Take these steps if your home or business could be damaged by NJ wildfires
Take these steps if your home or business could be damaged by NJ wildfires

As a wildfire fueled by drought near the New Jersey-New York border left an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter dead and burned through thousands of acres, forecasters are warning of an increased risk of spread throughout the week. The blaze, formally named the Jennings Creek wildfire, is…
Why Insurance Rates for New York Property Owners Are Soaring
Why Insurance Rates for New York Property Owners Are Soaring

Logan Browne thought he already experienced sticker shock from his Bushwick condo building’s insurance rate tripling last year. Then, this summer, the insurance company dropped the building, citing a “loss ratio” that Browne, the condo board president, said related to water damage claims in 2020…
Amy Bach and United Policyholders Raise Issues About Insurance Executives Taking Monies Through Excessive Payouts
Amy Bach and United Policyholders Raise Issues About Insurance Executives Taking Monies Through Excessive Payouts

Amy Bach‘s recent LinkedIn post yesterday highlighting concerns about excessive compensation in the insurance industry has struck a chord with many policyholders and consumer advocates. Bach raised these issues in a panel discussion at the American Academy of Actuaries. Her observations are particularly pertinent to…
Why Insurance Rates for New York Property Owners Are Soaring
Why Insurance Rates for New York Property Owners Are Soaring

Policies are harder to find and costlier when they are available for homeowners who are struggling to stay above water. Logan Browne thought he already experienced sticker shock from his Bushwick condo building’s insurance rate tripling last year. Then, this summer, the insurance company dropped…
Why Insurance Rates for New York Property Owners Are Soaring
Why Insurance Rates for New York Property Owners Are Soaring

Policies are harder to find and costlier when they are available for homeowners who are struggling to stay above water. Logan Browne thought he already experienced sticker shock from his Bushwick condo building’s insurance rate tripling last year. Then, this summer, the insurance company dropped…
How Hurricane Helene could have widespread consequences for homeowners
How Hurricane Helene could have widespread consequences for homeowners

When Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida on Thursday night, it made landfall in the state’s sparsely populated Big Bend, far from the glittering cities with expensive waterfront property to the south. But that didn’t stop Helene from becoming another multibillion-dollar superstorm. The hurricane’s massive size…
Aerial photos are leading to insurance non-renewals
Aerial photos are leading to insurance non-renewals

InsurTech may not be a buzz word at dinner parties, but it sure is in consumer advocate circles. Turns out, “disruptive” is not such a good thing for property owners and home values, especially with climate change in the mix. Today, insurance companies are using…
New York court to hear critical COVID business insurance case
New York court to hear critical COVID business insurance case

New York’s highest court is set to preside over a restaurant’s COVID-19 business interruption case that could have widespread ramifications for businesses and insurers in the state and further afield should the court veer away from a US-wide trend of insurer pandemic business income victories.…
What New York homeowners and renters should know about flood insurance.
What New York homeowners and renters should know about flood insurance.

Standard homeowners’ and renters’ policies don’t cover damages that can be caused by the kind of heavy rains that hit New York City on Friday. It’s an unfortunate fact: Standard homeowners’ and renters’ insurance policies don’t cover damages caused by flooding. People who live in…
Insurance consumer advocate group unveils state-by-state guide to insurance legal rights
Insurance consumer advocate group unveils state-by-state guide to insurance legal rights

For Immediate Release:  March 13, 2023 Contact: Amy Bach, Executive Director SAN FRANCISCO, March 9, 2023 – United Policyholders (UP), a national insurance consumer advocacy non-profit, today announced a major expansion of its services. Insurance company claim adjusters are required to know and follow the…
Thousands of homes damaged by Sandy remain uninsured
Thousands of homes damaged by Sandy remain uninsured

Thousands of Long Island homes damaged by superstorm Sandy are still not covered by flood insurance, leaving much of the region dependent on government aid if another catastrophe hits, a Newsday analysis of federal data has found. Since the 2012 storm, the number of properties…
FEMA’s Sandy Flood Insurance Review Taking Longer Than Expected
FEMA’s Sandy Flood Insurance Review Taking Longer Than Expected

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s review of Superstorm Sandy flood insurance claims is taking longer than expected, with fewer than 200 checks issued. FEMA announced in March the review for as many as 142,000 claims after homeowners complained they were shortchanged. A FEMA official expected…
How Hurricane Sandy created ‘the perfect storm’
How Hurricane Sandy created ‘the perfect storm’

Three years after Hurricane Sandy swept up the East Coast, homeowners are still working to collect money for the damage they sustained. It has been a long and frustrating fight for many. Media reports highlighted their efforts and some accused insurers and engineers of colluding…
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…
Insurers reaped outsized profits from NY homeowners’ policies, group says
Insurers reaped outsized profits from NY homeowners’ policies, group says

Despite catastrophic losses from superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene, property insurance companies have reaped profits in New York at rates more than double the national average in recent years, according to a study scheduled to be released Monday. Between 2004 and 2013, insurers posted an…
Sandy insurance settlements won’t make homeowners whole
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…
The Storm after the Storm
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…