May 31, 2024 Can You Lower Your Home Insurance Premium? I attended the May 15 workshop in Scotts Valley on home insurance, hoping I could find a way to lower my State Farm premium, which has jumped from $1,000 a year before the CZU wildfire in Boulder Creek to $3,290 a year. The panel of…
May 30, 2024 California property owners paying more as state works to keep insurers from leaving California plans to close the door on insurance carriers leaving the state by granting many of their rate hike requests, some into the double digits. That’s the plan state officials are banking on to stabilize the California insurance market in an environment where surveys indicate…
May 30, 2024 California property owners paying more as state works to keep insurers from leaving Property owners in the Golden State face more insurance rate hikes, some into the double digits, amid ongoing concerns over carriers leaving the state. Despite requests for increases, state officials aim to stabilize the market and prioritize insurance access. California plans to close the door…
May 30, 2024 Berkeley homeowner’s insurance Zoom webinar video is now available online Homeowners around the city, as with much of the state, have been getting non-renewal notices from their insurers, leaving them with few options and rising costs. Original story, May 23: Councilmember Susan Wengraf, who represents the northeastern corner of Berkeley, has organized a Zoom seminar…
May 29, 2024 California consumer group blasts insurance bill backed by Newsom A bill backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that is intended to halt more exits from California’s troubled homeowners insurance market by speeding up reviews of proposed rate hikes drew sharp criticism Wednesday from an influential consumer group. The administration this week released the draft of…
May 29, 2024 How Newsom ended up siding with insurers HITTING A CRISIS POINT: The wildfire insurance problem in California has gotten so bad that Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking a counter-intuitive stance for a top Democrat: siding with industry in its long-standing feud with consumer advocates. A legislative proposal the Newsom administration published late…
May 27, 2024 As insurers around the U.S. bleed cash from climate shocks, homeowners lose At first glance, Dave Langston’s predicament seems similar to headaches facing homeowners in coastal states vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes: As disasters have become more frequent and severe, his insurance company has been losing money. Then, it canceled his coverage and left the state. But Langston…
May 25, 2024 As insurers around the US bleed cash from climate shocks, homeowners lose At first glance, Dave Langston’s predicament seems similar to headaches facing homeowners in coastal states vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes: As disasters have become more frequent and severe, his insurance company has been losing money. Then, it canceled his coverage and left the state. But Langston…
May 24, 2024 Residents face uncertainty as home insurance options dwindle amid fire risks Wildfire preparedness meeting highlights dire situation in the Valley There was a moment, about an hour and a half into City of Scotts Valley’s wildfire preparedness meeting May 14, when the stark reality of the current home insurance landscape in California came into focus. Vice…
May 23, 2024 Home-insurance payouts are shrinking. Here’s how to prevent the worst. Thanks to inflation and climate change, homeowners are getting less money back from their insurers to repair and rebuild. With tornado season in full swing — hitting Texas and Iowa hard in the last week — and hurricane and wildfire season looming this summer, insurance…
May 21, 2024 As Home Insurers Exit the State, Officials Promise Faster Action Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for swifter reforms to California’s beleaguered home insurance market as homeowners across the state continue to lose coverage or face rate hikes. A growing number of insurance companies have stopped writing new policies in the state, citing increased climate-related risks…
May 20, 2024 Lawson-Remer: State Farm a ‘bad neighbor’ for abandoning longtime policyholders 72,000 State Farm policyholders will lose coverage starting in July 2024. What you can do if this happens to you. San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer called State Farm a ‘bad neighbor’ in a press conference Monday for abandoning longtime policyholders. CBS 8 is Working…
May 17, 2024 How to find home insurance in Santa Cruz County As thousands of Santa Cruz County homeowners are losing home insurance, a state official and insurance professionals this week offered advice for finding, keeping and affording policies. Prompted by catastrophic wildfires and floods made more frequent by climate change, many insurance companies in California have…
May 16, 2024 With 15,000 Santa Cruz County homeowners being ‘non-renewed’ for insurance, anxieties grow as plans are hatched in Sacramento When Scotts Valley Vice Mayor Derek Timm asked a crowd of about 100 how many had been dropped by their insurance or otherwise not renewed, nearly every audience member raised a hand. The crowd had assembled Tuesday evening for a forum at the Scotts Valley…
May 16, 2024 What to do if you’ve been ‘non-renewed’ by your insurance company Homeowners are trying to figure out a way forward in this new non-renewal landscape. The law requires that homeowners receive a non-renewal notice at least 75 days before the policy expires. Some agents have alerted long-standing clients, even if their parent companies have not provided…
May 15, 2024 Bach Talk: Skyfall(out) – Aerial photos impacting property insurance One of the tools property insurance companies are using to screen potential and existing customers are aerial images captured by satellites and drones of homes, surroundings and roof conditions. When the images show damage or hazards, they can trigger a non-renewal or rejected application. This…
May 15, 2024 Coverage cuts, digital claims and other changes impacting the P&C market The proliferation of risks impacting the property and casualty insurance market means that insurers have to be constantly aware of the latest developments that are reshaping their business. On the West Coast, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) announced in March a sustainable insurance strategy…
May 15, 2024 GUEST BLOG: Replacement Cost Estimates: A Crucial Aspect of Home Insurance This guest blog was written by Matt Everson, co-owner of BW Builder and a United Policyholders’ professional volunteer. Has your application at the California Fair Plan stalled? Are you finding it hard to figure out why? It might be because Fair Plan requires a Replacement…