"I have helped hundreds of families buy homes. Last fall, one of them burned down. I am so grateful for the education from UP that helps me make sure all my clients are adequately protected from catastrophic loss."...
UP in the News
July 14, 2020
A federal appellate court has cleared the way for a class-action lawsuit to proceed against State Farm Fire and Casualty Insurance Co. that may force the insurer to correct underpayments paid to some 65,000 policyholders.
A 6th Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a district court ruling that certified a class of plaintiff’s who may proceed with breach-of contract claims against...
As posted at: Claims Journal
July 9, 2020
Insurers nationwide are awaiting the forthcoming decision of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on consolidating COVID-19 business interruption coverage lawsuits. In the meantime, some federal courts are staying proceedings, declining to rule on fully-briefed motions and deferring decisions that could bring clarity to insurers and their insureds in individual disputes....
As posted at: JDSupra
July 6, 2020
On the morning of her 34th birthday last July, Katrina Lassen woke up in her new house in Larkfield Estates, a suburban subdivision where all 163 homes had been incinerated by the Tubbs fire in 2017.
“It was surreal,” she said. “I just felt at home immediately.”
The ranch-style home lost in the blaze was where her husband, Danny, a Santa Rosa firefighter, had grown up. In...
As posted at: The Press Democrat
July 2, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The PG&E Fire Victim Trust announced today that it has been funded effective today. The Trust received the Fire Victim Trust settlement proceeds from PG&E which includes 476,995,175 shares of PG&E Common Stock and the first installment of cash funding of $5.385 billion ($5.4 billion reduced by previous court-ordered advances of $15 million...
As posted at: PR Newswire
July 2, 2020
When the trustee overseeing the compensation fund for PG&E fire victims determines the values of some 80,000 claims, the vast majority of claimants won't have the opportunity to appeal the decision in court.
But the judge overseeing the utility's bankruptcy case has granted exceptions to a handful of local government agencies, corporations and individuals. They include Comcast, Adventist...
As posted at: KQED
June 23, 2020
It’s fair to say that most Americans see the coronavirus outbreak as an enormous and fearsome burden.
Not the insurance industry. In California, the industry is using the crisis to bring about a sneaky change in insurance rules that could lead to massive increases in homeowner premiums.
The insurers’ instrument is a bill that has quietly sailed through the state Assembly...
As posted at: Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2020
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced the newest members of the California Department of Insurance’s Curriculum Board and the California Insurance Guarantee Association’s Board of Governors.
The Curriculum Board oversees the development of pre-licensing and continuing education curriculum for agents and brokers, which includes a list of preapproved courses of study...
As posted at: Insurance Journal
June 16, 2020
Some solutions are emerging, but funds are short
PARADISE — Abandoned properties overgrown with flammable vegetation vastly out-number new homes under construction in the burn scar, and there’s little cash-strapped local officials can really do.
The fire risk caused by overgrown empty lots is putting the long-term sustainability and safety of the community at stake as it enters fully...
As posted at: Enterprise-Record
June 12, 2020
SAN FRANCISCO—On Thursday, June 4, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in insurance claims filed by businesses in the Bay Area, but some insurance companies have been denying the payouts.
“Almost all business ranging from small to medium to large are all getting their claims denied right now regarding COVID business-loss,” said Amy Bach, executive...
As posted at: San Francisco News
June 12, 2020
Law360 (June 9, 2020, 7:00 PM EDT) -- Insurers and policyholders have weighed in on two petitions to centralize disputes over businesses' coronavirus-related losses in multidistrict litigation, with supporters touting the efficiency of consolidation and opponents arguing that differences in companies' policies and claims make an MDL inappropriate.
From early May through last Friday,...
As posted at: Law360