Who can home and business owners impacted by Hurricane Ian trust?
Who can home and business owners impacted by Hurricane Ian trust?

The amount of destruction, dislocation and loss of life caused by Hurricane Ian is still being calculated, but it’s horrendous, record-breaking and very sad.  Wind damage is bad enough, but when combined with water, repairs are challenging and drying out is essential.  Qualified and reputable…
Guest Blog: Florida Joins the Reinsurance Business
Guest Blog: Florida Joins the Reinsurance Business

As Florida residents, we learn to expect rain on our parade. But Florida policyholders are enduring rising insurance premiums and a drought in available insurance while lawmakers deliver mixed results. Why is this happening? REINSURANCE An insurance rating company, Demotech Inc., recently reviewed Florida’s legislative…
Do you have enough homeowner insurance? Here’s how to find out
Do you have enough homeowner insurance? Here’s how to find out

Three of every five homes in America are underinsured by an average of 20 percent less than full value, according to analytics firm CoreLogic. Is yours one of them? Could you easily put your hands on $50,000 to help rebuild a house with a $250,000…
Florida Supreme Court rejects shift in insurance claims law
Florida Supreme Court rejects shift in insurance claims law

The Florida Supreme Court has overturned a lower-court ruling that would have made it harder for policyholders to collect on insurance policies when there is more than one cause for their losses. At issue in Sebo v. American Home Assurance Co. was competing doctrines for…
Court rules against insurer in property damage fight
Court rules against insurer in property damage fight

In a case watched by insurance-industry groups, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against an insurer in a dispute about paying for damage to a multimillion-dollar Naples home that had to be demolished after a combination of construction defects and water intrusion. The case…
Fla. Law Favors Insured In Defense Row, 11th Circ. Told
Fla. Law Favors Insured In Defense Row, 11th Circ. Told

Insurance consumer group United Policyholders has urged the Eleventh Circuit to find that Auto-Owners Insurance Co. must defend Elite Homes Inc. in a construction defect suit, saying Florida law holds that insurers must provide a defense if there is any possibility of coverage. The consumer…
Flood insurance program could be under water without Florida policies
Flood insurance program could be under water without Florida policies

The National Flood Insurance Program was in debt. Lots-of-zeroes kind of debt. So someone came up with the bright idea to raise flood insurance rates to more profitable levels. How were those levels determined? Well, explanations were kinda vague. All we knew was that some…
Bank of America Settles Forced-Place Insurance Claims for $228M
Bank of America Settles Forced-Place Insurance Claims for $228M

Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $228 million to settle claims the bank overcharged for insurance homeowners were forced to accept when their regular policies lapsed.The amount was disclosed in a document requesting approval for the accord filed yesterday in Miami federal court. Lawyers…
How even good credit can be used against you
How even good credit can be used against you

ORLANDO, Fla. — Could a small change in your credit report trigger a big increase in your car insurance bill? An Orlando man claims he has a great credit score but when he had a minor change his premium jumped by nearly $1,000 a year.…
Most Americans uninformed about long-term care insurance
Most Americans uninformed about long-term care insurance
Superstorm spotlights home insurance
Superstorm spotlights home insurance

People whose homes were damaged by superstorm Sandy will soon find out whether or not they have enough and the right kind of insurance to rebuild. In other recent disasters, one-half to two-thirds of homeowners discovered after the fact that they were underinsured, often by…
Can mortgage lenders hold your insurance money hostage?
Can mortgage lenders hold your insurance money hostage?

If your home has been seriously damaged or destroyed, your insurance company will release a check made out to both you and your mortgage lender to pay for the necessary repairs. “Lenders have a substantial investment in the property, sometimes more than the homeowner, especially…
Consumer Reports Rates Home Insurers
Consumer Reports Rates Home Insurers

Homeowners buy insurance to protect against disaster. But when disaster strikes, your insurer might not live up to your expectations, especially if you have a large claim, according to our survey of 11,250 subscribers who filed claims in the past few years. The greater the…
Enough’ Insurance is Often Not Enough
Enough’ Insurance is Often Not Enough

In the past few weeks, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history claimed two lives, burned nearly 30 square miles and totally destroyed more than 350 homes. Like almost all homeowners everywhere in the United States, nearly everyone who lost their house to this massive…
RentSafe: Is it a safe choice for renter’s insurance?
RentSafe: Is it a safe choice for renter’s insurance?

About half of American renters don’t have insurance. Some of them probably don’t realize that it’s fairly cheap to buy coverage that’ll protect them if their place catches fire, their stuff gets stolen or even if the dog bites a neighbor. “Renter’s insurance is very…
Life insurers settle with regulators and agree to be more pro-active in seeking out beneficiaries
Life insurers settle with regulators and agree to be more pro-active in seeking out beneficiaries

The California Department of Insurance and six other states have negotiated a $17 million settlement with Prudential Insurance Co. to speed up payouts to life insurance beneficiaries.The settlement requires Prudential to regularly check the Social Security “Death Master” file to determine whether any of its…
Sharp Disagreement At NAIC Session On Readability Of Consumer Information
Sharp Disagreement At NAIC Session On Readability Of Consumer Information

Industry representatives sharply disagreed with two law professors who argued personal lines policies should be posted online where they would be readily available to consumers who wanted to look at them prior to signing onto them. Spokesmen for the American Insurance Association and the National…
Vanishing Act: Your Home Insurance Coverage is Disappearing
Vanishing Act: Your Home Insurance Coverage is Disappearing

There’s a disturbing nationwide trend of insurance companies chipping away at coverage for homeowners, says Amy Bach, executive director of the nonprofit United Policyholders consumer group. She says she’s disturbed by what she sees as policies becoming less adequate. “We have been working on a…