Is your home underinsured? Here’s how to tell
Is your home underinsured? Here’s how to tell

Your house isn’t just a place to hang your hat — it’s also one of your most valuable financial assets. That’s why homeowners without enough insurance can face financial ruin when disaster strikes and they find themselves suddenly homeless and unable to rebuild. The problem…
Dropped via Drone: Why Your Insurer is Scanning Your Roof Without Notice
Dropped via Drone: Why Your Insurer is Scanning Your Roof Without Notice

Linda Bennett lived in her Santa Ana home for decades without a single insurance problem. No leaks. No water damage. No complaints. Then a letter arrived from State Farm telling her to replace her roof or lose her coverage. Nobody knocked on her door. Nobody…
Homeowner hit with $1,200 tree repair charge after insurer’s ‘invasive’ drone flies over property
Homeowner hit with $1,200 tree repair charge after insurer’s ‘invasive’ drone flies over property

Lynne Schueler of Topsfield, Massachusetts, was shocked to receive the notice and terrified of the implications. She told CBS News: “It was very invasive, because they had taken a picture of my house without me knowing, which was really kind of crazy. “They were cancelling…
Amid climate crisis, insurers’ increased use of AI raises concern for policyholders
Amid climate crisis, insurers’ increased use of AI raises concern for policyholders

This article was produced by Capital & Main. It is published here with permission. William May’s home in Pacific Palisades was destroyed in the L.A. wildfires in January 2025. He’s still haunted by the memory of the “fireball burning everything in its path” on that…
Santa Ana homeowner says insurance company used drone to inspect her roof without telling her
Santa Ana homeowner says insurance company used drone to inspect her roof without telling her

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — More insurance companies are using drones to help decide whether to renew policies. One Orange County woman says she believes her home insurance company did this before telling her she needed to make some pricey repairs to her roof. Linda…
Homeowner blindsided with $20k bill after State Farm secretly inspected roof by drone
Homeowner blindsided with $20k bill after State Farm secretly inspected roof by drone

The shocking notice came after State Farm reportedly spotted the issue using an AI-powered drone without the homeowner’s knowledge. Now, experts are claiming that the company was incorrect in its updated satellite imaging. Linda Bennett, who has lived in Santa Ana, California, for decades, was…
CA insurance commissioner Challenges facing next person to hold office
CA insurance commissioner Challenges facing next person to hold office

In November, Californians will vote for “the second-hardest job in the state behind the governor.” That’s according to someone who has held the job twice: John Garamendi, who was the state’s first elected insurance commissioner in the 1990s and served again in the early 2000s.…
Close to Home: Weighing a mandate to insure fire-safe homes – The Press Democrat
Close to Home: Weighing a mandate to insure fire-safe homes – The Press Democrat

As a region that’s been impacted by past wildfires, North Bay communities know firsthand that insurance matters — a lot. Today’s insurance marketplace is more complicated and challenging for property owners than ever before, and there’s a lot of work and thought going into solutions.…
Insurance rates could go up under new homeowners bill
Insurance rates could go up under new homeowners bill

Under Senate Bill 876, Californians who lose their homes to natural disasters like wildfires would get the full cash value of their lost house paid to them by insurance companies. The new bill aims to ensure full compensation for homeowners like the ones who lost…
Soaring profits are ‘fueling tremendous anger’ among consumers as insurance rates skyrocket across the US. Here’s how to keep a lid on your premiums
Soaring profits are ‘fueling tremendous anger’ among consumers as insurance rates skyrocket across the US. Here’s how to keep a lid on your premiums

An insurance premium that ratchets up almost $1,000 over a few years is the kind of unwelcome surprise that every homeowner dreads, but that’s what happened to Cliff and Laura Pasquello, now of North Carolina, when they owned a home in Pennsylvania. “We had only…
The Uproar Over Affordability Is Coming for Insurers
The Uproar Over Affordability Is Coming for Insurers

Insurance companies that cover homes and cars are reaping the rewards of the inflation-busting price increases that have squeezed household budgets nationwide. But the stark contrast between near-record profits and sharp rate hikes has put the industry in the regulatory firing line. Insurers are starting…
The 16% Homeowner Trap: Why Major Insurers are Quietly Canceling 2026 Policies This Week
The 16% Homeowner Trap: Why Major Insurers are Quietly Canceling 2026 Policies This Week

If you’ve lived in your home for a decade without ever filing a claim, you might think your “renewal” notice is a formality. But this week, thousands of homeowners in states like California, Florida, and Texas are receiving a different kind of letter: a non-renewal…
5 serious disadvantages of putting your home in a living trust. Know the risks before making a move in 2026
5 serious disadvantages of putting your home in a living trust. Know the risks before making a move in 2026

If you’re looking to simplify the process of transferring your home to your heirs after you pass, you may have considered transferring it to a living trust. This is a maneuver some estate planners recommend in order to avoid the dreaded probate process. It’s an…
Climate Change Exposes a Major Home Insurance Gap
Climate Change Exposes a Major Home Insurance Gap

A year after the Los Angeles wildfires, many survivors face the same problem: Their insurance policies aren’t paying out enough to cover the cost of rebuilding. It’s a tragic predicament. And it will happen again when the next disaster hits. Since the 1990s, American homes…
California fire victims say fighting with insurance companies has delayed rebuilding
California fire victims say fighting with insurance companies has delayed rebuilding

Nine months had passed since a wildfire destroyed Mark Johnson’s southern California home, and he was still waiting for State Farm to pay his claim. Desperate for a resolution, Johnson asked the insurer in October to negotiate a settlement so his family could rebuild. “I…
California fire victims say slow insurance payouts have stalled efforts to rebuild
California fire victims say slow insurance payouts have stalled efforts to rebuild

California fire victims say they’re struggling to rebuild because insurance payouts have been slow or insufficient. Some lawmakers say home insurance is failing those facing climate change. Transcript: MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: A year after wildfires began sweeping across Los Angeles County, many homeowners are just…
Many L.A. fire survivors face insurance delays and can’t return home a year later
Many L.A. fire survivors face insurance delays and can’t return home a year later

A year after the deadly Los Angeles County fires, California’s property insurance market remains problematic; survivors are suing insurers over delayed or denied claims; and most of the state’s policyholders are likely to see their premiums rise. Seven in 10 L.A. fire survivors have yet…
New insurance laws: Will they help homeowners?
New insurance laws: Will they help homeowners?

What we know: As the struggle with cost, availability of policies with adequate coverage at a price that doesn’t break homeowners’ backs continues, there has been progress and movement, but insurers still maintain the upper hand. Perhaps the most important change for homeowners is that…