Rainpocalypse
Rainpocalypse

If your property has been damaged due to a heavy rain and high winds, it can be tricky to collect insurance benefits to pay for repairs. Home and renters policies exclude some but not all types of water damage.  “Flood” damage (the policy should define…
Prepared, not scared
Prepared, not scared

No, we’re not talking about doomsday predictions… We’re talking about the simple things you can do to create your own financial safety net to prepare for extreme weather and what that weather can do to the roof over your head or your source of income.…
Speaking UP works
Speaking UP works

Our final tip of the month this year is simple: When it comes to insurance, have a pro-active mindset. If you’ve had a loss, ask for a cash advance while your claim is being processed. If you’ve got property insurance, ask the agent or insurer…
4 Homeowner’s Insurance Pitfalls
4 Homeowner’s Insurance Pitfalls

A home is perhaps the single largest investment of a person’s life. When someone takes out a mortgage, they are also required to take out a homeowners’ insurance policy that is acceptable to their lender. If they let the policy lapse for any reason, while…
5 Hidden Costs of Relocation
5 Hidden Costs of Relocation

If you’ve got your eye on a new city where you can buy a bigger house with an affordable mortgage payment, don’t be too quick to sign those closing documents. If you don’t do a little research first, you may get ambushed by unexpected costs…
Wise UP: The Savvy Consumers Guide To Buying Insurance
Wise UP: The Savvy Consumers Guide To Buying Insurance

Wise UP: The Savvy Consumers Guide to Buying Insurance, a United Policyholders’ publication This compact guide will give you the inside scoop on what really matters when buying or renewing insurance for your car, home and assets. It’s short, easy to read and gives you…
Oakland hills My Word: Preventing repeat of 1991 fire begins with you
Oakland hills My Word: Preventing repeat of 1991 fire begins with you

This month — Thursday of this week to be exact — is the 25th anniversary of the Oakland/Berkeley hills firestorm. Many of you were here that day. Some of you — like my husband and me — escaped the flames with just the clothes on…
What Is Umbrella Insurance – and Do I Need It?
What Is Umbrella Insurance – and Do I Need It?

Like an umbrella that protects you from the elements on a rainy day, an umbrella insurance policy can shield your personal assets from large liability claims. Umbrella excess liability protection can help you avoid financial ruin if you’re found to be responsible for legal damages…
Your privacy, your price
Your privacy, your price

UP works to help you get a fair deal when you buy or use insurance. We direct you to sources of reliable comparison-shopping help. We offer more claim guidance than anyone could use in one lifetime. But we can’t protect you from hackers and trackers…
What’s a jilted policyholder to do?
What’s a jilted policyholder to do?

Getting a “non-renewal” notice from your home insurer is not a pleasant experience: You have to shop for replacement protection, and that’s no fun. You may have to leave a brand-name insurer for one you’ve never heard of. And on top of that, you probably…
Family finances: Don’t get caught ‘undercovered’
Family finances: Don’t get caught ‘undercovered’

One-half to two-thirds of homeowners who experience a total loss don’t have enough insurance to rebuild their home and replace their belongings, according to post-disaster surveys of homeowners by United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group. Here’s how to be sure you’re covered. 1. Check the…
Home is home, rented or owned
Home is home, rented or owned

Buying renter’s insurance is an easy “yes” decision if you’ve got assets to protect. Most policies cost the equivalent of a few cups of coffee a week. A renter’s policy can give you money to repair/replace damaged and stolen stuff, moving costs if your place…
​Long-term care for seniors is on life support
​Long-term care for seniors is on life support

This August, two of the country’s biggest insurance companies, MetLife MET) and Unum UNM), will be front and center before the Florida insurance commissioner. They’ll have to explain why they’re asking some of their 70,000 policyholders for double the amount they paid in premiums last…
Why Insurance Companies Don’t Renew Policies
Why Insurance Companies Don’t Renew Policies

FOR the better part of a week last year, Nancy Wergeles searched her home in Weston, Conn., for the engagement ring her husband had given her 53 years before. They had had a string of health care aides in their home and were also putting…
How to find the replacement cost of your home for insurance
How to find the replacement cost of your home for insurance

When Herb Solomon changed his homeowners’ insurance this year, he was surprised to see that his new company estimated the replacement cost of his 2,600-square-foot North Berkeley home at roughly one-third less than the old one. Solomon’s policy last year, from Fireman’s Fund, had a…
Do I Need Flood Insurance?
Do I Need Flood Insurance?

A megastorm has struck your house, leaving a pile of waterlogged wreckage in its wake. But you’re covered financially because you have homeowner’s insurance, right? Wrong. Although most homeowner’s and rental policies reimburse for damage caused by wind or fire, these policies generally exclude losses…
Credit Scores Can Impact Auto Insurance Renewals
Credit Scores Can Impact Auto Insurance Renewals

Trying to figure out how auto insurance companies set your rate can be a real head-scratcher. You’re unlikely to crack the formula, but you can be sure that your credit history is part of the equation, unless you live in one of the few states…
With Hurricane Season Here, Time to Check Home Insurance
With Hurricane Season Here, Time to Check Home Insurance

Bonnie, the tropical storm that drenched the Carolinas over Memorial Day weekend, did not reach hurricane status. But that storm, and the official start of the 2016 hurricane season on Wednesday, make this a good time for homeowners to check their insurance policies to see…