Flood insurance prices expected to surge
Flood insurance prices expected to surge

A tide of flood insurance rate increases is rolling in, despite the efforts of state and federal legislators to stem it in waterlogged areas, with 25 percent hikes in the offing beginning Oct. 1, 2013. The nonprofit consumer group United Policyholders, which provides insurance advice…
UP offers flood insurance tips on what’s covered, what’s not
UP offers flood insurance tips on what’s covered, what’s not

According to United Policyholders, a homeowner’s policy covers falling and rain-driven water, so if the storm created any breaks in the house exterior — holes in the roof, broken windows, penetrated seals through which rain fell or through which wind drove rain inside — there…
A Milestone 6 Months Later: First Home Rebuilt After High Park Fire Now Occupied
A Milestone 6 Months Later: First Home Rebuilt After High Park Fire Now Occupied
AUDIO – Flood-Damaged Homes: Who Pays?
AUDIO – Flood-Damaged Homes: Who Pays?

A looming question for homeowners in flooded areas is what to do about the damage to their homes. Who will pay for the repairs? Host Ryan Warner speaks with Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group. For FEMA assistance, www.disasterassistance.org.
6 Months After High Park Fire Insurance Woes Loom Large
6 Months After High Park Fire Insurance Woes Loom Large

On the 6 month anniversary of the High Park Fire, life is different and challenges abound. Challenges like working through the labyrinth of insurance claims. 259 homes were destroyed by the High Park Fire. Dale and Marilyn Snyder were among them. They didn’t think they…
Pitfalls of Long-Term Care Insurance Products
Pitfalls of Long-Term Care Insurance Products

When Nancy Nasief was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007, her husband Edmund G. Nasief Jr., a UBS advisor, wasn’t thinking about long-term care insurance. It was about the last thing on his mind. In fact, when one of the members of his advisory team,…
Oklahomans’ homeowners insurance will remain among nation’s most expensive
Oklahomans’ homeowners insurance will remain among nation’s most expensive

Residents of tornado-prone Oklahoma already pay some of the highest rates for homeowners insurance in the nation — and rates are only going up. It’s not uncommon for insurance companies to raise rates in a region after a catastrophe like the tornadoes that hit Oklahoma…
Flood Insurance Workshop To Be Held Monday Night
Flood Insurance Workshop To Be Held Monday Night

Devastating flooding in the Pikes Peak region has hammered home the importance of having flood insurance. So many people in El Paso and Teller counties have been suffered–in some cases again and again–after an especially harsh monsoonal pattern season. Those living near the Waldo Canyon…
Slack demand, but big promise still seen for Hurricane Sandy insurance mediation
Slack demand, but big promise still seen for Hurricane Sandy insurance mediation

One of New Jersey’s efforts to help Hurricane Sandy victims resolve their insurance woes has had an unexpected result: few takers. Three months ago, the state launched a mediation program to help Sandy-struck homeowners and business owners settle disputes with their insurers over storm claims.…
Do You Need Life Insurance in Retirement?
Do You Need Life Insurance in Retirement?

Life insurance helps protect your spouse and children from poverty in the case of your untimely death. However, once your children become self-sufficient and you and your spouse accumulate significant assets, there’s less of a need to keep paying the premiums for life insurance. Here’s…
Legal issues just beginning for Sandy victims, pro-bono attorney says
Legal issues just beginning for Sandy victims, pro-bono attorney says

Hurricane Sandy is long over, with reconstruction under way in most places, but for many impacted by the storm, problems are still piling up – legal problems, that is. That is why a cadre of pro-bono attorneys has fanned out throughout areas of New Jersey…
UP Executive Director addresses insurer General Counsels on improving UM/UIM
UP Executive Director addresses insurer General Counsels on improving UM/UIM
Insuring yourself against water calamity can make your head spin
Insuring yourself against water calamity can make your head spin

On the other side of the country, home after home is rotting, left much the same as the day after Hurricane Sandy landed in 2012. These are the houses of those who never bought flood insurance, which must be purchased separately from regular homeowner’s insurance.…
Flood insurance law hurting Sandy victims
Flood insurance law hurting Sandy victims

A little-known provision in some Long Island homeowners’ flood insurance policies could stymie their claims to collect for superstorm Sandy damage. Advocates and lawyers for property owners say it’s a loophole for insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency that is based on semantics.…
Why Pharmacy Refused Drug For Terminal Cancer Patient
Why Pharmacy Refused Drug For Terminal Cancer Patient

A Shingle Springs woman says the mail order pharmacy refused to fulfill a prescription to help battle her terminal cancer. When three weeks went by and she says the cancer spread, she called Kurtis. This medicine was prescribed to try and contain the cancer. But…
The Black Forest Fire has attracted insurance pros — for better and worse
The Black Forest Fire has attracted insurance pros — for better and worse

The flier called it a “Town Hall Meeting for Black Forest Fire Residents.” But this wasn’t a town hall in the traditional sense. No elected official or governmental staff member was scheduled to speak. El Paso County officials, in fact, say they had nothing to…
Help is on the way for Waldo victims
Help is on the way for Waldo victims

With the Waldo Canyon Fire having wiped out 345 homes last summer, it appears Colorado Springs and El Paso County are working on ways to help homeowners figure out how to work with their insurance companies and prepare for the next disaster. First, the latter.…
Waldo victims organize their own insurance assistance
Waldo victims organize their own insurance assistance

Colorado Springs Together was envisioned as a clearinghouse for Waldo Canyon Fire victims, a place to turn to for their every need. Except, apparently, insurance advocacy. “What we’ve tried to do is kind of keep a distance, avoid getting in the middle of the policyholder-insurance…