February 3, 2020
The average premium for the most common type of homeowners insurance was $1,211 in 2017, the most recent year for which data was available, according to a report issued last year by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. That figure was up slightly from $1,192 in 2016.
But that doesn't tell the whole story. The annual cost of homeowners coverage can vary by hundreds of...
February 3, 2020
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recently named 32 consumer liaison representatives for 2020.
The 20 funded and 12 unfunded consumer representatives began their terms Jan. 1. Fifteen of the funded consumer representatives participated in the program in 2019. They receive funds from the NAIC, typically in the form is expense reimbursement for travel and lodging at...
January 16, 2020
PARADISE — Paradise homes are getting bigger during the rebuild.
Around 60 percent of the homes under construction in the town are larger in square footage than the home they are replacing, according to permit and property data collected by the Chico Enterprise-Record and Chico State and analyzed by Chico State’s geographic information specialist Peter Hansen.
Before the...
January 15, 2020
After the storm has cleared or the fire has died down, your sense of relief at surviving may quickly give way to a sense of shock when you gaze at the charred or battered wreckage that used to be your home and all the stuff inside it. If there's any consolation, it's that you have a homeowners insurance policy that will help to make you whole again.
But before that can happen, you...
January 10, 2020
One thing to keep in mind about homeowners insurance is that if you're like most people, you probably don't have enough coverage.
"Whenever we do a survey in a disaster area, we generally find that two-thirds of the people whose homes are a total loss are severely underinsured," explains Amy Bach, an attorney and executive director of United Policyholders, a California-based...
December 28, 2019
There’s nothing wrong with a high deductible, as long as you keep enough funds in savings to pay it.
Like a spare tire or a flashlight, homeowner’s insurance is one of those things that you don’t really want until you need it.
Now, even when you need to pay for damage to your home, you may not want to use your homeowner's coverage. And, if you do want your insurer to pay, you might...
December 19, 2019
Tom and Tamara Conry were dead set on returning to Paradise after the deadly Camp Fire destroyed the town last November. The couple‘s home was barely touched by the fire, and most other survivors had a much steeper climb to recovery.
But when their property insurer, American Reliable, notified them in December that it wasn‘t renewing the couple‘s homeowner‘s coverage, they realized...
December 16, 2019
PG&E’s bankruptcy is making some people very rich.
Since the utility filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, lawyers and consultants have made a staggering $217 million. Big banks have netted $114 million in financing fees — and that number could top $1 billion by the time the company exits bankruptcy next year.
Others are reaping the bankruptcy windfall, too.
A handful of hedge funds...
December 16, 2019
Homeowners who have faced difficulty renewing home insurance policies can breathe a little easier for now. On Dec. 5, state insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one year moratorium on insurance companies not renewing policyholders, helping at least 800,000 homes in wildfire disaster areas in California. The commissioner’s action is the result of Senate Bill 824, authored last...
December 14, 2019
Do you know your wildfire risk score?
Most people know they have credit scores that help determine whether they get a loan and what their interest rate will be. They probably don’t know that if they live in the West, they have a wildfire risk score that could influence whether they get homeowners or renters insurance and how much they will pay.
Many insurance companies use these property-...
