UP offers solutions to California’s home insurance crisis
UP offers solutions to California’s home insurance crisis

The problem: Generally speaking, insurance companies want to sell insurance. But they also want to be profitable.  Sometimes they will stop selling insurance in a region or to a group of customers they deem too risky.  They do this as a business strategy to improve profitability. …
Nearly 350,000 California Homeowners in Fire Prone Areas Dropped by Insurers
Nearly 350,000 California Homeowners in Fire Prone Areas Dropped by Insurers

Click Here to Listen to Amy Bach on KQED Forum 8/26/19 Between 2015 and 2018, insurance companies dropped nearly 350,000 California homeowners in high-risk fire areas. This insurance coverage data, recently released by California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s office, does not reflect how many people…
California homeowners are facing an “insurance crisis”
California homeowners are facing an “insurance crisis”

Wildfires are a growing concern for residents living in fire-prone areas and now keeping insurance to protect their belongings is becoming a crisis. The California Department of Insurance found a six-percent increase in the number of customers dropped by their insurance companies. In zip codes…
After 2017 fires, more Sonoma County homeowners turn to state for insurance coverage
After 2017 fires, more Sonoma County homeowners turn to state for insurance coverage

Homeowners are finding it more difficult to obtain insurance to cover their homes in wildfire-prone areas of California, especially in high-risk regions such as communities in the Sierra Nevada, according to a report released Tuesday by the state insurance department. Insurers declined to renew 167,570…
Insurance Companies Are Paying Cops To Investigate Their Own Customers
Insurance Companies Are Paying Cops To Investigate Their Own Customers

A cozy alliance between insurers and law enforcement has turned the justice system into the industry’s hired gun and left innocent customers facing prison. When police showed up at Harry Schmidt’s home on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, he thought they were there to help. He…
5 things to do if you’ve been dropped by your home insurer
5 things to do if you’ve been dropped by your home insurer

The value of home insurance cannot be understated. For most people, a home is their single biggest investment or asset. Nearly everything one owns — clothes, electronics, important documents and much more — dwells inside the home, and home insurance provides a way to safeguard…
Residents still trying to understand Camp Fire contamination at standing homes
Residents still trying to understand Camp Fire contamination at standing homes

PARADISE — A stale chemical smell hangs in Lisa Kasza’s garage in lower Paradise. Piles of toys, books and other possessions covered in a thin layer of dust wait to be thrown out. Nine months ago, the Camp Fire burned all the trees, bushes and…
Homeowner insurance dilemma may turn into a full blown crisis
Homeowner insurance dilemma may turn into a full blown crisis

SANTA ROSA, CA – Consumer advocates say a homeowners insurance crunch may soon become a homeowners insurance crisis as customers face huge rate increases or out-and-out cancellations. Experts say the major reasons homeowner policies get giant rate hikes or out-and-out cancellations is that their homes…
Survivors of different California wildfires give advice
Survivors of different California wildfires give advice

CHICO — People who lost their homes in wildfires drove several hours from Santa Rosa and Redwood Valley to share their lessons about dealing with insurance with Camp Fire survivors on Thursday night. The event was part of an ongoing series of in-person and online…
How do you know if you need life insurance?
How do you know if you need life insurance?

Life insurance, known as a “death benefit,” can help with any unpaid debt, funeral costs, and give loved ones some financial security after you pass away. How do you know if you need to purchase life insurance? And what do you look for in finding…
Bach Talk: Your Money or Your Life (Insurance)
Bach Talk: Your Money or Your Life (Insurance)

  As with all types of insurance, you have choices to make when shopping for life insurance. If you’re in the market for life insurance, rates are the lowest they’ve been in 20 years. That is probably because fewer and fewer employers offer it as an employee…
Fire risk leaves Tuolumne County residents scrambling to find affordable insurance
Fire risk leaves Tuolumne County residents scrambling to find affordable insurance

Ronda Davish enjoys living in Cedar Ridge, a neighborhood about 15 miles northeast of Sonora. And yet after 19 years spent in the quiet foothills of the Stanislaus National Forest, Davish worries that her skyrocketing homeowner’s insurance rates will force her to find a new…
Debris and ash cleared, rebuilding starts for homes destroyed in Woolsey Fire
Debris and ash cleared, rebuilding starts for homes destroyed in Woolsey Fire

Work to remove ash and debris from last year’s destructive Hill and Woolsey fires has wrapped up, clearing the way for many homeowners to start to rebuild, officials said Wednesday. Calling it a monumental milestone, state and local officials were in Agoura Hills to talk…
Earthquake insurance: Is it worth it?
Earthquake insurance: Is it worth it?

Glenn Pomeroy, head of the California Earthquake Authority, spent the weekend in Ridgecrest, near the epicenter of Friday’s 7.1-magnitude quake and its day-earlier, 6.4-magnitude baby brother. “Driving around, you could clearly see there had been a disaster,” he told me. “Streetlights were blinking, stores were…
What Californians Need To Know To Financially Prepare For ‘The Big One’
What Californians Need To Know To Financially Prepare For ‘The Big One’

It’s an unnerving time to be in California. With two large earthquakes hitting Southern California within 34 hours, along with thousands of aftershocks, it feels like the big one is right around the corner – literally. In fact, the US Geological Society is predicting a…
Dropped by your home insurer? What to do…
Dropped by your home insurer? What to do…

In some parts of the country, home insurance is not as available and affordable as in the past, so UP is working hard to help consumers shop for asset protection. Avoid wasting energy being angry or scared when your insurer “breaks up” with you… Don’t…
Insurance Companies Say They’re Not Allowed to Plan for the ‘New Normal’ of Intense Wildfires
Insurance Companies Say They’re Not Allowed to Plan for the ‘New Normal’ of Intense Wildfires

Insurance companies says state regulators aren’t letting them plan for climate change and the so-called “new normal” of intense wildfires. They warn of price spikes and more people being denied coverage. Regulators worry the industry’s models aren’t credible, and could be manipulated to overcharge consumers.…
Can California avoid a third year of fire catastrophe? Here’s what’s been fixed — and what hasn’t
Can California avoid a third year of fire catastrophe? Here’s what’s been fixed — and what hasn’t

All signs point to another busy fire year in California. Already, a heat wave this month triggered hundreds of wildfires. They were mostly small burns, but they thrived off a healthy crop of brush nourished by the wet winter. As the state’s hills and valleys…