Get a Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles
Get a Crash Course on Hurricane Deductibles

An insurance industry that has taken its lumps from hurricanes has come to treat them differently in recent years. As a result, a home insurance policy in hurricane country today often comes with a special and potentially steeper hurricane deductible that kicks in when claims…
2 Problems = Zero Money: The Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause
2 Problems = Zero Money: The Anti-Concurrent Causation Clause

When disaster strikes it seems to happen all at once. Electric lines spark, windows shatter, roofs tear off, sump pumps stop and the lights go out. Homeowners see it this way. Insurance companies — and often the courts — see it differently. Major disasters such…
In tornado alley, building practices boost damage
In tornado alley, building practices boost damage

View PhotoReuters/Reuters – Memorial Day fireworks explode over a house damaged by the May 20 afternoon tornado in Moore, Oklahoma May 26, 2013. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson By Greg McCune(Reuters) – In a residential neighborhood near the center of a monster tornado that struck Moore,Oklahoma last month,…
Protecting the house: A movement to actual cash value in homeowners’ policies invites issues with roof claims.
Protecting the house: A movement to actual cash value in homeowners’ policies invites issues with roof claims.

By: Dean Jarvis The tragic Moore, Okla., tornado has jump-started what could be a very active tornado term that precedes the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. When these wind-related storms strike, it’s inevitable that roofing claims will follow.This reality comes amidst a trend over…
Coastal homeowners stagger under insurance costs
Coastal homeowners stagger under insurance costs

GULF SHORES, Ala. — When Stan Virden moved into his 2,400-square-foot house overlooking a rock-lined canal in 1996, he paid less than $1,000 a year for homeowners insurance. Now, as he seeks to move to Atlanta to be near family, Virden says potential buyers for…
Recent New York Case re: Coverage for water from drain back up
Recent New York Case re: Coverage for water from drain back up

Property Insurance Coverage Law Blog, June 3, 2013 by Shaun Marker So You Have A Back Up Of Water From A Drain Line; Was Blockage On or Off the Insured Property?If you have a claim based on a back up of water from a drain…
Sandy update: Homeowners battle insurance adjusters
Sandy update: Homeowners battle insurance adjusters

They have argued themselves blue with insurance adjusters. And still their homes are gutted and smell of sodden wood.Six months after superstorm Sandy, a weary cadre of Long Islanders remains mired in fights over settlements from the National Flood Insurance Program. They tell of enduring…
Too Darn Hot
Too Darn Hot

In most areas of the U.S. right now, it’s just too darn hot. If you’re in the scary position of having to evacuate due to a nearby wildfire, but lucky enough to come home to a house still standing, consider this: Nearby flames, smoke and…
Unsettling
Unsettling

It turns out the meaning of “settled” in the context of an insurance claim depends on who’s using it. 6 months after Superstorm Sandy, the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.), a national industry-funded group, claimed that 93 percent of the 1.5 million claims were “settled.” UP…
Allstate to get big test in Oklahoma
Allstate to get big test in Oklahoma

In tornado-ravaged Oklahoma, Allstate Corp. is about to get a first true test of how consumers respond to its new, less generous approach to insuring homes. About 18 months ago, Oklahoma became the first state in the country to get Allstate’s new House and Home…
Tornado May Cost Property-Casualty Insurers a Couple of Billion
Tornado May Cost Property-Casualty Insurers a Couple of Billion

Property-casualty insurance companies are expected to face at least a couple billion dollars of insured losses from the tornado near Moore, Okla., according to rough calculations by Wall Street analysts. Some consumer activists are already expressing concern about homeowners falling short of the needed money…
United Policyholders to Hold Post Waldo Canyon Fire Insurance Meeting
United Policyholders to Hold Post Waldo Canyon Fire Insurance Meeting

El Paso County will host United Policyholders as it presents a “A Roadmap to Recovery: Workshop for Waldo Canyon Fire Survivors. The meeting is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, at Centennial Hall Auditorium, 200 S. Cascade. Topics of the workshop include…
Declarations: The Coverage Opinions Interview With Amy Bach, Executive Director of United Policyholders
Declarations: The Coverage Opinions Interview With Amy Bach, Executive Director of United Policyholders

You can’t read coverage decisions, especially from supreme courts, without frequently seeing United Policyholders as an amicus party. So I’ve always been under the impression that the organization was one that filed amicus briefs in support of the interests of commercial policyholders some of them…
Time to Dust Off Those Old Insurance Policies
Time to Dust Off Those Old Insurance Policies

With springtime comes spring cleaning.  We may take the time to deep clean the house and clear out the garage, however, most of us don’t take the time to perform the same spring cleaning for our financial affairs. When was the last time you reviewed…
FEMA Announces 2012 Community Resilience Innovation Challenge Recipients
FEMA Announces 2012 Community Resilience Innovation Challenge Recipients

Today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA) is pleased to announce the selection of 30 recipients to receive funding under the FEMA 2012 Community Resilience Innovation Challenge program. The program focuses on building local community resilience to man-made and natural disasters, with an emphasis on…
What’s UP? May 2013
What’s UP? May 2013

Bach Talk We were excited to begin this newsletter with three major announcements: A recent legislative victory for policyholders in Colorado and two significant grants: One supporting Roadmap to Recovery services to Sandy victims in New Jersey, and another from FEMA to help the Bay…
5 problems that could be hiding in your home insurance policy
5 problems that could be hiding in your home insurance policy

It’s important to read the fine print of any contract, but consumers who buyhomeowner’s insurance especially should be vigilant. According to consumer-protection groups United Policyholders and the Consumer Federation of America, homeowner’s policies are becoming more difficult to understand. This is partly because carriers are…
Flood insurance lawsuit aimed at ‘basement’ definition
Flood insurance lawsuit aimed at ‘basement’ definition

A federal lawsuit accusing insurance companies of unfairly denying flood claims could have broad ramifications for Long Islanders who were denied coverage because their first floors were classified as basements. The class-action suit, filed in Newark, says insurers are wrongly refusing to pay for flood-damaged…