Interview: The Fire Rebuild Poll Recently Conducted by United Policyholders and What It Says About the State of the North Bay
Interview: The Fire Rebuild Poll Recently Conducted by United Policyholders and What It Says About the State of the North Bay

Executive director of United Policyholders, Amy Bach, details what was discovered in the Fire Rebuild Poll her organization recently conducted, what surprised her about the results, what homeowners are dealing with as far as getting insurance to pay, the percentage of people reporting that they…
Poll reveals what’s taking so long with Northern California wildfire rebuild
Poll reveals what’s taking so long with Northern California wildfire rebuild

Amy Bach started working as an advocate for insurance policyholders in 1984. She became an attorney in 1989 and co-founded United Policyholders in the aftermath of the Oakland Hills firestorm two years later. The San Francisco-based nonprofit has a network of over 200 volunteer lawyers,…
Legislation Proposed to Help Homeowners Who Are Underinsured in California
Legislation Proposed to Help Homeowners Who Are Underinsured in California

Two new bills will help prevent homeowners from being underinsured when disaster strikes. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones says the bills give consumers a better likelihood of being fully insured. The first bill is aimed at making sure that homeowners are given an updated replacement…
California Bills Inspired by 2017 Mudslides and Fires Clear Committee
California Bills Inspired by 2017 Mudslides and Fires Clear Committee

Two bills inspired by the 2017 mudslides and fires in California that are designed to help prevent homeowners from being underinsured when disaster strikes passed the Assembly Insurance Committee on Wednesday. The bills, sponsored by California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, passed out of the committee…
Call Kurtis Investigates: Couple Calls Out Pricey Dental Work After Crowns Fall Out
Call Kurtis Investigates: Couple Calls Out Pricey Dental Work After Crowns Fall Out

ROSEVILLE CBS13) — Retired and on a fixed income, Victor Reyes needed work done on his teeth. Victor had dental insurance, but it didn’t cover the crowns he needed, so when the dental office gave him the option to pay cash up front for a…
Your insurance company knows more about you than Facebook
Your insurance company knows more about you than Facebook

Congress may have forced Mark Zuckerberg to reveal more about personal data gathered on Facebook FB). But consider this: Your insurance company likely knows a lot more about you. Insurers’ cache of private information includes credit reports, the market value of your home, age, marital…
Business groups urge high court hearing for Opry Mills flood dispute
Business groups urge high court hearing for Opry Mills flood dispute

Appeals court earlier this year slashed mall’s insurance payout by $150M Industry groups and prominent Tennessee businesses are urging the Tennessee Supreme Court to take up Opry Mills Mall owner Simon Property Group’s appeal of a lower court decision that cut its insurance payout for…
Many questions, resources at fire loss meeting
Many questions, resources at fire loss meeting

Welcome, everybody,” Susan Gorin said. “I’m sorry you’re here.” The county’s First District Supervisor addressed 30-plus residents who attended a town hall meeting at the Kenwood Depot on a chilly, rainy Thursday evening, April 11. Gorin had assembled county and private experts to talk about…
Transformed by October fires, Sonoma County takes stock, bracing for ‘a learning year’
Transformed by October fires, Sonoma County takes stock, bracing for ‘a learning year’

Two sisters. Two paths to recovery. Susan Komar and Lynn Van Fleit each lost a home last fall when the Tubbs fire ravaged northern Santa Rosa. Six months later, Komar and her husband, Chris, said they plan this year to start rebuilding their home in…
Homeowners struggle to rebuild six months after devastating wildfires
Homeowners struggle to rebuild six months after devastating wildfires

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Retired Air Force combat fighter pilot Scott Rooks and retired military medic Laney Wall lost their home in Santa Rosa to the firestorm. When they bought their home, 4 years ago, Rooks said he wanted more insurance than USAA, an insurance…
Editorial: The heartbreaking reason why many victims won’t rebuild
Editorial: The heartbreaking reason why many victims won’t rebuild

For many homeowners, the full extent of the devastation from the October fires is still unfolding — on their calculators. As Staff Writer Bill Swindell spelled out in his front-page story a week ago “Painful insurance reality,” Sunday), the number of people in Sonoma County…
Insurance shortfalls hamper Sonoma County fire victims’ ability to rebuild
Insurance shortfalls hamper Sonoma County fire victims’ ability to rebuild

Josh Nix thought he was doing everything right in August when he renewed the insurance policy for his Mark West area home just east of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. Nix answered the questions posed by his carrier, USAA, in an online form used…
Wildfire Mitigation & Insurance Project
Wildfire Mitigation & Insurance Project

If you take action to make your home less likely to be seriously damaged or destroyed in a wildfire, your insurance company should reward you with a discount on your premium … or at the very least keep you as a customer and not drop…
Insurance companies ease inventory requirements for Sonoma County fire victims
Insurance companies ease inventory requirements for Sonoma County fire victims

Kitty Loberg said she could only devote minimal blocks of time to remember all the personal items she lost when the October wildfires destroyed her Redwood Valley home. “When your body is still in a shocked state in trying to deal with the reality of…
4 Important Insurance Decisions To Watch For This Spring
4 Important Insurance Decisions To Watch For This Spring

Insurance companies and policyholders will be keeping an eye out this spring for courts’ guidance on a slew of key insurance issues, including the Florida Supreme Court’s decision on the requirements for holding an insurer liable for bad faith claims handling and a federal court’s…
Calif. Justices Set To Tackle Key Liability Insurance Query
Calif. Justices Set To Tackle Key Liability Insurance Query

California’s high court will hear arguments Tuesday in a builder’s lawsuit over its insurer’s refusal to cover allegations that it negligently failed to supervise a former employee who sexually assaulted a middle school student, a case that raises the broader question of whether liability coverage…
Northern California wildfire victims learn ‘your insurance company is not your friend’
Northern California wildfire victims learn ‘your insurance company is not your friend’

Four months after a ferocious firestorm devastated communities in California’s wine country, those who lost their homes are still struggling. Animal feeding stations remain on roadsides, monitored by volunteers searching for pets left behind when their owners fled. Cats that had been feared dead continue…
Homeowners insurance customers in Oklahoma still paying high rates
Homeowners insurance customers in Oklahoma still paying high rates

Residents of the state are still seeing costs that are among the highest in the United States. Property owners in Oklahoma are already paying some of the highest homeowners insurance rates in the country due to the state’s high risk of severe weather such as…