Help with Sandy insurance claims — via phone
Help with Sandy insurance claims — via phone

People whose homes or businesses were battered by superstorm Sandy have a potentially useful ally in filing insurance claims: their smartphone. Can’t find your policy number, deductible information or other insurance data needed to make a claim? Use your phone to access a carrier’s website…
Sandy’s Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles
Sandy’s Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles

An insurance industry that has taken its lumps from hurricanes has come to treat them differently. Today, homeowners insurance often comes with special and potentially steeper deductibles that kick in when claims are related to the punishing storms. Superstorm Sandy recently raised awareness about hurricane…
Money Heroes: Three Guardians Protecting Consumers’ Finances
Money Heroes: Three Guardians Protecting Consumers’ Finances

Ensuring benefits for policyholders Amy Bach On a crusade since: 1984 Day job: Executive director of United Policyholders Achievement: Advocates for, and assists, insurance customers Why she’s a hero: Representing a New York State agency on an insurance task force in the 1980s, Bach saw…
Wind could blow deductibles higher
Wind could blow deductibles higher

Newsday.com by: Joe Ryan Sandy may not have been a hurricane by the time it slammed into Long Island, but its winds were still powerful enough to trigger higher insurance deductibles that could cost homeowners thousands of dollars. As the tempest swirled toward New York,…
SANDY: Warning on Insurance; Thanks to Sandy, premiums could rise on LI
SANDY: Warning on Insurance; Thanks to Sandy, premiums could rise on LI

www.newsday.com By: Joe Ryan Long after the electricity returns and the gas lines end, last week’s massive storm is likely to take another swipe at Long Islanders by driving up the cost of homeowners insurance, experts say. Private insurance companies are expected to pay out…
Insurance Catch-22; Banks may need to co-endorse checks for repairs
Insurance Catch-22; Banks may need to co-endorse checks for repairs

www.newsday.com By: Joe Ryan For homeowners struggling to rebuild from Sandy, the bureaucratic maze may not end once the insurance settlement check arrives. Consider the plight of Diane Ortiz and George Tranos, whose Amityville home was gutted by a torrent of seawater. Two weeks later,…
Hurricane insurance deductibles: What? When?
Hurricane insurance deductibles: What? When?

An insurance industry that has taken its lumps from hurricanes has come to treat them differently. Today, homeowners insurance often comes with special and potentially steeper deductibles that kick in when claims are related to the punishing storms. Superstorm Sandy recently raised awareness about hurricane…
Speaking UP Pays
Speaking UP Pays

In “Sandy Victims Cry Foul Over Insurance” a recent piece that included Executive Director Amy Bach, CNN reporter Deborah Feyerick captured the bad and good news. The bad news is the fear and frustration Sandy victims are experiencing when told the damage to their home…
Sandy’s victims find flood insurance coverage wanting
Sandy’s victims find flood insurance coverage wanting

As their sodden couches and carpets rot at the curb, Long Islanders are coming to a grim realization: Flood insurance only covers a fraction of what it will cost to replace furniture ravaged by the storm. While most flood policies do cover dining sets, televisions,…
Sandy victims cry foul over insurance
Sandy victims cry foul over insurance

Superstorm Sandy victims say they’ve been denied insurance. Should they be getting payouts? CNN’s Deb Feyerick reports.
Insurance Companies Continue to Settle With States on Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies – Could One Be Yours?
Insurance Companies Continue to Settle With States on Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies – Could One Be Yours?

Multiple life insurance companies have reached multi-state settlements regarding an industry-wide practice of companies failing to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries of life insurance policies, despite having access to federal records indicating that policyholders had died, or direct confirmation from relatives of the deceased. Instead,…
Buying life insurance for America’s most dangerous jobs
Buying life insurance for America’s most dangerous jobs

Not all jobs are created equal. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics rates occupations based on the rate of accidents and fatal on-the-job injuries, highlighting the most dangerous jobs in the country. One of the top most dangerous jobs in the country is fishing. Fishermen…
Driver Protection or Loss of Choice? NY SUM Debate Awaits Approval
Driver Protection or Loss of Choice? NY SUM Debate Awaits Approval

When the New York Legislature passed amendment S. 7787/ A. 10784 in June, there were both cheers and jeers. It’s now the center of a debate between those who believe it’s protection for drivers and others who think it’s a loss of choice for consumers.…
Before catastrophe strikes
Before catastrophe strikes

People whose homes were damaged by Superstorm Sandy will soon find out whether they have the right kind of insurance and enough to rebuild. In other recent disasters, one-half to two-thirds of homeowners discovered after the fact that they were underinsured, often by hundreds of…
Tips for making insurance claims after Sandy
Tips for making insurance claims after Sandy

One inevitable consequence of the megastorm named Sandy will linger for a long while after the devastation is cleaned up and the victims buried: a large number of insurance claims from people hoping to rebuild their homes and their lives. Sandy’s historic size and scope…
Superstorm spotlights home insurance
Superstorm spotlights home insurance

People whose homes were damaged by superstorm Sandy will soon find out whether or not they have enough and the right kind of insurance to rebuild. In other recent disasters, one-half to two-thirds of homeowners discovered after the fact that they were underinsured, often by…
Is your insurance company spying on you?
Is your insurance company spying on you?

In a plugged-in, digitized, 24/7 world, it’s tough to keep your personal information private. So, in this hyper-digital age, just how much does your insurance company really know about you? “A lot more than most consumers realize,” says Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders,…
A 12-step plan for your Sandy insurance claim
A 12-step plan for your Sandy insurance claim

Some consumers will be shocked to learn that superstorm Sandy devastated not only cities, coastal areas and transit systems — but their pocketbooks, too. “A lot of people are going to have a rude wake-up call after this storm and realize that flood damage isn’t…