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…
Oakland Hills homeowners finding it harder to get fire insurance
Oakland Hills homeowners finding it harder to get fire insurance

OAKLAND, Calif. KGO) — Homeowners in the Oakland Hills have joined those in the Wine Country in expressing fears about the increasing difficulties they’ve faced getting fire coverage. It’s part of 7 On Your Side’s continuing investigation into the non-renewal of home insurance policies. As…
Insurers should be on the hook for Montecito mudslide damage, commissioner says
Insurers should be on the hook for Montecito mudslide damage, commissioner says

Montecito residents who are hoping that insurance will cover damage to their homes from recent mudslides received a word of support from an important ally on Monday. California insurance commissioner Dave Jones issued a notice to insurers outlining his office’s position that they should be…
It’s unclear if homeowners’ insurance covers mudslide damage
It’s unclear if homeowners’ insurance covers mudslide damage

Pamela Jameson Boehr and her husband own a home and two rental properties in Montecito. Each site was affected by the devastating mudslides that recently swept through the area. Boehr, 77, told me her personal residence wasn’t significantly damaged, but one of the rental properties,…
After losing homes in the Thomas Fire, the next challenge is insurance
After losing homes in the Thomas Fire, the next challenge is insurance

Carl Zaid wasn’t sure how to tell his wife their house had just burned to the ground, so he did it with the help of a flamingo. Her name was Miss Pink, and she was perched in her usual spot in the front yard the…
Advocates guide Napa Valley fire survivors seeking insurance payouts
Advocates guide Napa Valley fire survivors seeking insurance payouts

YOUNTVILLE — The North Bay wildfires obliterated homes, belongings and keepsakes within hours or even minutes. But for many survivors, the journey toward repayment for their losses is still in its early days – and advocates for policyholders are hoping to guide some of them…
Conversations Around the Fire’ Turns to Insurance Strategies for Resilient Rebuilding
Conversations Around the Fire’ Turns to Insurance Strategies for Resilient Rebuilding

Yesterday, we heard a presentation from “Conversations Around the Fire” – an initiative hoping to guide local residents to greener, safer and more just ideas about rebuilding our community. One speaker at the conversation Monday night represented a group that helps answer questions about insurance,…
Cleanup and healing after Montecito mudslides
Cleanup and healing after Montecito mudslides

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, only 58 of the some 3,200 homes in Montecito have flood insurance. That means many homeowners will either be getting a lawyer to argue the Thomas Fire caused the mudslides and should be covered by fire insurance, or…
Life-Saving Baby Formula Denied By Insurance Company
Life-Saving Baby Formula Denied By Insurance Company

Heather Wiechert was very concerned that her daughter Mia was not growing. At 11 months old, she weighed just 14 pounds. “A mother’s desire to feed her child runs deep,” said Wiechert. Unable to keep food down, Mia started losing weight and ended up in…
California lawmakers propose bills to beef up disaster insurance coverage
California lawmakers propose bills to beef up disaster insurance coverage

State legislators have introduced a package of bills that would beef up or extend insurance coverage to policyholders following declared disasters, but only one would be retroactive and apply to victims of the recent wildfires. Critics say the bills could drive up insurance premiums and…