L.A.-based Farmers tops survey of big California home insurers that decline the most claims
L.A.-based Farmers tops survey of big California home insurers that decline the most claims

Three of California’s largest home insurance companies declined nearly half of their claims in 2023, well above the national average, according to a ratings agency report reviewed by The Times. In a survey of national claims handled by the state’s leading home insurance companies, affiliates…
California wildfires damage? Experts share essential tips for filing insurance claims and tracking them
California wildfires damage? Experts share essential tips for filing insurance claims and tracking them

Tragedies, especially those due to nature’s anger, are heartbreaking. They leave behind scars that take time to heal. One way of softening the blow is through paying for insurance. It helps people recover from their losses quickly. As people in Los Angeles County face the…
L.A. Fires Place Enormous Pressure on Insurance Industry
L.A. Fires Place Enormous Pressure on Insurance Industry

Even before the fires in Los Angeles, California’s insurance market was under enormous pressure. Extreme weather events like wildfires, which have been supersized due to climate change, previously led national carriers like Allstate and State Farm to stop writing new homeowners policies. And some property…
How climate change is reshaping home insurance in California — and the rest of the U.S.
How climate change is reshaping home insurance in California — and the rest of the U.S.

As the wildfires in Los Angeles tear through hillsides, raze neighborhoods and displace residents, it’s too early to know how vast the destruction will be when the last of the flames is put out. Initial estimates predict that the costs will be massive. One leading…
Will LA fires cause home insurance rates to increase across the US? What to watch for
Will LA fires cause home insurance rates to increase across the US? What to watch for

The Los Angeles wildfires are raising new concerns about whether home insurance rates will go up across the country. NBC New York’s Lynda Baquero reports.
Winter 2024 Newsletter
Winter 2024 Newsletter

2024 Highlights: HELPING DISASTER SURVIVORS 50+ Roadmap to Recovery® events in California, Colorado, Florida and Hawaii (in-person and online workshops, Q&A forums, Survivor to Survivor support forums and Claim Guidance Office Hours) 12 new free online help libraries for hurricane, flood and wildfire survivors HELPING…
What the California wildfire destruction means for homeowners and insurance
What the California wildfire destruction means for homeowners and insurance

One of President-elect Trump’s most controversial nominees was the first to face the scrutiny of a Senate confirmation hearing. Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth was questioned Tuesday about alleged sexual and financial misconduct as well as concerns he lacks the experience to manage more than three…
Expert warns San Antonio of potential insurance hikes due to increased disaster frequency
Expert warns San Antonio of potential insurance hikes due to increased disaster frequency

Although we’re far from the devastation caused by wildfires in California, we may feel the impact on our insurance rates. Taylor Collins, Chair of the Department of Economics and Management at University of Incarnate Word says we will see the impact of California’s wildfires in…
California’s wildfires may also be catastrophic for its insurance market
California’s wildfires may also be catastrophic for its insurance market

Kwynn Perry visited her home this weekend for the first time since the Eaton Fire started. It’s just ashes and rubble. “This is our bedroom,” she says. “That is our bed, my antique bed.” It’s now just a blackened, twisted ruin. Perry and her family leased the…
FAIR Plan coverage caps at $3 million: Here’s why experts are worried about Bay Area housing market
FAIR Plan coverage caps at $3 million: Here’s why experts are worried about Bay Area housing market

The estimated insured losses from the Los Angeles County wildfires could reach $20 billion, which would be recorded as the costliest fire in U.S. history in that category, according to J.P. Morgan. The impacts are expected to be significant when it comes to access to…
LA fires just latest disaster prompting home insurers to drop coverage, raise rates
LA fires just latest disaster prompting home insurers to drop coverage, raise rates

Wildfires leveling parts of Los Angeles. Hurricanes devastating Florida and the Carolinas. Floods around the Passaic River, Meadowlands and Jersey Shore. Nearly half of all homes across the nation — worth almost $22 trillion — face at least one type of severe or extreme climate…
California Fire Victims Whose Insurance Was Cut Have Few Legal Options
California Fire Victims Whose Insurance Was Cut Have Few Legal Options

As wildfires ravage areas of Los Angeles in California, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, the decision last year by its largest insurer State Farm to reduce its number of policyholders in at-risk areas has caught fresh attention. State Farm CEO Denies Hardin wrote in…
Experts caution L.A. fire victims to approach insurance claims process as ‘business transaction’
Experts caution L.A. fire victims to approach insurance claims process as ‘business transaction’

As policyholders begin to file loss claims, experts say taking notes and keeping records is key to a smooth process Southern California residents facing losses from this week’s Los Angeles-area fires are beginning to confront their next challenge: filing an insurance claim. Though mainstream insurers…
Experts Raise Concerns About Who Pays to Rebuild California When Insurance Falls Short
Experts Raise Concerns About Who Pays to Rebuild California When Insurance Falls Short

As California struggles with another devastating wildfire season, a looming crisis threatens to leave thousands of homeowners in financial ruin. The recent blazes have exposed a critical gap in the state’s disaster recovery system: insurance shortfalls that could leave many unable to rebuild their homes…
California Faces a Staggering $20 Billion Wildfire Insurance Crisis, and ‘Sad Surprises’ May Be Ahead for Homeowners
California Faces a Staggering $20 Billion Wildfire Insurance Crisis, and ‘Sad Surprises’ May Be Ahead for Homeowners

The wildfires burning across Southern California are on their way to being the most costly natural disaster in the history of the state, with estimates that insurers are facing losses exceeding $20 billion. The estimate could grow as the fires continue to rip through Los…
2017 North Bay survivor gearing up to help LA wildfire victims navigate insurance claim process
2017 North Bay survivor gearing up to help LA wildfire victims navigate insurance claim process

The 2017 Tubbs Fire became one of the most destructive wildfires in California history, and the images we are seeing now out of Southern California serve as a reminder of what many people went through here. One of them is Annie Barbour, who has used…
Rising concerns over CA FAIR Plan’s financial capability due to LA wildfire costs
Rising concerns over CA FAIR Plan’s financial capability due to LA wildfire costs

In the Sunol hills, homeowners denied normal insurance coverage have had to turn to California’s FAIR Plan. It’s the insurer of last resort. Data from California’s Department of Insurance shows it’s the only option for one in every 10 homeowners there. “Recently, enrollment in the…
Wildfires will alter California’s homeowners insurance landscape
Wildfires will alter California’s homeowners insurance landscape

The wildfires that destroyed homes in multiple sections of the Los Angeles area will test California’s efforts to stabilize the state’s insurance marketplace after many insurers stopped issuing residential policies due to the high fire risk. The wind-driven blazes that started Tuesday roared through neighborhoods…