Commissioner Poizner Warns Santa Barbara Homeowners To Prepare For Wildfires
Commissioner Poizner Warns Santa Barbara Homeowners To Prepare For Wildfires
Do you have enough homeowner’s insurance?
Do you have enough homeowner’s insurance?

As a public service to residents, the Financial Planning Association of San Diego is answering financial questions for readers of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Today’s question is answered by Lynn Buchholz, CFP, president of Buchholz Financial Planning who teaches the “Fundamentals of Insurance” class in…
Help during the rebuilding process
Help during the rebuilding process

Grass is beginning to grow on the vacant sites where homes once stood four months after the fatal San Bruno explosion and fire, leading residents to consider restarting their lives but some may have questions about the details of construction. The Sept. 9 blast completely…
8 Big Life Insurance Mistakes to Avoid
8 Big Life Insurance Mistakes to Avoid

Life insurance is an important monetary investment, and you don’t want to buy an unsuitable policy or discover that you’ve purchased too much or too little. But if the fear of making a bad life insurance decision is stalling your effort, know that failing to…
Can roadside assistance sabotage your car insurance?
Can roadside assistance sabotage your car insurance?

When your car battery dies or you get a flat tire, having a roadside assistance plan can be a godsend. Car insurance companies generally offer cheaper roadside plans than those of motor clubs. However, these programs raise a question in many consumers’ minds, says Amy…
Community Fair Equips Residents With Tools, Answers Needed to Rebuild
Community Fair Equips Residents With Tools, Answers Needed to Rebuild

Raúl and Laura Zamora, like many homeowners in the Crestmoor neighborhood who were affected by the Sept. 9 fire, still haven’t been able to figure out how they’re going to move forward. They live in Concord but they had been renting their home on Fairmont…
Local Experts Help San Bruno Families Tackle Recovery Challenges
Local Experts Help San Bruno Families Tackle Recovery Challenges

For Immediate Release Contact: Amy Bach, United Policyholders, 415) 393-9990 Kate Comfort Harr, Rebuilding Together, 650) 366-6597 Local Experts Help San Bruno Families Tackle Recovery Challenges Local non-profits host “Dollars and Sense” info fair and workshops on Home Repairs, Insurance, Rebuilding and Recovery: January 9th,…
California wildfire survivor offers insurance help to Fourmile Fire victims
California wildfire survivor offers insurance help to Fourmile Fire victims

Karen Reimus bought her Southern California home just four months before the flames from the massive Cedar Fire consumed it in 2003. Reimus and her husband, both lawyers, had been careful to choose a good insurance policy, one they believed would cover the full cost…
Water-line insurance could be money down the drain
Water-line insurance could be money down the drain

One company offers policies covering the pipes that bring water to homes for $4.95 a month, but the exclusions are so broad that homeowners could be stuck with the bill for just about all repairs. Thousands of California homeowners recently received official-looking letters from a…
Bed bugs may bite insurers, but won’t dog industry
Bed bugs may bite insurers, but won’t dog industry

When dogs bite people, insurers often pay. But what happens when bed bugs bite? Bed-bug infestations in the United States have multiplied at an alarming rate in recent years. A recent survey of almost 1,000 pest exterminators found that 95% of the firms had dealt…
Burned again – Fourmile fire victims report problems getting insurance money
Burned again – Fourmile fire victims report problems getting insurance money

Some residents who lost their homes in the Fourmile Canyon fire are telling horror stories about trying to get their insurance companies to reimburse them for the full cost of their belongings and rebuilding their homes. One homeowner, who asked not to be identified for…
Do you know what your insurance covers?
Do you know what your insurance covers?

LITTLE ROCK, AR – It’s disaster season; do you know where your insurance policy is? Think your odds of disaster are low so you don’t need to really worry about what’s covered? You’re not alone. A recent survey shows a lot of us don’t have…
Bach featured speaker at 12th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference
Bach featured speaker at 12th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference

Property Insurance Issues are Primary Focus of 12th Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The concerns of property insurance and the perils facing the industry and consumers are some of the key issues to be addressed at the Twelfth Annual Windstorm Insurance Conference, set for January…
Flaws can cancel life insurance — after death
Flaws can cancel life insurance — after death

American General Life Insurance Co. markets its policies as protection for “the hopes and dreams of American families” — a promise Ian Weissberger took to heart during his losing battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. But after the Cathedral City mortgage broker died in 2005, American…
Call Kurtis Investigates: Travel Insurance
Call Kurtis Investigates: Travel Insurance

What Some Companies Don’t Reveal Before You Buy Only when you have to use it, you find out, it sometimes doesn’t cover your emergency. After several viewers found themselves roadblocked, they called Kurtis to investigate. We’ve received a number of complaints over the past five…
Be ‘insurance assured’ as wildfire season approaches
Be ‘insurance assured’ as wildfire season approaches

These tools and workshops apply lessons learned by those who’ve lost homes in past wildfires, plus tips from leading safety and construction experts. United Policyholders is a national nonprofit 501c) 3) organization that educates consumers on insurance matters with over 19 years of experience helping…
5 years after Katrina, homeowners insurance costs more
5 years after Katrina, homeowners insurance costs more

Five years after Hurricane Katrina leveled a large part of the Gulf Coast, homeowners as far away as Maine are still paying the bill. Home insurance rates for some coastal areas have shot up 30% or more. Thousands of homeowners who live along the East…
Even with insurance, being made whole takes work
Even with insurance, being made whole takes work

Owners or renters of the homes destroyed or damaged in the fire that tore through a San Bruno neighborhood Thursday are staring at a long and challenging process to recoup their losses. Getting paid the full amount they’re entitled to for their dwellings, possessions and…