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…
Consumer Watchdog collects millions, but does it lower your insurance rates?
Consumer Watchdog collects millions, but does it lower your insurance rates?

Nearly 30 years ago, consumer activist Harvey Rosenfield wrote and helped qualify Proposition 103, the November 1988 ballot measure that overhauled state regulation of home and auto insurance rates. The initiative, dubbed by supporters as the “Voter Revolt to Cut Insurance Rates,” also contained a…
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.…
Reforming Disability Claim Procedures Under ERISA
Reforming Disability Claim Procedures Under ERISA

On Dec. 19, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor published in the Federal Register sweeping reforms to the regulations it issues under Section 503 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, aimed at eliminating bias in the ERISA disability claims and review process. Despite ERISA’s…
Keeping “Affordable” in the ACA
Keeping “Affordable” in the ACA

Before Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as “PPACA”) and President Obama signed it into law, Americans with pre-existing medical conditions were struggling mightily to find and pay for essential health insurance.  The ACA solved that problem for a large number of…
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…
Speaking UP works
Speaking UP works

Our final tip of the month this year is simple: When it comes to insurance, have a pro-active mindset. If you’ve had a loss, ask for a cash advance while your claim is being processed. If you’ve got property insurance, ask the agent or insurer…
Rutgers Law School in New Jersey Launches Project to Improve Homeowners’ Insurance
Rutgers Law School in New Jersey Launches Project to Improve Homeowners’ Insurance

Rutgers Law School’s Camden, N.J., location, in collaboration with United Policyholders, is seeking to improve homeowners’ insurance nationally through its recently launched project. The Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility at Rutgers Law School in Camden and United Policyholders have launched a national project that…
Window Maker Gets Support In Coverage Battle At 7th Circ.
Window Maker Gets Support In Coverage Battle At 7th Circ.

Nonprofit policyholder advocacy group United Policyholders on Tuesday asked the Seventh Circuit to order two insurers to cover window maker Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Co. Inc.’s costs to defend a class action over defective windows, arguing that the lower court’s ruling is contrary to Wisconsin…
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…
Analysis: Shopping around could save patients thousands on medical procedures
Analysis: Shopping around could save patients thousands on medical procedures

Shopping around at area hospitals and outpatient surgery centers for the cost of procedures could save patients thousands of dollars, a Sunday Times analysis found. Using an online cost estimator developed by Aetna insurance, the newspaper found significant price variations for several common medical procedures.…
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…
As cars get safer, why isn’t insurance getting cheaper?
As cars get safer, why isn’t insurance getting cheaper?

Auto technology is moving ahead faster than a Texas speed limit. Automatic braking prior to an accident, blind-spot warnings in traffic, rear-view cameras and a host of other options now increase the safety of new models. But will these new devices lead to discounts by…