June 7, 2015 Insurance deadline looms for victims of 2013 Black Forest fire The second anniversary of the Black Forest fire on Thursday brings a deadline for many fire victims: it will be their last chance to sue their insurance companies and their last chance to seek to collect the full amount of money they are owed to…
June 4, 2015 After Texas Floods, A New Test for FEMA’s Beleaguered National Flood Insurance Program Less than 48 hours after torrential rains flooded parts of Houston in late May, AJ Culembourg found herself ripping up floor boards inside the rental property she and her husband remodeled 18 months ago. Flood waters had reached as high as 18 inches inside the…
June 1, 2015 4 most common reasons why insurers deny life insurance claims When you buy a life insurance policy, there’s a chance your beneficiary’s claim may be denied – and it’s important for you to know how this can happen. Insurers examine the terms of policies carefully before paying claims, to make sure policyholders have fulfilled their…
May 26, 2015 FEMA To Allow Superstorm Sandy Victims To Review Flood Claims FEMA is mailing letters to more than 140,000 Superstorm Sandy victims. The letters ask if they want their flood insurance claim to be reviewed. This comes after months of scrutiny and accusations that the private insurance companies who help run the federal flood program shortchanged…
May 20, 2015 Letters go out to Sandy victims who want to reopen claims The National Flood Insurance Program began mailing letters to superstorm Sandy victims Monday to start the process of reviewing thousands of claims that may have been underpaid after the 2012 disaster.The first round of roughly 15,000 notices are going to homeowners whose properties were inspected…
May 18, 2015 FEMA will reopen Superstorm Sandy claims this week United Policyholders’ Executive Director Amy Bach talks with radio journalist Maggie Glynn of Magic 98.3 in New Jersey about the devastating woes still facing many Sandy victims. Bach and Glynn discuss what went wrong insurance-wise after Sandy, the reopen process, and the resources available on…
May 11, 2015 Fed Probe Why Sandy Victims Were Shortchanged on Flood Insurance Claims Critics call for wide-ranging, structural reforms to ensure problems encountered after Sandy don’t happen again Amid the stress and confusion in the immediate aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, residents of coastal communities found themselves struggling to comprehend their losses and how to begin to put things…
May 11, 2015 The List: 10 Reasons Why Insurance Companies May Have Underpaid Sandy Victims Theories abound in the absence of clear information about just what went on behind the scenes in the aftermath of disastrous storm In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, many insurance policyholders were denied coverage after engineering reports determined that their damage supposedly pre-existed the storm…
May 9, 2015 FEMA mulls overhaul of flood insurance program amid claims of fraud, lack of oversight Lawmakers and federal officials trying to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program are considering dismantling a sprawling system that relies on more than 80 separate companies to sell policies, collect premiums and calculate damages after disasters. The move, in response to allegations that claims were…
April 30, 2015 Property owners face important deadlines on second anniversary of wildfire El Paso County, CO, April 29, 2015 – With the two year anniversary of the Black Forest Fire approaching El Paso County reminds property owners to keep in mind important insurance deadlines. “Residents impacted by the Black Forest Fire need to meet certain deadlines in…
April 22, 2015 Tampered Engineering Reports Only the Beginning for Sandy Victims As a general contractor who specializes in insurance repairs, Larry Steimel with Pequannock, NJ-based LA Design and Construction has had a front row seat to some of the problems people have had rebuilding their homes. The biggest hurdle after Sandy, he says, has been the…
April 22, 2015 AG lawsuit: State Farm enriched itself through Katrina homeowner program Attorney General Jim Hood is suing State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. over millions of dollars he claims the state lost because the insurance company “maliciously” denied Hurricane Katrina claims for wind losses while the federally funded Homeowners Assistance Program picked up the tab.The lawsuit…
April 10, 2015 Tips to avoid being ripped off when property is damaged by storms SAGINAW, MI WNEM) -It’s severe weather season, so Angie’s List has put together some tips about how to avoid being ripped off if your property is damaged in the storm. 1. Avoid door-to-door solicitors Drifter companies often rush to disaster areas where widespread damage has…
March 28, 2015 Sandy insurance settlements won’t make homeowners whole The flood-insurance settlements being brokered for superstorm Sandy victims may be a victory for thousands of homeowners who have long waited for money to rebuild. Yet many, if not most, are still apt to come out behind. Federal law limits how much the National Flood…
March 18, 2015 Colorado disasters lead to home insurance spikes, cancellations Colorado is now one of the worst places in the United States for natural disasters. That’s if your measure is insurance claims filed by homeowners. The state is now second only to tornado-struck Oklahoma for catastrophic claims, according to new data from the Insurance Research…
March 17, 2015 FEMA Seeks Thousands of Insurance Records The Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA) is beginning its probe into the allegedly lowballed Superstorm Sandy claims by asking flood insurance companies to turn over thousands of records by the end of the week. The data request includes the name of the engineering company and…
March 10, 2015 The 8 insurance coverages that are triggered by a catastrophic fire Although a little more than a month has gone by since the Avalon at Edgewater N.J.) fire on Jan. 21, insurance claims and lawsuits are likely to linger, long after the ashes have been swept away. This kind of catastrophe usually involves several insurance carriers,…
March 2, 2015 The Storm after the Storm The following is a script from “The Storm after the Storm” which aired on March 1, 2015. Sharyn Alfonsi is the correspondent. Oriana Zill de Granados and Michael Rey, producers.When Hurricane Sandy made its way towards the East Coast in the fall of 2012, residents…
