October 30, 2019 Tips for shopping for home insurance in a challenging market It is not uncommon for people to break down in tears after getting a notice that their home insurer is dropping them as a customer. In some cases, it’s tears of frustration that they paid all that money for insurance they never used, or tears…
October 23, 2019 Gov. Newsom signs law requiring home insurers give policyholders more time before cancellations Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed legislation into law that makes insurers give homeowners longer advance notice before canceling their policies. The law increases the minimum time notification for homeowner policy nonrenewals from 45 days to 75 days. However, the change does not go into…
October 21, 2019 There’s a quake every three minutes in California – here’s why we still don’t buy quake insurance ORINDA, Calif. KGO) — Scientists tell us earthquakes strike every three minutes in California — though most of them are so weak we can’t feel them, enough are so big we can’t forget them. So, does living through a quake drive us to buy earthquake…
October 10, 2019 6 ways to dramatically lower your home insurance costs The cost of homeowners insurance is one of those unavoidable expenses that comes along with owning a house. How much you’ll pay for insurance varies depending on your location and the age of your home, but the average annual homeowners insurance premium is $1,200. That…
October 1, 2019 Spooky Language Hiding in Your Insurance? Getting a notice from a home insurer that they’re dropping you is scary, and UP works hard to help people in that situation. Read our latest tips on shopping for affordable home insurance when your options are limited. Just as scary is hearing your insurer…
September 17, 2019 WRAP UP: The Wildfire Risk Reduction and Asset Protection Project Above, R to L: After his insurer threatened to drop him, a Moraga, CA homeowner contacted his local Fire Dept. for help. UP’s Amy Bach rode along with local fire officials as they inspected and prescribed steps to reduce risk and retain his coverage. If…
August 28, 2019 UP offers solutions to California’s home insurance crisis The problem: Generally speaking, insurance companies want to sell insurance. But they also want to be profitable. Sometimes they will stop selling insurance in a region or to a group of customers they deem too risky. They do this as a business strategy to improve profitability. …
July 1, 2019 Dropped by your home insurer? What to do… In some parts of the country, home insurance is not as available and affordable as in the past, so UP is working hard to help consumers shop for asset protection. Avoid wasting energy being angry or scared when your insurer “breaks up” with you… Don’t…
June 15, 2019 Why Safer Cars Don’t Lead To Cheaper Car Insurance … Yet Many new cars sold today can take preemptive action to help prevent crashes — hitting the brakes before a collision, steering around obstacles or alerting drivers to hazards in their blind spots. Those safety features — collectively known as advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS —…
June 14, 2019 Check UP: Volunteer Project – Helping homeowners review their insurance policies On June 14, 2019, in Napa, United Policyholders hosted a community event called Check UP to help homeowners get prepared for wildfire season. At Check UP, homeowners could bring a copy of their insurance policy and have an expert volunteer review the policy with them. …
May 1, 2019 Shaking Your Assets? If you own property in an area that’s prone to earthquakes, chances are your insurance excludes coverage for repairs and rebuilding due to quake damage. Insurance companies carved out coverage for this risk decades ago, and you have to shop and pay to add it…
March 23, 2019 Explaining to Homeowners Reconstruction Costs Versus Other Valuations The source of this article is a business that provides services to the insurance industry. According to a recent CoreLogic Natural Hazard Press Release, the 2018 Camp and Woolsey Wildfires in California caused devastating losses between $15 and $19 billon. Because a home is most…
March 23, 2019 North Bay floods alert businesses to uncover the quirks of their insurance coverage As North Bay business owners directly impacted by last month’s floods push through massive recovery efforts, they’re also having to deal with the fact that part of their business insurance coverage is useless. That part of the coverage is called business interruption insurance, part of…
October 1, 2018 Trick or treat…what’s in yours? Make sure your policy has more treats than tricks! The only thing scarier than how devastating the last year has been with wildfires, lava, flooding and hurricanes is language we’ve been finding buried in some of the insurance policies that impacted people have been showing…
September 20, 2018 Footing The Bill For Climate Change: ‘By The End Of The Day, Someone Has To Pay’ By all accounts, Florence was a massive, wet monster of a storm — and an expensive one, too. Its historic deluge swelled inland rivers and wrecked homes across the Carolinas, racking up costs that early estimates set as high as $22 billion. When the floodwaters…
September 4, 2018 Legislature enacts home insurance reforms without relief for 2017 wildfire victims The state Legislature has approved additional consumer protections for homeowner insurance to help Californians in the future as they grapple with greater statewide wildfire risks. The package of bills passed both chambers prior to summer adjournment on Saturday, despite resistance from the politically powerful property…
August 21, 2018 As Wildfire Costs Reach New Heights, Will Homeowners Get Socked on Insurance? Last year’s California wildfires set benchmarks for costly destruction on a scale unheard of before, with the more than $12 billion in losses topping the combined tab for the state’s worst wildfires dating back decades. There are no estimates yet for losses from this year’s…
March 25, 2018 Wildfire Mitigation & Insurance Project If you take action to make your home less likely to be seriously damaged or destroyed in a wildfire, your insurance company should reward you with a discount on your premium … or at the very least keep you as a customer and not drop…
