Interview: Roadway to Recovery Workshop Tonight in Santa Rosa
Interview: Roadway to Recovery Workshop Tonight in Santa Rosa

Executive Director of United Policyholders, Amy Bach, shares her view of how the community is doing presently as we continue to navigate the post-October wildfire era, how proactive our community has been when it comes to home insurance coverage that they paid for, suggestions on…
As Hurricane Season Arrives, U.S. Homeowners Haven’t Fixed Their Big Underinsurance Problem
As Hurricane Season Arrives, U.S. Homeowners Haven’t Fixed Their Big Underinsurance Problem

Many homeowners lack flood insurance or have insufficient policy limits for repairs or rebuilding following a natural catastrophe Many U.S. homeowners are inadequately insured for natural-catastrophe damage ahead of the height of the Atlantic hurricane season. Three major landfalling hurricanes in 2017—Harvey, Irma and Maria—revealed…
Watts UP: Progress in Puna
Watts UP: Progress in Puna

United Policyholders has been guiding Hawai’i residents on insurance matters since the Kilauea volcano erupted and released burning lava that destroyed homes and neighborhoods in the Puna region of the Big Island. Over 220 people attended the first forum we co-hosted in the area, and…
Foundation announces $470,000 in grants to nonprofits supporting those impacted by fires
Foundation announces $470,000 in grants to nonprofits supporting those impacted by fires

This week, Community Foundation Sonoma County CFSC) announced grants to help people impacted by the fires who are struggling with insurance claims, legal issues and securing the resources they need to recover. These grants are funded through Community Foundation’s Sonoma County Resilience Fund, which was…
Regulators and the Predictive Modeling Challenge
Regulators and the Predictive Modeling Challenge

Big data, predictive models, neural networks — the world of insurance pricing is changing fast, as any actuary can attest. It falls to the regulators — some of them actuaries — to figure out how get the old rules to apply to this new world.…
Impact of Court Ruling Chubb Unit’s Crime Policy Covers ‘Spoofed’ Wire Transfer
Impact of Court Ruling Chubb Unit’s Crime Policy Covers ‘Spoofed’ Wire Transfer

In a closely-watched case on insurance coverage in an age of expanding cyber risk, a federal appeals court in New York has upheld a lower court ruling that a commercial crime insurance policy covers wire transfer losses resulting from a spoofing attack. The ruling is…
Sonoma County foundation gives $500,000 more for wildfire-recovery help with insurance, law
Sonoma County foundation gives $500,000 more for wildfire-recovery help with insurance, law

A Sonoma County nonprofit has announced nearly $500,000 in grants to two area organizations specifically to help victims of the October wildfires deal with the legal and insurance issues related to recovery. Community Foundation Sonoma County said the funding comes through its Sonoma County Resilience…
Mind the gap – Fill the holes
Mind the gap – Fill the holes

Any time the topic of insurance catches your attention is a good time to check on yours. Exclusions and high deductibles cause major protection gaps. Once again a UP R2R survey documented that 2/3 of wildfire survivors don’t have enough insurance to pay for their…
Insurance Tips Post-1/9 Debris Flow Montecito Residents Gather for Practical Advice
Insurance Tips Post-1/9 Debris Flow Montecito Residents Gather for Practical Advice

Sixty Montecito property owners who suffered losses during the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow got practical advice from United Policyholders, a San Francisco–based nonprofit firm whose motto is “Empowering the Insured.” “You’re not the first community to have to go through something like this,”…
Thomas Fire and Debris Flow – Roadmap to Recovery Workshop June 26, 2018
Thomas Fire and Debris Flow – Roadmap to Recovery Workshop June 26, 2018

Our next Roadmap to Recovery workshop for Thomas Fire Survivors will be held on: Tuesday, June 26th from 5:30-7:30pm Montecito Union School Auditorium 385 San Ysidro Rd., Santa Barbara This workshop will cover navigating your insurance claim, asserting your rights, and sources of help. This workshop…
Below the law, below the belt
Below the law, below the belt

Liability insurance is considered such an essential protection in our society that anyone who drives is required by law to buy it in every state except New Hampshire. Renters and homeowners buy it. Businesses buy it. Why? Because accidents happen, people get hurt, property gets…
California Supreme Court Finds Valid Insurance Coverage Claim Even If Employee Intentionally Caused Injury
California Supreme Court Finds Valid Insurance Coverage Claim Even If Employee Intentionally Caused Injury

The California Supreme Court has ruled that when a third party sues an employer for the negligent hiring, retention, and supervision of an employee who intentionally injured that third party, the suit can allege an “occurrence” under the employer’s commercial general liability insurance policy. The…
Hawaii Big Island UPdate
Hawaii Big Island UPdate

SPECIAL ALERT FOR PUNA RESIDENTS: Organizations to host insurance forum for residents affected by lava flows PUNA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) – As the number of homes lost to lava since eruptions began climbs to 87, many lower Puna residents are uncertain about what — if anything — they’ll have to…
UPdate on remedies for UNDERINSURED CA disaster survivors
UPdate on remedies for UNDERINSURED CA disaster survivors

Wildfire survivors in regions throughout California are using UP’s guidance on how to remedy the fact that they are grossly underinsured.  Upon learning that assurances they’d gotten and relied upon from insurers, agents, and brokers that their homes were adequately insured were untrue – these…
Transformed by October fires, Sonoma County takes stock, bracing for ‘a learning year’
Transformed by October fires, Sonoma County takes stock, bracing for ‘a learning year’

Two sisters. Two paths to recovery. Susan Komar and Lynn Van Fleit each lost a home last fall when the Tubbs fire ravaged northern Santa Rosa. Six months later, Komar and her husband, Chris, said they plan this year to start rebuilding their home in…
The Results Are In…
The Results Are In…

The bad news: Inadequate insurance and loss valuation disputes are slowing recovery from the devastating 2017 wildfires in Northern CA, according to UP’s most recent Roadmap to Recovery survey. A full 6 months after losing their homes, 80% of survey respondents have NOT settled the…
Editorial: The heartbreaking reason why many victims won’t rebuild
Editorial: The heartbreaking reason why many victims won’t rebuild

For many homeowners, the full extent of the devastation from the October fires is still unfolding — on their calculators. As Staff Writer Bill Swindell spelled out in his front-page story a week ago “Painful insurance reality,” Sunday), the number of people in Sonoma County…
Insurance shortfalls hamper Sonoma County fire victims’ ability to rebuild
Insurance shortfalls hamper Sonoma County fire victims’ ability to rebuild

Josh Nix thought he was doing everything right in August when he renewed the insurance policy for his Mark West area home just east of Luther Burbank Center for the Arts. Nix answered the questions posed by his carrier, USAA, in an online form used…