“(United Policyholders) provided helpful insights into the state of the current insurance market for earthquake, fire and flood coverage, and the critical rile insurance plays in the ability of our communities recover from such catastrophic events. You brought an important and unique perspective to the hearing, that of homeowners themselves.”
UP in the News
December 5, 2019
Wildfire insurance crisis leads commissioner to call for first-ever statewide non-renewal moratorium
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing policyholders — helping at least 800,000 homes in wildfire disaster areas in Northern and Southern California, a news release states, but Nevada County residents will not be impacted by the policy change.
The one-year moratorium only includes customers living in a state-...
As posted at: The Union
December 5, 2019
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Beginning on Thursday insurance companies doing business in California cannot cancel a homeowners policy in fire zone areas. The moratorium is good for one year.
This action will help residents of more than 800 thousand homes in wildfire areas whose policies were not renewed.
Ten months after Sean Coffey purchased his home in Montclair, he lost his insurance coverage...
As posted at: ABC 7 News
December 5, 2019
Wildfire insurance crisis leads commissioner to call for first-ever statewide non-renewal moratorium
Action to head off growing insurance availability crisis follows:
OAKLAND, Calif. — Today Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing policyholders--helping at least 800,000 homes in wildfire disaster areas in Northern and Southern California. The commissioner’s action is the result of Senate Bill 824 — authored last year by...
As posted at: California Department of Insurance
December 2, 2019
Plumas County homeowners may soon get some much needed home insurance relief.
The Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, which is referred to as the home insurance plan of last resort, is quickly becoming the only resort for many California homeowners due to devastating wildfires statewide. This plan costs significantly more than a traditional plan and only covers fire...
As posted at: Plumas News
November 29, 2019
Nevada County sits in the Sierra foothills in the heart of Gold Country. Narrow roads snake through towering old-growth pine trees and cedars. Cal Fire has designated the county seat, Nevada City, and nearby Grass Valley as "very high fire hazard severity zones."
Right in that zone, in Grass Valley, Kathy Lafayette and her mother live in the home their family built almost four decades ago. For 35...
As posted at: KQED
November 25, 2019
California regulators announced on Thursday new protections aimed at helping the growing number of people living in wildfire-prone areas who cannot find adequate homeowner’s insurance.
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said that starting early next year his agency will significantly expand a state-created program that acts as the insurer of last resort.
Follow several years of destructive...
As posted at: North Bay Business Journal
November 21, 2019
Menendez legislation that would reform federal program may be voted on this week, but it faces uphill battle
When Superstorm Sandy came ashore near Denise Vaccaro’s bayfront home in the Ocean County community of Forked River back in October of 2012, it was just the start of her problems. The damage was so extensive that her house was condemned, but her flood insurance company offered her just $...
As posted at: NJ Spotlight
November 16, 2019
When the more than 200 Kincade fire survivors who gathered Saturday morning at the Alexander Valley Community Center in Geyserville heard a firefighter introduce himself, they filled the hall with applause.
More than half of them had structures burned in the fire. Some lost entire crops to the 77,758-acre fire, Sonoma County’s largest. Others lost everything.
Their pain, at least for the moment,...
As posted at: The Press Democrat
November 16, 2019
Sacramento, CA…As wildfire risk drives more non-renewals of homeowner insurance across the state, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is taking action to help homeowners find adequate coverage to protect their homes by ordering the FAIR Plan to offer a comprehensive policy in addition to its current dwelling fire-only coverage by June 1, 2020, with traditional homeowner features, such as coverage...
As posted at: The Pine Tree
November 16, 2019
The California Department of Insurance has been urging residents who were under mandatory evacuation during the Kincade and Southern California wildfires to see if they can file a claim for additional living expenses under their homeowners or renters policies.
Most policies in California cover expenses such as hotels, gas and meals that exceed your deductible if a civil authority forces...
As posted at: San Francisco Chronicle