Study Finds Wildfires Disproportionately Impact Lower-Income Families
Study Finds Wildfires Disproportionately Impact Lower-Income Families

Non-renewals, higher premiums, and costly property improvements make wildfires even worse for already marginalized homeowners Climate change and California’s historic drought are stretching fire season beyond its traditional boundaries, causing worse and more costly wildfires, and according to a new study, they’re disproportionately impacting the…
Oak Fire: Owners of destroyed homes face tens of thousands of dollars in rebuilding costs
Oak Fire: Owners of destroyed homes face tens of thousands of dollars in rebuilding costs

’50-60% of people walking through the door who have been impacted by the fire didn’t have insurance.’ MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — “Rebuilding is the plan. Rebuilding is the goal. We just have to figure out how to do it… because we got married on…
Cal OES Awards $25 Million in Grants to Local Organizations to Protect Vulnerable Communities from Disasters
Cal OES Awards $25 Million in Grants to Local Organizations to Protect Vulnerable Communities from Disasters

Funding Designed to Increase Disaster Preparedness and Resiliency in Socially Vulnerable Communities Statewide SACRAMENTO, CA – As part of California’s nation-leading effort to build resilience among vulnerable populations living in areas of the state most susceptible to natural disasters, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal…
Inflation Means Replacing Your Home After a Disaster Will Likely Cost More
Inflation Means Replacing Your Home After a Disaster Will Likely Cost More

Why your homeowner’s policy might not Cover the true cost of replacing your home Prices are up basically everywhere thanks to inflation, from gas, to food, to clothing. That’s a signal for homeowners to do something unexpected: call your insurance agent. Why? To protect yourself…
Is The FAIR Plan unfair at it’s core?
Is The FAIR Plan unfair at it’s core?

Oakland, California – In the wake of increasing non-renewals and outright cancellations, the Insurance Commissioner ordered an independent study of California’s home and business insurer of last resort; the so-called Fair Plan. California’s FAIR Plan, was created by the state legislature more than a half-century…
Sonoma County homeowners jolted with insurance hikes as a result of wildfire risk
Sonoma County homeowners jolted with insurance hikes as a result of wildfire risk

Lesley Muller said her jaw dropped when she got her renewal notice from the carrier that insures her Cloverdale home. The bill increased by $700 annually to $2,200. “When I got it, it shocked me,” said Muller, a retiree whose insurer also covers her family’s…
Smoke Damage Claims – Are insurers properly handling smoke claims and trying to reduce smoke coverage with new policy language? | Property Insurance Law Blog
Smoke Damage Claims – Are insurers properly handling smoke claims and trying to reduce smoke coverage with new policy language? | Property Insurance Law Blog

Smoke damage claims are unique. Proper and safe regulation of smoke losses requires special training. Most policyholders are completely unaware of the dangers posed by smoke. These statements are often forgotten and not reported due to ignorance. United Insurers and his executive director defended policyholders on a special hearing…
If you lost everything, would you remember all of your items? How to make a home inventory.
If you lost everything, would you remember all of your items? How to make a home inventory.

Don’t wait. It sounds overwhelming, but here are some easy ways to do it. Imagine that all your belongings are destroyed in a house fire. Thankfully, you have insurance. But to file a claim and get reimbursed, you have to make a list of everything…
FAIR Plan insurance criticized for expense, lack of coverage in insurance commissioner hearing
FAIR Plan insurance criticized for expense, lack of coverage in insurance commissioner hearing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) — In California, if no insurance company will sell you a homeowner’s policy, you can get coverage though the California FAIR Plan. This insurer of last resort is a state mandated association run by insurance companies. Plagued with problems, an investigative hearing…
How to File a Homeowners Insurance Claim
How to File a Homeowners Insurance Claim

Filing a home insurance claim in a timely fashion can put money in your pocket faster. Maybe it’s a loud crash overhead. Maybe it’s shattering glass. Maybe it’s a steady drip of water from your kitchen ceiling. Any of these sounds could mean that you…
Can AI Predict If Your House Is Going To Burn To The Ground?
Can AI Predict If Your House Is Going To Burn To The Ground?

As summer fire season looms in California, Zesty.ai is using machine learning to help insurers and homeowners to make realistic risk assessments—and reduce damage to homes and property. Standing on the outskirts of Oakland, California, Attila Toth takes in the nearby forested hills. The CEO…
Marshall Fire Survivors Tell Coloradans What They Need to Know to Protect Themselves
Marshall Fire Survivors Tell Coloradans What They Need to Know to Protect Themselves

Six months after the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history ripped through the Boulder suburbs, we checked in with those who experienced the tragedy. They told us what they’ve learned—and what they think other Centennial Staters should know. It Really Could Happen To You My…
Insurance Whirlwind: From Naperville to Willow Springs, Homeowners Fight for Repairs A Year After Tornado
Insurance Whirlwind: From Naperville to Willow Springs, Homeowners Fight for Repairs A Year After Tornado

Nearly a year after a tornado ripped through Chicago suburbs, some homeowners tell NBC 5 they’re still in the eye of a storm with their insurance carriers over repairs. It has been a turbulent year for the residents of Chicago’s southwestern suburbs, as some homeowners…
‘We’re going to run out of cash’: 2017 North Bay fire victims’ trust administrator talks fund gap, public criticism
‘We’re going to run out of cash’: 2017 North Bay fire victims’ trust administrator talks fund gap, public criticism

The Fire Victim Trust has the systems in place to settle the financial claims of long-suffering victims of the 2017 North Bay firestorm and the 2018 Camp Fire by the end of the year — if it only had the money — the fund’s administrator…
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Make a Home Inventory
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Make a Home Inventory

Imagine that all your belongings are destroyed in a house fire. Thankfully, you have insurance. But to file a claim and get reimbursed, you have to make a list of everything you lost. How many of your belongings would you be able to remember? I…
Bars and restaurants lose COVID insurance decision at Wisconsin Supreme Court
Bars and restaurants lose COVID insurance decision at Wisconsin Supreme Court

Bars and restaurants that counted on business insurance to help cover major losses from 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns are out of luck, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has found. To the layperson, the forced closures due to the pandemic would seem to meet the definition of a…
Misunderstood California law could protect your home’s fire insurance. How does it work?
Misunderstood California law could protect your home’s fire insurance. How does it work?

Your insurance company may be required to maintain your fire coverage if you live in a high-risk area in California — but the law that protects your home can be misinterpreted, as was the case for a Shasta Valley resident after she received a premature…
This woman’s insurer ended her policy after a wildfire, but a law still protected her.
This woman’s insurer ended her policy after a wildfire, but a law still protected her.

Hanne Rickers had been expecting the letter, but it was still awful to see it. The stuffy language of an insurance company belied the real consequences of the two-page notice: “Your property does not meet our wildfire eligibility guidelines,” Grange Insurance Association wrote to her…