Insurers Dropped Nearly 350,000 California Homeowners With Wildfire Risk

Aug. 20– A year after historic rains wreaked havoc on Dane County, some residents continue to feel the impact from high groundwater that’s being blamed for millions of dollars of additional damage. Last year was the second-wettest year in Madison out of 149 years of modern record keeping, according to the National Weather Service. John Reimer, assistant director…

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis hosted a Hurricane Michael Insurance Village this past Friday and Saturday at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City. CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “Over the weekend, my Division of Consumer Services hosted a Hurricane Michael Insurance Village in Panama City that brought together 28 insurance companies to assist…

–InsureMyTrip, a Weather-Ready Nation Ambassador for the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is alerting travelers that peak hurricane season is now underway. Travelers seeking travel insurance should be aware that once a storm starts forming it is considered a foreseeable event, and coverage will no longer be…

Aug. 17– An insurance company refused to defend Scranton or pay any damages related to a lawsuit a contractor filed against the former head of the city’s Licensing, Inspections and Permits Department because the official was accused of intentionally retaliating against the man. Indian Harbor Insurance Co. said allegations Theodore Brunelle lodged against…

Nationwide Mutual Insurance issued the following news release:. J.D. Power has recognized Nationwide with the highest ranking for overall customer satisfaction in its 2019 U.S. “Receiving the highest ranking in J.D. Power’s Small Commercial Insurance Satisfaction Study in 2018 and 2019 reinforces our position as an industry leader and our commitment to…

Insure.com, a provider of information on life insurance, home insurance, health insurance and auto insurance, issued the following news release:. Graduated Driver Licensing Laws are meant to save lives and help protect young drivers by allowing them to safely gain driving experience before obtaining full driving privileges. Research shows they work when…

Experts say it’s only a matter of time before a shift in a major fault line off the Oregon coast causes a massive earthquake that generates a tsunami as much as seven stories tall. Even as work on Oregon State University’s Marine Studies Building was underway in Newport, the Legislature went a step further and repealed a ban on construction of new “critical…

–Drunk driving fatalities are on a downward trend across the county. Forty-three states nationwide saw a decrease in drunk driving fatalities from 2000 to 2017, according to a new QuoteWizard ® report. Drunk driving fatalities nationwide decreased by 18% overall from 2000 to 2017 Uber’s ridership trends show that demand for rides peak around times when…

PEMCO Mutual Insurance recently announced Harris Clarke, vice president of operations, will expand his role to include oversight of the company’ s claims department, while he hands off responsibility for the underwriting and product departments to newly promoted executive, Dawn Lee. “Harris’ demonstrated ability to successfully lead high-performance…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority announced the restructuring of more than 200 delinquent loans–totaling approximately $571 million in principal–owed to Puerto Rico’s clean water and drinking water State Revolving Fund programs. “EPA is pleased that Puerto Rico’s SRFs are back on track and able to…

—After devastating flooding this year, Iowa funneled $15 million into a special fund to help local governments recover and guard against future floods. Missouri budgeted more money to fight rising waters, including $2 million to help buy a moveable floodwall for a historic Mississippi River town that has faced flooding in all but one of the past 20 years.

—After devastating flooding this year, Iowa put $15 million into a special fund to help local governments recover and guard against future floods. Missouri allotted more money to fight rising waters, including $2 million to help buy a moveable floodwall for a historic Mississippi River town that’s faced flooding in all but one of the past 20 years.

State Farm Companies, an auto, home and individual life insurance provider, issued the following news release:. -Officials Are Working to Prepare the Public And Law Enforcement for Their Lifesaving Potential. Experts addressed these topics at a May 8, Governors Highway Safety Association/ State Farm (R) meeting.

When digital agency Work & Co’s founding partner Mohan Ramaswamy met with Hippo’s founders Assaf Wand, Eyal Navon and Aviad Pinkovesky for the first time three years ago, the home insurance startup hadn’t yet launched.

_ Kemper Corp. on Monday reported second-quarter profit of $122.1 million. The Chicago- based company said it had profit of $1.84 per share. Access a Zacks stock report on KMPR at https://www.zacks.com/ap/KMPR.

