Spooky Language in Your Policy?
Spooky Language in Your Policy?

Getting a notice from a home insurer that they’re dropping you is scary, and UP works hard to help people avoid and deal with that situation. Read our latest tips on shopping for affordable home insurance when your options are limited. Even scarier is hearing…
Keeping Score to Avoid Paying More
Keeping Score to Avoid Paying More

Your credit, insurance or risk score may make you “feel like a number”, but that may be more than a feeling.  A low credit score will cause some insurers to offer you inferior coverage at a higher price. Because credit scores are often wrong and…
This One Common Insurance Mistake Could Cost You Thousands, Experts Warn
This One Common Insurance Mistake Could Cost You Thousands, Experts Warn

REMEDY IT IMMEDIATELY TO KEEP THIS COSTLY ERROR FROM DRAINING YOUR BANK ACCOUNT. Across the U.S., there have been snowstorms in May and heatwaves in November, making it clear that the weather is getting harder and harder to plan for. When unpredictable weather strikes, having insurance can help protect…
With Start of Hurricane Season, It’s Time to Consider Flood Insurance
With Start of Hurricane Season, It’s Time to Consider Flood Insurance

Most policies are issued by the government, which plans to change the way it prices its policies in the fall to better reflect climate risks. This year’s hurricane season began early, with a named storm forming before the official start on June 1, and it is expected…
East Bay Resident Makes Fire Prevention a Passion
East Bay Resident Makes Fire Prevention a Passion

OAKLAND (KPIX) — An Bay Area resident who has been a fire prevention activist since she lost her home in the Oakland Hills firestorm 30 years ago, Sue Piper is passionate about disaster preparedness. The Gateway Preparedness Exhibit Center educates people on how to prepare for wildfires…
Hail, Hail Spring is Here
Hail, Hail Spring is Here

With vaccinations, more daylight and warming weather, things are looking UP. In keeping with our mission of helping people be resilient, here’s an important reminder: It’s hail season and climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of hail events. Now is a great time to check…
It’s severe weather season in Texas — do you know where your homeowners insurance policy is?
It’s severe weather season in Texas — do you know where your homeowners insurance policy is?

If you tend to stuff your insurance policy away in a drawer or a file and not look at it for a year or more, it could cost you big. DALLAS — Wed., March 24 is an important date if you are eligible for a…
Why You Should Buy Renters Insurance: 5 Things to Know
Why You Should Buy Renters Insurance: 5 Things to Know

The coverage is affordable and easy to buy, and provides a safety net if something goes wrong When the deep freeze hit Texas in February, Amani Elsawah was among the millions of residents who lost power and suffered water damage from burst frozen pipes. The…
Proposed insurance rules would give property owners access to wildfire risk score
Proposed insurance rules would give property owners access to wildfire risk score

Under new rules proposed by California’s insurance commissioner, home and business owners will have open access to their wildfire risk scores that companies use to determine rates and renew coverage. Commissioner Ricardo Lara said he has heard the frustration and confusion from residents over how…
Why You Should Consider Flood Insurance Even if You Don’t Live in a Flood Zone
Why You Should Consider Flood Insurance Even if You Don’t Live in a Flood Zone

Most homeowners who carry flood insurance have little choice in the matter; they live in a high-risk area where their mortgage lender requires coverage. But flood protection is worth a look even if your bank doesn’t demand you have it. The insurance industry sees the…
Life (insurance) Lessons
Life (insurance) Lessons

Pandemic-related layoffs, furloughs and business closures have forced many Americans to tap retirement accounts and cut non-essential expenses to get by. If you’re experiencing financial hardship but don’t want your auto, home or life insurance to lapse, check the website of the agency that oversees…
Buying homeowners insurance? Ask these 4 questions first
Buying homeowners insurance? Ask these 4 questions first

Purchasing insurance may not be as fun as choosing new furniture and paint colors, but it’s a critical part of the homebuying process. Your homeowners insurance policy is a financial safety net in case of a disaster, so you’ll want to ask a few important…
Many Californians Being Left Without Homeowners Insurance Due to Wildfire Risk
Many Californians Being Left Without Homeowners Insurance Due to Wildfire Risk

Acquiring home insurance has long been a mundane but necessary chore. In California, for hundreds of thousands of residents, it’s turned into a labyrinthine quest that leaves people with expensive, bare-bones coverage. That’s because an increasing amount of Californians have been dropped by their regular…
Who Is The California Earthquake Authority?
Who Is The California Earthquake Authority?

You might call the California Earthquake Authority a financial shock absorber for the Golden State, home to nearly 40 million people and to two-thirds of the country’s earthquake risk. Created in 1996, the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is the largest residential earthquake insurer in the…
It’s fire season. Here are three ways to prepare financially
It’s fire season. Here are three ways to prepare financially

Good morning. I’m Rachel Schnalzer, the L.A. Times Business section’s audience engagement editor, back with our weekly newsletter. While the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic are the usual focus of the newsletter, I’m pivoting this week to discuss another crisis facing Californians: the wildfires…
UP helping CA households struggling to find and afford home insurance
UP helping CA households struggling to find and afford home insurance

Through our Roadmap to Preparedness and Advocacy and Action programs, United Policyholders is continuing to work hard to help the thousands of California households that are struggling to keep their homes properly insured at a price they can afford and with a company they can…
Returning residents grapple with overgrown abandoned neighboring properties
Returning residents grapple with overgrown abandoned neighboring properties

Some solutions are emerging, but funds are short PARADISE — Abandoned properties overgrown with flammable vegetation vastly out-number new homes under construction in the burn scar, and there’s little cash-strapped local officials can really do. The fire risk caused by overgrown empty lots is putting…
Wise UP and save on your insurance
Wise UP and save on your insurance

Wise UP and save on your insurance As households across the nation look for ways to cut costs while dealing with record job losses and sheltering in place, UP has suggestions for reducing insurance premiums without sacrificing asset protection. – Consider increasing your auto and…