Nearly half of all American adults are uninsured or underinsured
Nearly half of all American adults are uninsured or underinsured

Less than one year before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ACA) will require most Americans to obtain health insurance, a survey has found that 46 percent of U.S. adults – or 84.2 million people – remain uninsured or underinsured. During 2012, 54.6 million…
Will Obamacare save you money on preventive care?
Will Obamacare save you money on preventive care?

Federal health care reform promises to make it easier and more affordable for people to access care. As part of that effort, most health insurance plans now must offer many types of preventive care at no cost to the patient. But confusion remains about what…
Toomey, Menendez clash on flood insurance
Toomey, Menendez clash on flood insurance

WASHINGTON – A debate over the federal flood insurance program sparked cross-river crossfire today, with New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez clashing with Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey over a plan to hold down premiums. Toomey, using procedural rules, blocked a plan to delay federal…
Free insurance workshop next week for Black Forest residents
Free insurance workshop next week for Black Forest residents

El Paso County will host free insurance help workshop next week lead by United Policyholders, a non-profit insurance advocacy group that has given workshops to victims of the Waldo Canyon, High Park and Four Mile Canyon fires. The workshop will be on July 8, and…
Insurance Policyholder Advocate Gets Sandy Grant
Insurance Policyholder Advocate Gets Sandy Grant

More than five months after superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, some owners of damaged homes, cars and businesses are still waiting for insurance settlements. Last week, a California-based advocacy group for insurance policyholders was awarded a small grant that could help them resolve their…
Larimer County’s next Roadmap to Recovery to address social and emotional aspects of High Park Fire’s one-year anniversary
Larimer County’s next Roadmap to Recovery to address social and emotional aspects of High Park Fire’s one-year anniversary

Larimer County’s seventh Roadmap to Recovery meeting for High Park and Woodland Heights Fire survivors will cover topics including legal issues, expiration of ALE benefits and the social and emotional aspects of the fire’s one-year anniversary. Speakers are Karen Reimus, disaster recovery aid for United…
Many claims from Waldo Canyon fire still aren’t finalized
Many claims from Waldo Canyon fire still aren’t finalized

About 11 months after the Waldo Canyon fire destroyed 347 homes and damaged dozens of others, many homeowners had not completed a list of the items they lost. They were pushing a one-year insurance claim deadline that the Legislature decided to keep intact when it…
New consumer protections may not apply to fire victims
New consumer protections may not apply to fire victims

As Black Forest families who lost homes in the fire begin filing out insurance claims, they should know that state law has changed to protect them. House Bill 1225, which was signed into law last month, requires insurance companies offer policies that pay for living…
Last year’s fire victims offer a shoulder at disaster recovery center
Last year’s fire victims offer a shoulder at disaster recovery center

When Suzanne and Breck Swanson turned on the television on Wednesday, they watched their retirement home on Vessey Road explode in flames. With it went Suzanne’s sense of control, and all ideas of what to do next. But the next day at the El Paso…
Report Your Long-Term Care Insurance Claim Experience
Report Your Long-Term Care Insurance Claim Experience

This week’s Your Money column discusses the difficulty that some people have encountered when trying to file a long-term care insurance claim on a family member’s behalf. I compiled some of the most common reasons that claims are denied, along with aspects of the coverage…
2 Problems = Zero Money: The Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause
2 Problems = Zero Money: The Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause

When disaster strikes it seems to happen all at once. Electric lines spark, windows shatter, roofs tear off, sump pumps stop and the lights go out. Homeowners see it this way. Insurance companies — and often the courts — see it differently. Major disasters such…
Get a Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles
Get a Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles

An insurance industry that has taken its lumps from hurricanes has come to treat them differently in recent years. As a result, a home insurance policy in hurricane country today often comes with a special and potentially steeper hurricane deductible that kicks in when claims…
In tornado alley, building practices boost damage
In tornado alley, building practices boost damage

View PhotoReuters/Reuters – Memorial Day fireworks explode over a house damaged by the May 20 afternoon tornado in Moore, Oklahoma May 26, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson By Greg McCune(Reuters) – In a residential neighborhood near the center of a monster tornado that struck Moore,Oklahoma last month,…
Coastal homeowners stagger under insurance costs
Coastal homeowners stagger under insurance costs

GULF SHORES, Ala. — When Stan Virden moved into his 2,400-square-foot house overlooking a rock-lined canal in 1996, he paid less than $1,000 a year for homeowners insurance. Now, as he seeks to move to Atlanta to be near family, Virden says potential buyers for…
Recent New York Case re: Coverage for water from drain back up
Recent New York Case re: Coverage for water from drain back up

Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog, June 3, 2013 by Shaun Marker So You Have A Back Up Of Water From A Drain Line; Was Blockage On or Off the Insured Property?If you have a claim based on a back up of water from a drain…
Sandy update: Homeowners battle insurance adjusters
Sandy update: Homeowners battle insurance adjusters

They have argued themselves blue with insurance adjusters. And still their homes are gutted and smell of sodden wood.Six months after superstorm Sandy, a weary cadre of Long Islanders remains mired in fights over settlements from the National Flood Insurance Program. They tell of enduring…
Too Darn Hot
Too Darn Hot

In most areas of the U.S. right now, it’s just too darn hot. If you’re in the scary position of having to evacuate due to a nearby wildfire, but lucky enough to come home to a house still standing, consider this: Nearby flames, smoke and…
Unsettling
Unsettling

It turns out the meaning of “settled” in the context of an insurance claim depends on who’s using it. 6 months after Superstorm Sandy, the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), a national industry-funded group, claimed that 93 percent of the 1.5 million claims were “settled.” UP…