Aug. 4– BEARDSTOWN– For Beardstown farmer Jack Hardwick, the long-term flooding of many of his fields near Beardstown, Chandlerville and Meredosia has made this year’s planting season a hard one. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency pays claims to farmers who are prevented from planting their land for any of several reasons, including…

Among other things, the bill calls on pet insurance policyholders to discuss grievances with their provider before filing a complaint with the California Department of Insurance. The San Diego Union-Tribune last month reported that Lara accepted and then returned thousands of dollars in campaign donations from a Texas homemaker who shares a home address…

TransUnion, a risk information provider, issued the following news release:. The newly released Auto Insurance Shopping Index from TransUnion revealed that 21.7% of consumers were shopping for personal auto insurance in 2018, up from 20% the previous year. Carriers have an opportunity to increase their business while consumers may secure even better rates, “…

Gov. Gavin Newsom is defending California’s wildfire prevention efforts while criticizing the federal government for not doing enough. He jabbed Wednesday at Republican President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized California’s Democratic leaders for poor forest management. Newsom says 33 of 35 forest-thinning projects are on pace for completion by year’s end. They are designed to slow the spread of wildfires near more than 200 communities in fire-prone areas.

Jul. 30– Weary of seemingly never-ending rate hikes, customers of state-owned Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in Broward and Palm Beach counties won’t be getting any relief soon. On Monday, the state Office of Insurance Regulation approved an average 9.6 percent rate hike for the company’s 29,212 multiperil residential policyholders in Broward,…

Jul. 28– California is so concerned over the future cost and availability of insurance it’s calling in the United Nations for help. Recent reports detail how homeowner insurance policies in regions prone to wildfire– like San Diego’s rural areas– are being canceled or becoming significantly more expensive. Tens of thousands of beachfront homes across…

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, Bloomington, Illinois, has been assigned a patent developed by Gregory L. Hayward, Bloomington, Illinois, for “determining abnormal traffic conditions from a broadcast of telematics data originating from another vehicle.” The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?

Joe Manchin, D- W.Va., has introduced the Group Flood Insurance Policy Extension Act, legislation that would extend the current Group Flood Insurance Policy under Federal Emergency Management Agency. In a release, Manchin said this extension would account for the delayed obligation of $106 million in Community Development Block Grant– Disaster Recovery…

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release:. Missourians who have registered with FEMA may be eligible for reimbursement if they paid out-of-pocket expenses for temporary lodging because of damage to their primary residences from recent flooding, severe storms and tornadoes.

North Carolina hurricane survivors are frustrated with the slow spending of federal long-term housing recovery funds. A May report showed that federal housing funds for Hurricane Matthew victims were delayed due to administrative mistakes and inexperience. Some displaced Florence survivors are working on their homes themselves with the help of volunteer organizations. But, those repairs are not complete fixes to the home, meaning that homes could be more vulnerable in future storms.

Jul. 23– When an elderly woman’s insurance company wouldn’t help her fix her home that a wild alligator damaged, a police officer in her city decided to come to the rescue. Clearwater police officer Brad Allen created a GoFundMe earlier this week to raise $1,500 for 77- year-old Mary Wischhusen after an 11- foot gator broke into her home. The effort has so far raised…

Jul. 23– Sudden downpours caused flash floods across the city Monday night, turning streets in Brooklyn and Staten Island into rivers and blocking traffic entirely on the Long Island Expressway. Videos and photos showed torrents of rainwater rushing down streets in Williamsburg, flooding cars on 4th Ave. and Carroll St., and turning Wallabout St. at Throop Ave….

Reporting published in the San Diego Union Tribune Saturday reveals that California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara intervened on the side of a workers’ compensation insurer on at least four separate occasions after receiving contributions from insurance executives and their wives with connections to the company. Jeff McDonald’s report in the San…

Jul. 21– The U.S. Congress must extend and eventually fix the National Flood Insurance Program. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy were joined by Bob Menendez, D- New Jersey; Cory Booker D- New Jersey; Chris Van Hollen, D- Maryland; Marco Rubio, R- Florida; Elizabeth Warren, D- Massachusetts; and Kirsten Gillibrand, D- New York. The bipartisan nature of the support for this bill will…

Jul. 20– Tornado survivors without the means to rebuild on their own and short on insurance or FEMA money should stay patient, say those working on long-term recovery efforts. And that funnel begins with registering with FEMA, said Adam Blake, vice president of housing for County Corp.. As of Thursday, 5,180 individuals or households had registered with FEMA from…

CoreLogic ®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today announced residential and commercial flood and wind loss estimates for Hurricane Barry. According to this data analysis, flood loss for residential and commercial properties in Louisiana is estimated to be between $200 million and $400 million…

Yet a few weeks ago, her insurance carrier– Lloyd’s of London, known for insuring high-risk properties– told her it was declining to renew her homeowners’ policy. “It prevented them from purchasing a home in California,” Burt said. It’s reaching a point where it’s a daily conversation in my office as to whether insurance rates are going to kill real estate in…

