
New York Regulator Seeks Details From Life Insurers Using Algorithms to Issue Policies

New York’s top financial regulator is investigating life insurers’ use of big data, complicating the industry’s efforts to boost sales by forgoing medical examinations in favor of algorithms for sizing up risk. New York’s top financial regulator is investigating life insurers’ use of big data,…
Guest Blog: United Policyholders Amicus Project Scores Victory For Texas Homeowners and Businesses
Guest Blog: United Policyholders Amicus Project Scores Victory For Texas Homeowners and Businesses

The availability of insurance coverage for loss or damage can hinge on the smallest details.  Did your insurer record that it received your notice letter?  Did your insurer’s investigator take note of those small but critical facts you pointed out during the investigation?  Did you…
Insurance companies dropping homeowners in Nevada County
Insurance companies dropping homeowners in Nevada County

Ted Peach, a Nevada County resident who lives on Banner Mountain, said the rate for his home insurance policy recently went up from $1,200 to $3,800. “The house has cementboard siding, metal roof, ironwood deck and has very good vegetation clearance,” he said. “Our rates…
House Committee Adds 5 More Bills to Its Flood Insurance Reform Package
House Committee Adds 5 More Bills to Its Flood Insurance Reform Package

The House Financial Services Committee advanced five flood insurance proposals on Wednesday, adding to the two bills it passed last week. The House measures seek to reform and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is set to expire on September 30, for five…