Big Data TMI and the impact on policyholders
Big Data TMI and the impact on policyholders

The terms “Big Data”, “Data Mining” and “Price Optimization” are all the buzz in insurance circles and among state insurance regulators.  They, non-profit consumer advocates, the private bar, and the Federal Insurance Office are all diving into whether the massive amount of personal data that’s…
FEMA Announces Reforms to National Flood Insurance Program
FEMA Announces Reforms to National Flood Insurance Program

The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced changes to the nation’s flood insurance program on Monday, responding to complaints from Superstorm Sandy survivors that the private insurers participating in the federally-backed program underpaid their claims and dragged out lawsuits. As FRONTLINE and NPR investigate in the…
Bach Talk: Preserving the promise of liability protection
Bach Talk: Preserving the promise of liability protection

I had the privilege of working with Gail Hillebrand in the early 90’s when she was a Senior Attorney in Consumers Union’s West Coast regional office.  Our offices were in the same building, and I was representing Voter Revolt (the predecessor to Consumer Watchdog) in implementing Proposition 103.  Gail…
NY Allocation Ruling Speeds Policyholders’ Road To Recovery
NY Allocation Ruling Speeds Policyholders’ Road To Recovery

The New York high court’s Tuesday ruling that each excess insurance policy covering Viking Pump Inc. and Warren Pumps LLC can be held liable for an entire loss resulting from asbestos claims gives policyholders a faster, cost-efficient path to coverage for multiyear claims by allowing…
Portland Harbor Superfund litigation has “super” implications for policyholders
Portland Harbor Superfund litigation has “super” implications for policyholders

Today was a big day for policyholders involved in the legendary Portland Harbor (Oregon) Superfund Site: two cases in which United Policyholders submitted amicus curiae briefs were up for argument before the Ninth Circuit.  Both cases involve the duty to defend under “long-tail” CGL policies and the…
Nonprofit Says Travelers Wrong On Asbestos Exclusion
Nonprofit Says Travelers Wrong On Asbestos Exclusion

A nonprofit consumer rights and insurance education organization has told the Third Circuit that General Refractories Co. was correctly awarded $36 million in its suit accusing Travelers of improperly denying coverage for asbestos exposure claims, saying the insurer gets Pennsylvania insurance law wrong. United Policyholders,…
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Claimant in ERISA Reimbursement Dispute (Guest blog)
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Claimant in ERISA Reimbursement Dispute (Guest blog)

In Montanile v. Bd. of Trs. of the Nat’l Elevator Indus. Health Ben. Plan, No. 14-723, 2016 U.S. LEXIS 843 (2016), the U.C. Supreme Court dealt a decisive victory to employees when it ruled 8-1 that an employee benefit plan may not garnish a plan participant’s general assets in…
35 Insurance Consumer Representatives Named as NAIC Liaisons
35 Insurance Consumer Representatives Named as NAIC Liaisons

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners NAIC) recently named 35 consumer liaison representatives for 2016. The 20 funded and 15 unfunded consumer representatives began their terms Jan. 1, 2016. Funded representatives receive travel expense reimbursement from the NAIC; unfunded representatives pay their own expenses. Established…
Holding the line: The Standard Fire Policy remains a useful floor (Guest blog)
Holding the line: The Standard Fire Policy remains a useful floor (Guest blog)

Most homeowner’s property insurance policies contain “intentional loss” and “concealment and fraud” provisions that exclude or bar coverage if any person who qualifies as an “insured” (typically defined to include the named insured and residents of the named insured’s household who are his or her…
Hot at the NAIC – Bach Talk
Hot at the NAIC – Bach Talk

The business of insurance is primarily regulated by individual states with a minimal amount of oversight by the Federal Government.  State regulators coordinate with each other through an organization called The National Association of Insurance Commissioners.  Three times a year, the NAIC hosts a conference…
Treasury Names 12 to Federal Insurance Advisory Committee
Treasury Names 12 to Federal Insurance Advisory Committee

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has named 12 individuals including several insurance industry executives, a professor, a consumer advocate and six state regulators to serve on the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance FACI). The FACI was established to provide a source for consumers and…
Reflections from a post-wildfire Local Assistance Center
Reflections from a post-wildfire Local Assistance Center

Over the past month, UP has been engaged with recovery efforts for the Valley and Butte Fires. I and other staff members and volunteers have sat across the table from countless fire survivors who lost everything, trying our best to give them some hope that they will…
How much credit affects your home insurance rate may surprise you
How much credit affects your home insurance rate may surprise you

Credit is playing an increasingly important economic role in Americans’ lives these days, and according to a recent study, your credit history can be a major factor in what you pay for home insurance. For the second year in a row, a Quadrant Information Services…
Statement of California Health Advocates and United Policyholders
Statement of California Health Advocates and United Policyholders

Public Hearing: Minnesota Department of Commerce – Long-Term Care – Rate Increases and Policyholder Protections In late August, 2015, the Minnesota Department of Commerce convened a hearing to assist the Department’s fact-finding effort on long-term care insurance industry issues. The hearing provided consumers, insurance companies, and other…
What does my credit rating have to do with my driving?
What does my credit rating have to do with my driving?

Most auto-insurance companies use your consumer credit rating as a significant factor in determining what rate to charge you.Who knew?Maybe you. But two-thirds of customers didn’t know, according to a Government Accountability Office survey. Spokesman Mike Barry of the Insurance Information Institute, an industry trade…
Friends in high places – Congratulations Sallie Clark!
Friends in high places – Congratulations Sallie Clark!

If you follow UP’s work, you know that the relationships we build with public officials in disaster areas are an essential part of how our small staff serves so many consumers far from our base in San Francisco.  El Paso (Colorado) County Commissioner Sallie Clark…
Class sues State Farm for manipulating homeowners with water damage
Class sues State Farm for manipulating homeowners with water damage

Insurer directed claimants to repair services it had under contract to hold down costs, class action states. A putative class action accuses State Farm Insurance, the nation’s largest property insurer, of willfully directing homeowners to substandard water damage repair services, bolstering the company’s bottom line…
The “running and gunning” flood claim adjuster life
The “running and gunning” flood claim adjuster life

Why would flood insurance adjusters underpay claims when they get paid a percentage of settlement amounts?  Doesn’t that give them an economic incentive to pay higher settlements to increase the fee they earn?  These questions come up after every flood disaster.  These questions have been…