September 27, 2016 Go Short Or Long? How To Pick Your Life Insurance Term Among the decisions you must make when buying life insurance, one of the most important is: How long should the policy last? Choose wrong and it could cost you or your survivors. You can buy term life insurance that will cover you for five, 10,…
September 26, 2016 Auto insurance discounts to ask for: complete guide You don’t have to wait until your auto insurance policy is up for renewal to ask about discounts. Your carrier or agent may not take the time to alert you to all discounts for which you are eligible. Be your own advocate by reviewing this…
September 21, 2016 State Insurance Websites Ranked From Most to Least Helpful to Consumers Analysis shows agency sites vary widely when it comes to providing people with useful, timely information. Insurance is a complex purchase — policies are hard to understand, the reputations of insurance companies can be difficult to determine, and what exactly you’re paying for isn’t always…
September 16, 2016 As fire danger grows, some homeowners are seeing coverage dropped As California’s five-year drought continues, and with fire danger an ongoing threat to many homeowners, it comes as no surprise that insurance companies are feeling increasingly antsy about the risk of policyholders’ property going up in flames. But that doesn’t mitigate the kick in the…
September 14, 2016 Why the W.Va. floods were so deadly and destructive Steep mountains, narrow valleys and a deadly train of storms came together in West Virginia to cause the horrendous flooding that killed 23 people last week, forced thousands to evacuate and destroyed or damaged thousands of homes and businesses. West Virginia got hit by a…
September 11, 2016 Hope and heartache in the year of fire Cobb Mountain – Maya Leonard sighed deeply as she stood between her parents on a sun-dappled morning in late spring, her freckled face somber. Her mother, Cindy, and father, David, each draped an arm around her shoulders. Maya watched as one of six men in…
September 7, 2016 Thanks To Fracking, Earthquake Hazards In Parts Of Oklahoma Now Comparable To California A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook Oklahoma on Saturday, tied for the strongest quake ever recorded in the state. Odds are it was triggered by fracking operations, specifically the subsurface injection of fracking wastewater. There is a direct connection between fracking and earthquakes in the central…
September 1, 2016 What’s a jilted policyholder to do? Getting a “non-renewal” notice from your home insurer is not a pleasant experience: You have to shop for replacement protection, and that’s no fun. You may have to leave a brand-name insurer for one you’ve never heard of. And on top of that, you probably…
August 31, 2016 Roadmap to Recovery Workshop – Clayton Fire (Clearlake, CA) United Policyholders is hosting its first Roadmap to Recovery workshop for Clayton Fire survivors in partnership with UMCOR and Team Lake County on September 6, 2016. The workshop will start at 6PM and will be at the Clearlake United Methodist Church, 14521 Pearl Ave, Clearlake, CA 95422. Karen Reimus will cover insurance recovery orientation…
August 30, 2016 Family finances: Don’t get caught ‘undercovered’ One-half to two-thirds of homeowners who experience a total loss don’t have enough insurance to rebuild their home and replace their belongings, according to post-disaster surveys of homeowners by United Policyholders, a consumer advocacy group. Here’s how to be sure you’re covered. 1. Check the…
August 30, 2016 Six Years After Fourmile Canyon Fire, Cold Springs Fire Brings Up Insurance Claims Recovery continues for folks impacted by the Cold Springs fire last month, which destroyed eight properties and led to evacuations of nearly 2000 others in the Nederland area. With the six year anniversary of the Fourmile Canyon fire on the horizon in September, experts from…
August 27, 2016 Closer look at flood insurance, FEMA’s reforms, lessons learned after Sandy missteps If the Federal Emergency Management Agency dealt itself a black eye with the poor job it did responding to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the horror stories that came out of the flood insurance claims process after Superstorm Sandy gave the agency another nasty shiner seven…
August 24, 2016 Document Flood and Fire Damage to Ease Insurance Claims Victims of the recent flooding in Louisiana and wildfires in California should all do one thing: Document the damage to their property. Taking photos is crucial to help bolster an insurance claim, said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a nonprofit consumer advisory group,…
August 22, 2016 Day 10: Clayton Fire Hits 95% Containment Community rebuilding efforts underway include an assistance center in Lower Lake and a public meeting on Wednesday. Containment on the Clayton Fire, now in its 10th day in Lake County south of Lower Lake, has hit 95 percent with 3,920 acres consumed, according to this…
August 19, 2016 Disputing a Denied Life Insurance Claim in Pennsylvania Losing a loved-one can be devastating. The situation can be even more devastating when the future that was supposed to be secured by a life insurance policy is denied. It doesn’t make sense. The policy was purchased by your loved-one so they could ensure you…
August 18, 2016 This is how a California wildfire can change your homeowners insurance rate Some Southern California residents have seen their insurance rates skyrocket as a result of wildfires. The latest round of fires is fueling concerns that rates may eventually be boosted again. Scores of Southern California residents living in or near the path of the latest wildfires…
August 3, 2016 Rays of hope as Middletown residents return amid Valley fire The Valley fire had spoiled Eric Lopez’s marriage proposal, but the story took an astonishing turn Saturday as he and his partner, Annette Perez, returned to their demolished Middletown apartment, armed with a shovel and rake to search the ashen remains of their worldy possessions.…
August 1, 2016 Long Island Company Charged in Insurance Scheme After Hurricane Sandy A Long Island engineering company and one of its former executives were charged on Monday in a scheme to minimize insurance payments to homeowners whose residences were damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In a 50-count indictment, Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general,…
