10 tips for dealing with hurricane damage to your home
10 tips for dealing with hurricane damage to your home

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If you have damage in your home due to a hurricane, there are several things you need to know: 1. If you have flood insurance, you must notify your insurance provider within 60 days of the flood damage. The National Flood Insurance…
11 Tips on dealing with your insurance company
11 Tips on dealing with your insurance company

If you have damage in your home due to Harvey, there are several things you need to know. 1. If you have flood insurance, you must notify your insurance provider within 60 days of the flood damage. The National Flood Insurance Program has a step…
Insurers ache for qualified inspectors after US hurricanes
Insurers ache for qualified inspectors after US hurricanes

Insurers are scrambling to find inspectors in Texas and Florida after fierce hurricanes battered the states one after the other, causing tens of billions of dollars’ worth of property damage in less than two weeks. Although insurers maintain some number of inspectors, known as claims…
‘Hurricane Deductibles’ Shift Home-Repair Costs to Consumers
‘Hurricane Deductibles’ Shift Home-Repair Costs to Consumers

Harvey and Irma could trigger requirement that homeowners pay percentage of insured value of property. Tens of thousands of homeowners hit by Hurricane Harvey may soon find out they are on the hook for extra payments under their insurance policies, and that number could rise…
Why your disaster kit needs a home inventory
Why your disaster kit needs a home inventory

Imagine losing everything in a disaster like Hurricane Harvey, then having to list all of your possessions to file an insurance claim — every plate, holiday decoration and piece of clothing for starters. Without a home inventory, this would be the toughest memory test you’d…
Harvey is a wake-up call to check your homeowners insurance
Harvey is a wake-up call to check your homeowners insurance

Sure, you have homeowners insurance, but there’s a good chance you don’t have enough. CoreLogic says 1 in 4 homes are underinsured by at least 20 percent. With the average home price up more than 30 percent over the past five years, cruising Zillow, Trulia…
Private flood insurance may be option for homeowners in water’s way
Private flood insurance may be option for homeowners in water’s way

Larry Blair of San Mateo buys flood insurance only because his lender requires it, and for years he thought his only option was the National Flood Insurance Program. Then he read about private flood insurance on a Facebook page for people in his North Shoreview…
After the storm: How to fight your insurance company
After the storm: How to fight your insurance company

If the aftermath of past hurricanes is any indication, many Texas homeowners will have to do battle with their insurance companies when Harvey finally runs out of wind and water. “Prepare to push for a fair and full insurance settlement,” said Amy Bach, executive director…
Forbes Op-Ed: Insurance Isn’t Going to Help Harvey Victims
Forbes Op-Ed: Insurance Isn’t Going to Help Harvey Victims

Once again, a storm has devastated a region and broken records. Hurricane Harvey dropped so much rain on Texas, the National Weather Service had to add new colors to its map graphics. Where will the money come from to repair the damage? We know it…
5 big home insurance mistakes that could cost you thousands
5 big home insurance mistakes that could cost you thousands

Seeing Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in Texas has left some people wondering if they have adequate home insurance. Unfortunately, for a lot of people, the answer is no, and that can end up costing thousands of out-of-pocket dollars if disaster strikes. Mistake No. 1: Considering only…
Be Prepared to Push Insurance Companies for Fair Treatment After Hurricane Harvey, UP Advises
Be Prepared to Push Insurance Companies for Fair Treatment After Hurricane Harvey, UP Advises

United Policyholders Offers Texans Free Home Inventory App, Provides Guidance to Residents for Before and After the Storm As Gulf Coast communities brace for Hurricane Harvey, the national insurance consumer non-profit United Policyholders UP) has a special message for Texans: “Be prepared to push for…
Sen. Menendez, Rep. Pallone Visit Union Beach to Push Sweeping Flood Insurance Reforms to Fix Problems Exposed by Sandy
Sen. Menendez, Rep. Pallone Visit Union Beach to Push Sweeping Flood Insurance Reforms to Fix Problems Exposed by Sandy

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez D-N.J.), chair of the Sandy Task Force and a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee that oversees the National Flood Insurance Program NFIP), and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. N.J.-06), traveled today to Union Beach–a community on Raritan Bay devastated by…
Insurers must pay even if home damage exceeds property value
Insurers must pay even if home damage exceeds property value

Insured homeowners in California whose homes have been badly damaged, but not destroyed, are entitled to coverage for the cost of repairing them, even if that cost far exceeds the property’s market value, under a ruling that has now become final. The state Supreme Court…
State Supreme Court affirms homeowner reimbursement protections supported by Commissioner Jones
State Supreme Court affirms homeowner reimbursement protections supported by Commissioner Jones

The State Supreme Court Wednesday ended a long legal battle between a Richmond homeowner and her homeowner insurance company when the court refused to consider the insurance industry’s petition to overturn a lower court’s precedent setting decision that insurers must pay to repair a home…
Wells Fargo Has Yet Another Scandal Brewing, This Time Over Car Loans
Wells Fargo Has Yet Another Scandal Brewing, This Time Over Car Loans

Wells Fargo is in the hot seat again. The jumbo bank, which is still recovering from a massive fake account scandal that broke less than a year ago, is now under fire for its auto loan practices. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has…
Louisiana Supreme Court gives ‘duty to defend’ new meaning for insurance lawyers
Louisiana Supreme Court gives ‘duty to defend’ new meaning for insurance lawyers

For decades, Louisiana law maintained that—under standard language found in most commercial general liability policies—insurers who had a duty to defend their policyholders must defend the entire lawsuit, including in long-latency cases. In other words, your defense attorney was on the case—at the insurance company’s…
If you’re on a spouse’s health plan, what happens if the worst should happen?
If you’re on a spouse’s health plan, what happens if the worst should happen?

My wife and I were chatting the other night about Republican efforts to reboot the U.S. healthcare system as a horror movie — stripping health coverage from more than 20 million Americans, boosting premiums for many and gutting Medicaid. She finally brought the conversation home…
11th Circ. Set To Weigh Insurance Bad Faith Standard
11th Circ. Set To Weigh Insurance Bad Faith Standard

The Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments Thursday on whether Nationwide’s mere negligence in failing to settle claims against a policyholder is sufficient to hold the insurer liable for a judgment exceeding policy limits, in a case that could have a widespread impact on insurance bad…