Conversations Around the Fire’ Turns to Insurance Strategies for Resilient Rebuilding
Conversations Around the Fire’ Turns to Insurance Strategies for Resilient Rebuilding

Yesterday, we heard a presentation from “Conversations Around the Fire” – an initiative hoping to guide local residents to greener, safer and more just ideas about rebuilding our community. One speaker at the conversation Monday night represented a group that helps answer questions about insurance,…
UP to the challenge: 4 simultaneous Roadmap to Recovery operations
UP to the challenge: 4 simultaneous Roadmap to Recovery operations

Last night in Ventura, California, UP oriented and empowered a room full of 200 people whose homes were destroyed in the Thomas wildfire.  Bringing the combination of seasoned empathy and technical/legal expertise that makes UP’s Roadmap to Recovery program a unique and valuable source of disaster recovery…
Cleanup and healing after Montecito mudslides
Cleanup and healing after Montecito mudslides

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, only 58 of the some 3,200 homes in Montecito have flood insurance. That means many homeowners will either be getting a lawyer to argue the Thomas Fire caused the mudslides and should be covered by fire insurance, or…
$3,000 grant to retrofit your home? Yes, please!
$3,000 grant to retrofit your home? Yes, please!

Helping homeowners pay to retrofit their homes is a good investment for all.  We hope all California homeowners will take a moment and see if they qualify for the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program to receive $3,000 to seismically retrofit their home.  The deadline to apply…
Ventura Roadmap to Recovery Workshop 1/22/18
Ventura Roadmap to Recovery Workshop 1/22/18

United Policyholders hosted a Roadmap to Recovery Insurance Orientation workshop for Thomas Fire Survivors in Ventura on Monday, January 22nd from 6-8pm.  The workshop was led by 1991 Oakland/Berkeley firestorm survivor and UP Board Chair Sue Piper at the Board of Supervisors’ Hearing Room at…
Life-Saving Baby Formula Denied By Insurance Company
Life-Saving Baby Formula Denied By Insurance Company

Heather Wiechert was very concerned that her daughter Mia was not growing. At 11 months old, she weighed just 14 pounds. “A mother’s desire to feed her child runs deep,” said Wiechert. Unable to keep food down, Mia started losing weight and ended up in…
Roadmap to Recovery Workshop for Partial Loss Survivors – Santa Rosa: Wednesday, 1/17/18
Roadmap to Recovery Workshop for Partial Loss Survivors – Santa Rosa: Wednesday, 1/17/18

Workshop for Partial Loss Survivors United Policyholders is hosting its next Roadmap to Recovery workshop in Santa Rosa for North Bay partial loss wildfire survivors on Wednesday, January 17th.  The workshop will start at 6PM at 547 Mendocino Ave. at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Santa Rosa.…
California lawmakers propose bills to beef up disaster insurance coverage
California lawmakers propose bills to beef up disaster insurance coverage

State legislators have introduced a package of bills that would beef up or extend insurance coverage to policyholders following declared disasters, but only one would be retroactive and apply to victims of the recent wildfires. Critics say the bills could drive up insurance premiums and…
Safe Houses – Rebuilding in fire zones requires new thinking
Safe Houses – Rebuilding in fire zones requires new thinking

Tragic losses from the October firestorms are still very fresh in our hearts and minds. Discussions about how to rebuild are difficult and sensitive. Dan Wade of United Policyholders says, “Rebuilding in a fire ecology can present unique challenges in the insurance process. Knowing how…
Lawmakers unveil bills to protect wildfire victims
Lawmakers unveil bills to protect wildfire victims

Local lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a flurry of bills that would strengthen consumer protections for homeowners in the aftermath of the North Bay wildfires, where local residents have found themselves underinsured and overly burdened attempting to itemize their personal property destroyed in the blazes. “Californians…
Gullixson: Having to relive the October fires — one pot at a time
Gullixson: Having to relive the October fires — one pot at a time

It’s hard enough thinking about what things we would, or did, grab when our houses were threatened. It’s another to have to remember everything — every pot, every package of food and every keepsake — that was left behind when our houses were lost. Then…
United Policyholders weighs in on insurance dispute between Office Depot and AIG
United Policyholders weighs in on insurance dispute between Office Depot and AIG

As the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments in a coverage dispute between Office Depot and AIG, an amicus curiae brief was filed by nonprofit United Policyholders. The dispute stems from AIG’s denial of coverage to Office Depot after a…
3 Key D&O Insurance Cases To Watch In 2018
3 Key D&O Insurance Cases To Watch In 2018

Courts around the country are set to grapple with critical coverage issues under directors and officers insurance policies in 2018, including at what point a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation triggers coverage and when an insurer can withhold consent for a policyholder’s settlement. Here,…
Now that’s coverage — Insurers sent private fire crews to homes threatened by the Thomas Fire
Now that’s coverage — Insurers sent private fire crews to homes threatened by the Thomas Fire

Debra Salem-Drake was packing to evacuate as a wildfire moved within a half-mile of her Ventura home when she got a surprising call. Her insurance company was offering to come spray her home with fire-blocking gel…for free. It was Dec. 5, the second day of…
FEMA Expands Flood Reinsurance Program with Private Reinsurers for 2018
FEMA Expands Flood Reinsurance Program with Private Reinsurers for 2018

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has completed a reinsurance placement with 28 private reinsurers to help the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) recover losses it may have to pay in 2018. Expanding on its first private reinsurance placement last year of $1.042 billion, the…
Insurance Companies Require Written Inventory From Fire Victims’ Burned Homes
Insurance Companies Require Written Inventory From Fire Victims’ Burned Homes

When the overnight firestorm raged through Santa Rosa in October, nothing in the three-bedroom house at 1445 Starview Court survived. “Nothing,” said homeowner Holly Webb. “It’s all gone.” And so, Webb was stunned when State Farm told her that getting the full $237,000 listed on…
Insurance Cases to Watch in 2018
Insurance Cases to Watch in 2018

Courts across the country are primed to grapple with critical insurance issues in 2018, including whether email-based theft schemes trigger computer fraud coverage and whether policyholders must foot the bill for pollution claims in years insurance was unavailable for those risks. Here, Law360 breaks down…
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones releases report addressing fire insurance availability issues: Nearly half of California counties have housing rated at high or very high fire risk
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones releases report addressing fire insurance availability issues: Nearly half of California counties have housing rated at high or very high fire risk

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today released a report on the growing problem of homeowners fire insurance availability and affordability in many areas throughout the state. The report recommends needed changes in law-the legislature should enact to effectively address the growing problem, which is likely…