Lawmakers To FEMA: Flood Plan Overhaul Is ‘Too Little, Too Late’
Lawmakers To FEMA: Flood Plan Overhaul Is ‘Too Little, Too Late’

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making sweeping reforms to the nation’s flood insurance program in the wake of a series of critical reports on NPR and the PBS series Frontline. But lawmakers say this isn’t enough when private insurance companies are profiting millions of…
The Ultimate Guide to Home Insurance for Dog Owners
The Ultimate Guide to Home Insurance for Dog Owners

Shopping for home insurance can be a challenge if you have a dog–especially if its breed is seen as dangerous. This guide will help you get a policy and affordable rate) regardless. Sixty-five percent of US households have a pet, according to the 2015-2016 National…
The “Catch UP” webinar series: Successfully mediating insurance cases
The “Catch UP” webinar series: Successfully mediating insurance cases

The fourth installment of Catch UP was a success! Catch UP on how to successfully mediate insurance cases.  Registration fees support our non-profit’s important work empowering the insured.  A recording of the webinar is available for purchase at www.uphelp.org/catchup.  The one-hour long segment of Catch UP, hosted…
Court rejects FAIR Plan’s policy of reduced insurance payments for homeowners in lower income neighborhoods
Court rejects FAIR Plan’s policy of reduced insurance payments for homeowners in lower income neighborhoods

FAIR Plan said the cost of repairing the lower income fire-damaged home wasn’t required, even though similar loss in a wealthy neighborhood would be covered. On Friday, May 26, homeowner Marlene Garnes won a legal victory against California FAIR Plan Association FAIR) when the California…
Don’t Be Blown Away By Your Hurricane Deductible
Don’t Be Blown Away By Your Hurricane Deductible

Hurricane season is fast approaching, but don’t be too focused on the official June 1 start date. This year, late April saw Arlene, the first named tropical storm of the season. Coastal storms are always unpredictable so it’s smart to get your homeowners insurance in…
Tried and true may be best for you
Tried and true may be best for you

Does the idea of skipping the traditional blood and urine test to buy life insurance appeal to you? Some life insurers are using “big data” tools to size you up and price your policy instead of tried and true underwriting based on medical tests. The…
Insured homeowner owed full cost of repairs, appeals court rules
Insured homeowner owed full cost of repairs, appeals court rules

An insured homeowner whose home has been badly damaged is entitled to coverage for the cost of repairs, even if those far exceed the property’s market value, a state appeals court has ruled. Reversing a Contra Costa County judge’s decision, the First District Court of…
Coverage Battle At 9th Circ. May Hobble Private D&O Policies
Coverage Battle At 9th Circ. May Hobble Private D&O Policies

Scottsdale Insurance Co. recently asked the Ninth Circuit to uphold a ruling that an exclusion in an education technology company’s policy for claims related to professional services bars coverage for a False Claims Act suit, and attorneys say a decision in the insurer’s favor could…
As Hurricane Season Approaches, Review Your Insurance
As Hurricane Season Approaches, Review Your Insurance

The Atlantic hurricane season is a little more than two weeks away, so now is a good time for homeowners along the coast to check their insurance coverage. The annual hurricane season runs for six months, from June through November. “A good place to start…
This family lost everything in one of California’s worst wildfires. Now, they’re almost home
This family lost everything in one of California’s worst wildfires. Now, they’re almost home

COBB MOUNTAIN The wooded path between Maya Leonard’s house and the elementary school where she is a sixth-grader remains scarred and blackened, a reminder of the epic wildfire that stole so much from this community on a September afternoon in 2015. But as she has…
Builder Gets Help In Insurance Fray At Calif. High Court
Builder Gets Help In Insurance Fray At Calif. High Court

A policyholder advocacy group and two Christian organizations urged California’s high court Wednesday to rule that an employer’s negligent hiring or supervision of a worker who intentionally injures a third party is an accidental “occurrence” under a general liability insurance policy, saying state precedent supports…
Ga. Justices Should Weigh $8M Bad Faith Case, 11th Circ. Told
Ga. Justices Should Weigh $8M Bad Faith Case, 11th Circ. Told

The Georgia Defense Lawyers Association has urged the Eleventh Circuit to seek the Georgia Supreme Court’s guidance on whether insurance carriers may be held liable for negligent, as opposed to bad faith, failure to settle a claim against a policyholder, saying the issue is key…
Poor Credit History Can Affect Homeowner’s Insurance Rates
Poor Credit History Can Affect Homeowner’s Insurance Rates

The impact of one’s credit history on homeowner insurance rates appears to be intensifying, a new analysis shows. If you have poor credit, your premium is more than double, on average, the rate for a homeowner with excellent credit, a report from the rate comparison…
Why Poor Credit Can Triple Your Homeowners Insurance
Why Poor Credit Can Triple Your Homeowners Insurance

It’s no secret that credit scores play an increasingly important role in our financial lives, determining everything from whether we qualify for a mortgage to what interest rate we’ll get on a new credit card. What still may surprise some, however, is how significant credit…
Gardening and Hardening
Gardening and Hardening

We think your insurance company should help and reward you for taking steps to make your property less likely to be damaged or destroyed in a wildfire. We are working hard to make that happen. This is the official start of wildfire season, and now…
Senate Bill Would Extend National Flood Insurance Program for 10 Years
Senate Bill Would Extend National Flood Insurance Program for 10 Years

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have released draft legislation to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for 10 years. The NFIP is currently set to expire on Sept. 30, 2017. The legislation, the Flood Insurance Affordability & Sustainability Act of…
2017 Advocacy & Action UPdate
2017 Advocacy & Action UPdate

Insurance impacts every American in some way. Not a day goes by when UP doesn’t hear from a person, business, public official or community with an insurance problem. With 25 years of pro-consumer engagement in sales, claims and dispute resolution scenarios, we have a solid…
Ruling puts California insurers on notice that their policies are unlawful
Ruling puts California insurers on notice that their policies are unlawful

In an a recent order, Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl of the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that Travelers’ California home insurance policies contain an unlawful notice provision related to smoke damage. Travelers is one of a handful of insurance companies that have begun to include…