To whom it may concern…
To whom it may concern…

Submitting comments on proposed changes to your state’s insurance laws is a no-cost way of helping protect yourself as a consumer. Your insurance company is making their voice heard – you can too! There are many proposals making their way through state legislatures across the country today that relate to the…
Lessons Shared at the County’s First Wildfire Preparedness Event
Lessons Shared at the County’s First Wildfire Preparedness Event

When Heather Vandenberghe saw plumes of smoke blown by 80-mph Santa Ana winds, she listened “to that little voice in my head.” She packed her daughter and her dogs and a few essentials into her car and headed out of Los Angeles’s Palisades area in…
California moves to create public wildfire algorithm to ease insurance crisis
California moves to create public wildfire algorithm to ease insurance crisis

Fire and insurance experts convened on Tuesday to help California take a step toward solving its insurance issues with big data. “We are here to try to tackle a crisis.,” said panelist Amy Bach, who heads the nonprofit advocacy group United Policyholders in San Francisco.…
For L.A. Residents Whose Homes Burned, Aging Complicates What Comes Next
For L.A. Residents Whose Homes Burned, Aging Complicates What Comes Next

Sandra and Tom Johnson were at home in Los Angeles County one January night, watching the news of the Palisades fire on television, when a neighbor knocked on the door. He wanted them to see it: flames in the mountains in nearby Eaton Canyon. Within…
For L.A. Residents Whose Homes Burned, Aging Complicates What Comes Next
For L.A. Residents Whose Homes Burned, Aging Complicates What Comes Next

Losing your home in a disaster when you’re at or near retirement age can derail your finances and jeopardize the funds you were counting on. Sandra and Tom Johnson were at home in Los Angeles County one January night, watching the news of the Palisades…
State’s new fire maps won’t push up insurance rates, industry says
State’s new fire maps won’t push up insurance rates, industry says

After seeing his premiums quadruple in the past three years, Shawn Faircloth wondered if a new wildfire designation could spell yet another insurance hike for his San Juan Capistrano home. “I’m assuming they will leverage up my rates even more,” said Faircloth, 49, whose home…
A broken system is keeping California homes underinsured. Millions have no idea they’re at risk
A broken system is keeping California homes underinsured. Millions have no idea they’re at risk

Using faulty algorithms and flawed processes, the state’s biggest insurance companies routinely underestimate what their clients will need to rebuild. For wildfire survivors, it’s a gut punch at the worst possible time. Mike Kubo had found only enough time to grab a few bags of…
LA’s fire hazard has grown. What does that mean for insurance?
LA’s fire hazard has grown. What does that mean for insurance?

If Los Angeles’s growing concerns about wildfires weren’t clear enough already, maps released by the state earlier this week confirmed the obvious: The county’s fire hazard has grown in the past decade. The updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps — published by the Office of…
California Insurance: Intervening, Interfering
California Insurance: Intervening, Interfering

In insurance circles Florida and California have the dubious distinction of being perennial problem children for home and auto insurance. In both states insurance markets have been severely disrupted by unique factors unknown in any other state. In Florida, the disruptor was litigation gone wild.…
How to make sure a home held in a trust is properly insured
How to make sure a home held in a trust is properly insured

Most people who own real estate and do estate planning put their homes in a Revocable Trust.  By doing this, people get incapacity protections, direct who they want to inherit their property and avoid probate at death. In California, probate is a court supervised process…
Advocate answers questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery
Advocate answers questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery

After the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire destroyed and damaged thousands of homes across Los Angeles County, residents are being forced to navigate the complicated landscape of home and renter insurance. ABC7 Eyewitness News received dozens of questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery. Anchor…
CA Wildfires Vol. 5 – California’s Insurance Crisis: How Did We Get Here?
CA Wildfires Vol. 5 – California’s Insurance Crisis: How Did We Get Here?

In this vital episode of The Legal Lens Podcast, Angela Reddock-Wright speaks with Amy Bach, Executive Director of United Policyholders, about the California insurance crisis, wildfire recovery, and what homeowners need to know about filing claims. Amy and her organization, United Policyholders, have spent over…
Fire insurance woes
Fire insurance woes

How do I get my insurance to pay for testing of my home for toxins after the fires that raged through L.A. neighborhoods in January? What if my insurance adjuster says they won’t cover a long-term rental? How can I get help navigating the claims…
California Bill Would Force Insurers to Pay Full Coverage Without Requiring Itemization
California Bill Would Force Insurers to Pay Full Coverage Without Requiring Itemization

California’s insurance commissioner joined with state legislators on Friday to propose a new law that would force insurers to pay homeowners 100 percent of the coverage for belongings inside destroyed homes, releasing them from the mentally taxing process of listing every object they lost —…
What Defines a Constitutional Crisis?; California Insurer Gets $1 Billion Bailout After LA Fires
What Defines a Constitutional Crisis?; California Insurer Gets $1 Billion Bailout After LA Fires

0:08 — John Nichols, National Affairs Correspondent for the Nation on the numerous unfavorable court rulings enjoining the Trump Administration and the defining characteristics of a constitutional crisis 0:34 — Joel Laucher, insurance expert and Program Specialist at United Policyholders explains the $1 Billion assessment…
Updated CalFire map shows increase in ‘very high’ fire hazard acreage in Northern California
Updated CalFire map shows increase in ‘very high’ fire hazard acreage in Northern California

CalFire released a new map this week, expanding hazardous fire zones in Northern California. It’s part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order after the Los Angeles fires. Updated for the first time since 2007, CalFire’s new fire hazard severity zone map offers a resource in…
Insurers, Homeowners on the Hook for $1 Billion California FAIR Plan Bailout
Insurers, Homeowners on the Hook for $1 Billion California FAIR Plan Bailout

California insurance regulators have approved a request from the California FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, to get money from regular insurers to help pay customer claims from the Los Angeles Fires. The $1 billion will be collected from private insurance companies in…
After the Los Angeles Fires, Many Won’t Get Enough Insurance To Rebuild Their Homes
After the Los Angeles Fires, Many Won’t Get Enough Insurance To Rebuild Their Homes

Nobody likes to pay their monthly homeowners insurance premiums. Or at least, we haven’t met anyone who does. But the protection of an insurance policy is worth the annoyance. That is, provided it actually pays out enough. Unfortunately, however, amid the rise of skyrocketing insurance…