Up in the News

Soon after President Joe Biden declared a major disaster for the areas of California besieged by a series of atmospheric river storms on Jan. 9—a move that allowed victims to request financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency—Watsonville resident Amy Thomas reached out to…

Four years after the devastating Woolsey fire, Malibu residents who lost everything are still waiting for approvals, and contending with complicated mortgage and insurance processes, underlining what starting over really costs. To step into Barbara Ferris’s new house, you have to first grapple with what…

This is the case of Shusha Inc. v. Century-National Insurance Co., in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District. A recent decision by a California state appellate panel has given hope to policyholders seeking insurance coverage for their COVID-19-related losses.…

Santa Cruz County community organizations and government agencies are scrambling to both respond to current urgent storm-related conditions as well as provide recovery resources. Several organizations and officials are providing info sessions on filing claims Thursday and Friday, starting at 4 p.m. each day, while…

When filing an insurance claim for damage incurred during the recent storms, property owners are advised never to use the word “flood.” Insurance companies—driven by profit and therefore disinclined to part with their money—typically categorically deny claims for flood damage. That was among the advice…

By now, you’re probably familiar with the more obvious ways inflation affects your finances. Your money doesn’t go as far at the grocery store, for example. Credit card and other variable-rate debt is getting more expensive as the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates to…

One of the biggest impacts from the pouring rain is now showing up as damage to private property. For a preschool in a residential neighborhood in San Francisco’s Mission District, damage to a retaining wall has left young students without a playground and neighbors without…

Here are a few of the less well-known changes this year — some that could hurt your wallet, and others that could help. By now, you’re probably familiar with the more obvious ways inflation affects your finances. Your money doesn’t go as far at the…

The U.S. Department of the Treasury makes an unprecedented move to find out if home insurers are abandoning communities vulnerable to climate change Dozens of environmental and consumer groups are rallying behind the Biden administration’s plan to collect information from property insurance companies to determine…

Ben Marcus is a landlord dealing with storm-related repairs in Oakland who has run into issues finding crews available to clean up damage following the Bay Area’s recent storms. One of Marcus’s apartment units is temporarily unlivable for his tenants. He said the carpets had…

COVID-19 did not cause an Aspen restaurant to suffer income losses that entitled it to compensation from its property insurer, the federal appeals court based in Denver ruled on Tuesday. L’Hostaria, a since-closed restaurant, filed suit against The Cincinnati Insurance Company in December 2020, alleging…

Every federal appellate court to consider the question so far has ruled that commercial all-risk property insurance policies do not cover income lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but policyholders’ lawyers say the fight is just getting started on the battlegrounds that matter the most:…

Shaky companies welcomed in the state’s distressed market After four insurers failed in late 2021, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon put the fate of thousands of Louisiana homeowners in the hands of little-known Safepoint Insurance Co. The Florida-based firm took on 30,000 risky policies after three…

Colleen and Greg Ehrnstrom finally broke ground on the plot where their five-bedroom home once stood in Louisville earlier this month. After a year of dealing with their mortgage company, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, builders, architects, the Colorado Division of Insurance, and, of course,…

Debt from collapsed insurers will weigh on LIGA for years If it weren’t for a healthy savings account, Rosanna “Roshi” Mason might still be living in a cramped disaster relief trailer in her front yard with her husband and two kids. Maison Insurance Co. was…

The Maryland Supreme Court joined high courts in 10 other states in ruling that coronavirus did not cause a direct physical loss or damage covered by an all-risk commercial property policy. The high court on Thursday released a unanimous decision that answered a certified question…

Hemorrhaging losses, Florida’s property insurance industry has finally convinced the state Legislature to abolish practices it blames for skyrocketing premiums, carrier failures and plummeting availability of private-market coverage. But while insurers and Republican legislators say the reforms enacted last week will stabilize the private insurance…

Colorado’s insurance commissioner asks providers to extend coverage ahead of Dec. 30 anniversary Scores of homeowners who lost their houses in the Marshall fire will run out of insurance next week to cover their temporary living expenses while they rebuild, and now Colorado’s insurance commissioner…