After 2017 fires, more Sonoma County homeowners turn to state for insurance coverage
After 2017 fires, more Sonoma County homeowners turn to state for insurance coverage

Homeowners are finding it more difficult to obtain insurance to cover their homes in wildfire-prone areas of California, especially in high-risk regions such as communities in the Sierra Nevada, according to a report released Tuesday by the state insurance department. Insurers declined to renew 167,570…
Insurance Companies Are Paying Cops To Investigate Their Own Customers
Insurance Companies Are Paying Cops To Investigate Their Own Customers

A cozy alliance between insurers and law enforcement has turned the justice system into the industry’s hired gun and left innocent customers facing prison. When police showed up at Harry Schmidt’s home on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, he thought they were there to help. He…
5 things to do if you’ve been dropped by your home insurer
5 things to do if you’ve been dropped by your home insurer

The value of home insurance cannot be understated. For most people, a home is their single biggest investment or asset. Nearly everything one owns — clothes, electronics, important documents and much more — dwells inside the home, and home insurance provides a way to safeguard…
Residents still trying to understand Camp Fire contamination at standing homes
Residents still trying to understand Camp Fire contamination at standing homes

PARADISE — A stale chemical smell hangs in Lisa Kasza’s garage in lower Paradise. Piles of toys, books and other possessions covered in a thin layer of dust wait to be thrown out. Nine months ago, the Camp Fire burned all the trees, bushes and…
Homeowner insurance dilemma may turn into a full blown crisis
Homeowner insurance dilemma may turn into a full blown crisis

SANTA ROSA, CA – Consumer advocates say a homeowners insurance crunch may soon become a homeowners insurance crisis as customers face huge rate increases or out-and-out cancellations. Experts say the major reasons homeowner policies get giant rate hikes or out-and-out cancellations is that their homes…
Survivors of different California wildfires give advice
Survivors of different California wildfires give advice

CHICO — People who lost their homes in wildfires drove several hours from Santa Rosa and Redwood Valley to share their lessons about dealing with insurance with Camp Fire survivors on Thursday night. The event was part of an ongoing series of in-person and online…
How do you know if you need life insurance?
How do you know if you need life insurance?

Life insurance, known as a “death benefit,” can help with any unpaid debt, funeral costs, and give loved ones some financial security after you pass away. How do you know if you need to purchase life insurance? And what do you look for in finding…
Fire risk leaves Tuolumne County residents scrambling to find affordable insurance
Fire risk leaves Tuolumne County residents scrambling to find affordable insurance

Ronda Davish enjoys living in Cedar Ridge, a neighborhood about 15 miles northeast of Sonora. And yet after 19 years spent in the quiet foothills of the Stanislaus National Forest, Davish worries that her skyrocketing homeowner’s insurance rates will force her to find a new…
Debris and ash cleared, rebuilding starts for homes destroyed in Woolsey Fire
Debris and ash cleared, rebuilding starts for homes destroyed in Woolsey Fire

Work to remove ash and debris from last year’s destructive Hill and Woolsey fires has wrapped up, clearing the way for many homeowners to start to rebuild, officials said Wednesday. Calling it a monumental milestone, state and local officials were in Agoura Hills to talk…
Earthquake insurance: Is it worth it?
Earthquake insurance: Is it worth it?

Glenn Pomeroy, head of the California Earthquake Authority, spent the weekend in Ridgecrest, near the epicenter of Friday’s 7.1-magnitude quake and its day-earlier, 6.4-magnitude baby brother. “Driving around, you could clearly see there had been a disaster,” he told me. “Streetlights were blinking, stores were…
What Californians Need To Know To Financially Prepare For ‘The Big One’
What Californians Need To Know To Financially Prepare For ‘The Big One’

It’s an unnerving time to be in California. With two large earthquakes hitting Southern California within 34 hours, along with thousands of aftershocks, it feels like the big one is right around the corner – literally. In fact, the US Geological Society is predicting a…
Insurance Companies Say They’re Not Allowed to Plan for the ‘New Normal’ of Intense Wildfires
Insurance Companies Say They’re Not Allowed to Plan for the ‘New Normal’ of Intense Wildfires

Insurance companies says state regulators aren’t letting them plan for climate change and the so-called “new normal” of intense wildfires. They warn of price spikes and more people being denied coverage. Regulators worry the industry’s models aren’t credible, and could be manipulated to overcharge consumers.…
Can California avoid a third year of fire catastrophe? Here’s what’s been fixed — and what hasn’t
Can California avoid a third year of fire catastrophe? Here’s what’s been fixed — and what hasn’t

All signs point to another busy fire year in California. Already, a heat wave this month triggered hundreds of wildfires. They were mostly small burns, but they thrived off a healthy crop of brush nourished by the wet winter. As the state’s hills and valleys…
Why Safer Cars Don’t Lead To Cheaper Car Insurance … Yet
Why Safer Cars Don’t Lead To Cheaper Car Insurance … Yet

Many new cars sold today can take preemptive action to help prevent crashes — hitting the brakes before a collision, steering around obstacles or alerting drivers to hazards in their blind spots. Those safety features — collectively known as advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS —…
Options are few for storm-ravaged homes with insufficient insurance
Options are few for storm-ravaged homes with insufficient insurance

With the Atlantic hurricane season underway, homeowners should be aware that inadequate insurance coverage can make recovering from a bad situation even worse. Whether damage from a storm comes from wind or water, homeowners whose coverage is insufficient have discovered the hard way that it…
After the storm: Is your home under-insured?
After the storm: Is your home under-insured?

As North Texans grapple with damage claims following a weekend storm, estimates say 60% of homes don’t have enough coverage for full replacement. DALLAS — If there is one good thing to come out of the Sunday storms, it’s that all that damage might make…
Insurance commissioner asks insurers to extend benefits for 2017 fire survivors
Insurance commissioner asks insurers to extend benefits for 2017 fire survivors

State insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is seeking help from the industry he regulates for survivors of the Wine Country wildfires who are still struggling to rebuild their homes. After meeting in Santa Rosa on Tuesday night with city officials and block captains from neighborhoods ravaged…
California Wildfire Recovery: A Tale of Two Counties
California Wildfire Recovery: A Tale of Two Counties

NPQ has written before about how disasters tend to exacerbate existing economic inequality. Now, from Sara Viner of High Country News comes a story about California wildfires that reinforces this message. Examining two recent major California fires—the 2015 Valley Fire and the 2017 North Bay…