California reforms should ease fire victims’ insurance claims
California reforms should ease fire victims’ insurance claims

The hundreds of people whose homes were lost or damaged in devastating wildfires now ravaging California should have an easier time dealing with insurers, thanks to the Oakland hills fire of 24 years ago. Survivors of that fire and subsequent ones in Los Angeles and…
Car Repairs From Deer Collisions Will Cost More
Car Repairs From Deer Collisions Will Cost More

The latest insurance data show that the risk of hitting a deer with your car has not changed much from a year ago. But the cost of repairing your car if you’re unlucky enough to strike one is on the rise. State Farm reports that…
Non-profit offers insurance advice to fire victims
Non-profit offers insurance advice to fire victims

Those who have been left homeless by the Valley Fire will now start the arduous task of getting their homes and lives rebuilt. If your house burns down you can count on at least a year before you are back in your place and for…
Give it back? Homeowners who got Hurricane Sandy repair funds may have to repay ‘Build It Back’ money
Give it back? Homeowners who got Hurricane Sandy repair funds may have to repay ‘Build It Back’ money

Sandy-ravaged homeowners who got “Build It Back” funds for repairs might have to repay the money because of Draconian HUD rules — even though federal bungling is what drove many to the program in the first place. As many as 3,000 homeowners — one-third of…
ServiceMaster and Water Damage Claims
ServiceMaster and Water Damage Claims

Couple Recalls ‘Leaky Toilet Nightmare’What started out as a leaky toilet turned into a local couple’s worst nightmare. They got into a battle with their insurance company and are now suing.It is a case their attorney says could affect hundreds of thousands of homeowners.Ora Tamir…
Springs renter hopes flooding nightmare can become lesson for others
Springs renter hopes flooding nightmare can become lesson for others

Annaleen DeHaan came home to a nightmare Monday evening. Her home on the east side of Colorado Springs was devastated by floodwater. “My mom calls me and is like, ‘So, the house flooded. I have a foot of mud and water,’” DeHaan said. “I kind…
Guess who’s turning 50?
Guess who’s turning 50?

Medicare, the program that remains essential for many American’s health and lifestyles, turns 50 this month. On the positive side, pressure is mounting to amend the absurd rule that prevents the program from negotiating prescription drug prices with drug companies. On the negative side, consumers…
Bach Talk: In praise of contingency fees
Bach Talk: In praise of contingency fees

With surprising (and sad) frequency, United Policyholders hears from senior citizen victims of unfair insurance practices. And as hard as it is for me to understand businesses and people that intentionally take advantage of the elderly – let alone those who lose their homes in…
Insurance issues arising from disasters bring little regulatory change to Colorado
Insurance issues arising from disasters bring little regulatory change to Colorado

The Colorado Division of Insurance, the regulatory agency charged with protecting consumers, has emerged from years of wildfires and floods with few tools to help it track market health in the state, and remains relatively powerless. Colorado residents are more or less where they were…
Insurance nightmare continues for Mountain Shadows family
Insurance nightmare continues for Mountain Shadows family

Three years after the Waldo Canyon Fire, many homeowners still struggle with their insurance claims. Paul and Jennifer Macomber have been at odds with their insurance company, American Family Insurance, since the fire started in June 2012. Their home in Mountain Shadows wasn’t a total…
Appeals process for flood insurance claims needs work: Senate probe
Appeals process for flood insurance claims needs work: Senate probe

The U.S. government’s appeals process for reviewing flood insurance claim disputes is riddled with flaws, but there is no evidence of systematic underpayments by insurers to flood victims, an investigation by U.S. Senate staffers has found.”Despite widespread concerns, it does not appear that systematic incentives…
Flaws but no abuse, Senate finds in Superstorm Sandy flood insurance study, Reuters reports
Flaws but no abuse, Senate finds in Superstorm Sandy flood insurance study, Reuters reports

The Senate Banking Committee will release a report that calls the appeals process for federal flood insurance claims after Super Storm Sandy badly flawed, but also that it found no signs of systematic underpayments to victims, Reuters reports.”Despite widespread concerns, it does not appear that…
Capitol Pressroom
Capitol Pressroom

Amy Bach, the executive director of United Policyholders, looks at a report that shows property insurers have reaped higher-than-average profits in New York State despite losses from major weather events like Superstorm Sandy. Bach argues New York insurance law is crafted in a way that…
FEMA re-opens claims, but some Sandy victims say ‘no thanks
FEMA re-opens claims, but some Sandy victims say ‘no thanks

A few weeks ago, FEMA sent out 146,000 letters to homeowners who were possible victims of Sandy-related flood insurance fraud, offering to reevaluate their damage awards and make them whole. That’s a lot of people with a lot of money at stake.FEMA is also offering…
5 home insurance myths you may have fallen for
5 home insurance myths you may have fallen for

It may not be required by law, like auto or health insurance, but you’ll need home insurance to protect your family and household from a financial disaster in case another kind of disaster strikes. Your lender may insist that you have a policy. As with…
Thursday marks anniversary and deadline for Black Forest Fire victims
Thursday marks anniversary and deadline for Black Forest Fire victims

Thursday marks two years since the state’s most destructive wildfire, but it also marks a deadline for insurance policies related to the Black Forest Fire. According to United Policyholders, key deadlines include the expiration of additional living expenses/loss of use benefits, a firm deadline for…
Flood program must focus more on needs of disaster victims, new chief says
Flood program must focus more on needs of disaster victims, new chief says

The newly appointed director of the National Flood Insurance Program said the organization needs to focus more on the welfare of disaster victims and rethink gaps in coverage that bedeviled homeowners after superstorm Sandy. Roy Wright, who takes over the federal program next week, said…
Waldo Canyon, Black Forest fire victims see dissimilar outcomes
Waldo Canyon, Black Forest fire victims see dissimilar outcomes

It was the worst of fires – and then came another one even worse. It was a fire in a subdivision and then it was one in a wooded, rural community. It was a fire of quick rebuilding and then it was one where the…