Home inventory: What is it and why do you need one?
Home inventory: What is it and why do you need one?

You never know when your home might get damaged in a flood, fire or other disaster. And you can’t rule out the possibility of a home break-in, either. Ideally, you’ll have homeowners or renters insurance in place to cover your damaged or stolen items. But…
Study Finds Wildfires Disproportionately Impact Lower-Income Families
Study Finds Wildfires Disproportionately Impact Lower-Income Families

Non-renewals, higher premiums, and costly property improvements make wildfires even worse for already marginalized homeowners Climate change and California’s historic drought are stretching fire season beyond its traditional boundaries, causing worse and more costly wildfires, and according to a new study, they’re disproportionately impacting the…
Oak Fire: Owners of destroyed homes face tens of thousands of dollars in rebuilding costs
Oak Fire: Owners of destroyed homes face tens of thousands of dollars in rebuilding costs

’50-60% of people walking through the door who have been impacted by the fire didn’t have insurance.’ MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — “Rebuilding is the plan. Rebuilding is the goal. We just have to figure out how to do it… because we got married on…
Cal OES Awards $25 Million in Grants to Local Organizations to Protect Vulnerable Communities from Disasters
Cal OES Awards $25 Million in Grants to Local Organizations to Protect Vulnerable Communities from Disasters

Funding Designed to Increase Disaster Preparedness and Resiliency in Socially Vulnerable Communities Statewide SACRAMENTO, CA – As part of California’s nation-leading effort to build resilience among vulnerable populations living in areas of the state most susceptible to natural disasters, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal…
Inflation Means Replacing Your Home After a Disaster Will Likely Cost More
Inflation Means Replacing Your Home After a Disaster Will Likely Cost More

Why your homeowner’s policy might not Cover the true cost of replacing your home Prices are up basically everywhere thanks to inflation, from gas, to food, to clothing. That’s a signal for homeowners to do something unexpected: call your insurance agent. Why? To protect yourself…
BACH TALK: A Fairer California Fair Plan
BACH TALK: A Fairer California Fair Plan

State and Federal public officials have protected homeowners by creating insurers of last resort that people can turn to when they’re unable to find a company willing to insure their property. Well known examples are Florida and Louisiana Citizens Insurance Corporations, the National Flood Insurance…
Is The FAIR Plan unfair at it’s core?
Is The FAIR Plan unfair at it’s core?

Oakland, California – In the wake of increasing non-renewals and outright cancellations, the Insurance Commissioner ordered an independent study of California’s home and business insurer of last resort; the so-called Fair Plan. California’s FAIR Plan, was created by the state legislature more than a half-century…
Sonoma County homeowners jolted with insurance hikes as a result of wildfire risk
Sonoma County homeowners jolted with insurance hikes as a result of wildfire risk

Lesley Muller said her jaw dropped when she got her renewal notice from the carrier that insures her Cloverdale home. The bill increased by $700 annually to $2,200. “When I got it, it shocked me,” said Muller, a retiree whose insurer also covers her family’s…
Smoke Damage Claims – Are insurers properly handling smoke claims and trying to reduce smoke coverage with new policy language? | Property Insurance Law Blog
Smoke Damage Claims – Are insurers properly handling smoke claims and trying to reduce smoke coverage with new policy language? | Property Insurance Law Blog

Smoke damage claims are unique. Proper and safe regulation of smoke losses requires special training. Most policyholders are completely unaware of the dangers posed by smoke. These statements are often forgotten and not reported due to ignorance. United Insurers and his executive director defended policyholders on a special hearing…
If you lost everything, would you remember all of your items? How to make a home inventory.
If you lost everything, would you remember all of your items? How to make a home inventory.

Don’t wait. It sounds overwhelming, but here are some easy ways to do it. Imagine that all your belongings are destroyed in a house fire. Thankfully, you have insurance. But to file a claim and get reimbursed, you have to make a list of everything…
FAIR Plan insurance criticized for expense, lack of coverage in insurance commissioner hearing
FAIR Plan insurance criticized for expense, lack of coverage in insurance commissioner hearing

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGO) — In California, if no insurance company will sell you a homeowner’s policy, you can get coverage though the California FAIR Plan. This insurer of last resort is a state mandated association run by insurance companies. Plagued with problems, an investigative hearing…
How to File a Homeowners Insurance Claim
How to File a Homeowners Insurance Claim

Filing a home insurance claim in a timely fashion can put money in your pocket faster. Maybe it’s a loud crash overhead. Maybe it’s shattering glass. Maybe it’s a steady drip of water from your kitchen ceiling. Any of these sounds could mean that you…
Can AI Predict If Your House Is Going To Burn To The Ground?
Can AI Predict If Your House Is Going To Burn To The Ground?

As summer fire season looms in California, Zesty.ai is using machine learning to help insurers and homeowners to make realistic risk assessments—and reduce damage to homes and property. Standing on the outskirts of Oakland, California, Attila Toth takes in the nearby forested hills. The CEO…
Marshall Fire Survivors Tell Coloradans What They Need to Know to Protect Themselves
Marshall Fire Survivors Tell Coloradans What They Need to Know to Protect Themselves

Six months after the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history ripped through the Boulder suburbs, we checked in with those who experienced the tragedy. They told us what they’ve learned—and what they think other Centennial Staters should know. It Really Could Happen To You My…
BACH TALK: Whoomp! (there it is)
BACH TALK: Whoomp! (there it is)

In a recent blog, a Texas lawyer revealed an industry secret that is common knowledge to policyholder advocates and claimants but rarely publicly revealed or admitted by insurers:  By dragging out claims and failing to timely pay benefits owed, insurers can pressure policyholders to accept…
Breaking through indecision…
Breaking through indecision…

When you’re under stress and need to make major decisions, it can be paralyzing. After Don and Lee Lehrman lost their home to a wildfire, they used a “forced-choice decision matrix” to decide how to replace it. You make a list of your wants, then…
Catch UP on Colorado Insurance Consumer Law with Brad Levin
Catch UP on Colorado Insurance Consumer Law with Brad Levin

In this Catch UP segment, long time policyholder Attorney Brad Levin of Levin Sitcoff Waneka shares insights on the laws that govern insurance claims and consumer rights in the State of Colorado, and lawsuit logistics and costs to those who want a remedy for unfair…
Paradise rolls out new wildfire prevention standards available to all California homes
Paradise rolls out new wildfire prevention standards available to all California homes

A Paradise home received the state’s first Wildfire Prepared Home designation, kicking off a new program meant to reduce the damage from wildfires. The newly-constructed home is tucked in the burn scar of the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California’s history, on a road…