Why Earthquake Insurance Is Tough Sell, Even In Bay Area
Why Earthquake Insurance Is Tough Sell, Even In Bay Area

Bill Clingan was around when the Loma Prieta earthquake sucker-punched the Bay Area 20 years ago. His Walnut Creek home suffered no damage, which is why he feels comfortable today not having earthquake insurance. “It’s very expensive. Deductibles are high. It’s just not worth it,”…
’08 Wildfire Victims Insured with AIG Get $$$ Help from CDI and UP
’08 Wildfire Victims Insured with AIG Get $$$ Help from CDI and UP

Survivors to receive an average $100,000 to $125,000 in Additional Coverage Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner today announced that the California Department of Insurance CDI) has secured between $37 million and $46 million in additional coverage from AIG for Sayre Fire survivors in Sylmar. Commissioner Poizner…
California AIG Sylmar Wildfire Survivors To Receive Additional Coverage
California AIG Sylmar Wildfire Survivors To Receive Additional Coverage

The California Department of Insurance CDI) has secured between $37 million and $46 million in additional coverage from AIG for Sayre Fire survivors in Sylmar. Commissioner Poizner was joined by Los Angeles City Councilmember Richard Alarcón; Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders and a…
Disappearing Disability Insurance Fails Family
Disappearing Disability Insurance Fails Family

There’s no question that Jay Thompson is disabled. Three years, at age 44, he developed ALS — Lou Gehrig’s disease. Now he lays immobilized in a hospital bed. So the question is: What happened to his disability insurance? “We believed that it would take care…
Fire Insurance Explained
Fire Insurance Explained

With stories ranging from “My insurance company is just being too good to be true” to “I’ve been with my insurance company for 21 years, never made a claim, just lost my house, and now they’ve cancelled me,” about 50 Jesusita and Tea fire survivors…
For a Yorba Linda family, fighting fire with paperwork
For a Yorba Linda family, fighting fire with paperwork

The wildfire survivor profiled in this Orange County Register article has been attending United Policyholders’ Roadmap to Recovery meetings and was pictured in our spring newsletter receiving her copy of the Disaster Recovery Handbook and Household Inventory Guide. Readers mourned and complained when we ended…
Four Things You Should Know About Your Fire Insurance Claim
Four Things You Should Know About Your Fire Insurance Claim

California’s burning, again; the flames north of Los Angeles, also known as the Station Fire, have already killed two people, and are threatening tens of thousands of homes, causing the governor to declare a state of emergency in Los Angeles and Monterey counties. So of…
Hundreds of insurance lawsuits still pending in MS. at 4th anniversary of Katrina
Hundreds of insurance lawsuits still pending in MS. at 4th anniversary of Katrina

OCEAN SPRINGS — It was just another in the rush of federal suits against Mississippi insurers last August, just before the three-year statute of limitations after Hurricane Katrina expired. Except it wasn’t. Without a lawyer, then-77-year-old Maralou Richards of Ocean Springs filed a handwritten complaint…
Insurance Commissioner Poizner Secures Close to $46 Million in Additional Coverage for AIG Customers Who Suffered Losses in Sylmar Wildfire
Insurance Commissioner Poizner Secures Close to $46 Million in Additional Coverage for AIG Customers Who Suffered Losses in Sylmar Wildfire

Insurance Commissioner Poizner Secures Close to $46 Million in Additional Coverage for AIG Customers Who Suffered Losses in Sylmar Wildfire Survivors to receive an average $100,000 to $125,000 in Additional Coverage Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner today announced that the California Department of Insurance CDI) has…
Long, Difficult Road To Recovery For 2007 Fire Victims
Long, Difficult Road To Recovery For 2007 Fire Victims

Just one third have rebuilt; one half submitted plans for reconstruction Two years after the 2007 firestorm, the path to recovery continues to be slow and arduous for hundreds of San Diego County residents who lost their homes. Only one-third have finished rebuilding. And nearly…
Oakridge park fire victims fight AIG and win with state’s help
Oakridge park fire victims fight AIG and win with state’s help

SYLMAR – Oakridge resident Joanne Nadeau, who lost her mobile home in November’s Sayre Fire, can now rebuild thanks to additional money secured by the state’s Department of Insurance. Instead of getting $165,000 from her AIG insurance policy, Nadeau will receive nearly $300,000. “Now I…
Policyholders limited in how low they can go with contents coverage
Policyholders limited in how low they can go with contents coverage

Keith Brannon has been living a minimalist’s life since Hurricane Katrina. Like many New Orleanians, Brannon dragged the entire contents of his house to the curb when his Broadmoor-Fontainebleau area home flooded and moldered in the storm. He has replaced only the bare essentials. “We…
State Negotiates Deal for Sayre Fire Victims
State Negotiates Deal for Sayre Fire Victims

Mobile home owners whose properties were destroyed by the 2008 Sayre Fire and who were insured by AIG will receive as much as an extra $125,000 from their policy under an agreement announced today by the state insurance commissioner. The Sylmar-area fire destroyed 485 mobile…
Suing for Benefits: A Dilemma for the Disabled
Suing for Benefits: A Dilemma for the Disabled

Will your disability insurance cover you if you become ill and unable to work? Many advocates say probably not. People like Melinda Carstens say they found out how difficult it can be to try to fight an insurance company over their disability payments. Carstens said…
Sylmar’s Sayre Fire Survivors Get Just Rewards from AIG
Sylmar’s Sayre Fire Survivors Get Just Rewards from AIG

Outstanding! The settlement reached this week by the California Department of Insurance and AIG provides additional insurance coverage to Sylmar wildfire survivors who lost their homes in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park last November. News reports say the CDI/AIG settlement amount is reportedly between $37…
UP named among 100 most useful money websites
UP named among 100 most useful money websites

Here are my favorite Internet destinations that deal with money. All are worth bookmarking. But I’d like your help in discovering other cool sites. I love stumbling across insanely useful new Web sites. I’ve highlighted some in my columns and blog posts, but there always…
Appeal would reveal claims denied
Appeal would reveal claims denied

A Coast policyholder is appealing to the state Supreme Court for access to Mississippi Insurance Department records that would show the dollar amount of Katrina claims denied by insurance companies. Long Beach policyholder Kevin Buckel filed a written request in January 2009 for records showing…
Post fire claim advice: After the fire comes the adjuster
Post fire claim advice: After the fire comes the adjuster

In July, when fire tore through the Northwest mansion belonging to local activist and arts patron Peggy Cooper Cafritz, it set off what is likely to be a long journey toward rebuilding. Facing total loss, Cafritz hired a public insurance adjuster to estimate the dollar…