Elizabeth Warren joined on Thursday joined a bipartisan group her Senate colleagues in unveiling new, comprehensive legislation to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for five years, but the legislation includes a series of sweeping reforms to address the waste, abuse and mismanagement plaguing the system that are in direct competition with a…

Jul. 16– Legislation introduced Tuesday in Washington could help prevent horrific highway crashes by requiring big trucks to have automatic braking systems, its backers say. Hank Johnson, D- Georgia, new commercial trucks would be required to have the systems that alert drivers when they are approaching a vehicle, and then automatically slow down the truck if…

Jul. 15– A federal lawsuit says Fayetteville automobile dealer Mike Lallier, who remains accused in South Carolina criminal court of molesting a teenage boy in September 2016, wanted to use his dealership’s liability insurance to cover the costs from a civil lawsuit that a former employee filed in Cumberland County Superior Court. The former employee…

That included about 5,000 in Lafayette Parish and 3,200 in St. Martin Parish. In Lafayette Parish, 2,836 were still in the dark, 306 in Acadia Parish, 702 in St. Landry Parish, 2,133 in St. Martin Parish and 521 in Vermilion Parish. Slemco crews along with out-of-state contractor crews and co-op crews from Oklahoma and Florida are working to restore power as quickly as…

Jul. 11– PANAMA CITY– The air in the heart of Florida’s Panhandle has felt heavy for days, weighed down by Southern humidity and the hazy heat of summer. But Hurricane Michael survivor Octavia Pullum has felt more brewing in that air lately: It’s fear, brought by a storm passing by in the Gulf of Mexico, which she still feels even though it is moving past the…

Jul. 10– According to the data submitted by the reporting insurance companies, insured losses are expected to reach at least $139 million. Across the industry and types of insurance, it appears that just over 60 percent of claims have been closed, with nearly 70 percent of residential property claims closed to date, according to the Missouri Department of…

Jul. 10– Sherrie Mack is one of a group of people cautiously watching news updates, unsure how seriously to take the likely onslaught of a weather system that if it intensifies, will be called Hurricane Barry. Mack, of Port Vincent, is still living in a FEMA trailer on the property that once housed her husband’s childhood home. Most recently, June 6 saw a deluge that…

Called “nuisance” or “sunny day” flooding, tidal inundations most often occur in South Florida during the fall king tide cycle– a function of a slower Gulf Stream current, warmer waters and lunar alignment. Still, 30 record high tide levels were broken at Virginia Key in 2018, according to Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the Rosenstiel School of Marine…

Jul. 10– PANAMA CITY– Heavy rainfall expected this week could cause flooding and water damage to homes because of lingering Hurricane Michael damage, emergency officials warned Tuesday. “We have been following this very closely, given the fact that we’re still in recovery,” said Mark Bowen, Bay County’s chief of emergency services. According to the National…

Jul. 9– Small Business Administration loans to tornado victims thus far total $2,291,500, an SBA spokeswoman said Monday. For homeowners and renters, so far, the SBA has approved 51 loans, with at least 316 loan applications still being processed, said Matthew Young, an SBA spokesman. More than 15 confirmed tornadoes struck the Dayton region and parts of West…

Jul. 8– There’s a potential tropical system brewing for Gulf Coast states and it was already bringing heavy rains to South Florida on Monday. Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are are giving the system, which on Monday amounted to a trough of low pressure moving south over Georgia, an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next five…

Jul. 8– PANAMA CITY– Bay County will receive the final version of its $6.9- billion action plan for Hurricane Michael recovery this week, and not a moment too soon. After six months months of planning, public meetings and review, the Bay County Long-Term Recovery Task Force is set to formally approve the final report at a meeting on Tuesday at the Bay County…

By line of business, commercial auto liability had the largest increase in 2018 written premium, 13.14%, compared to 2017.

When a Builders Care construction team arrived at Lequita Ward’s West 13th Street home last week, she was jubilant. Finally, Tuesday the cavalry appeared in the form of Builders Care, the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s charitable arm. The Federal Emergency Management Agency registered about 118,000 damage claims from Irma in Duval and Nassau…

If FEMA approves the request, local governments, state agencies and certain private, non-profit organizations in Columbiana, Greene, Mahoning, Mercer and Montgomery counties would be eligible for federal funds for eligible storm-related response and recovery efforts, including debris removal, emergency protective measures, and damaged infrastructure.

Jul. 4– Serenity Ranch owner Clint Nimmo said the flood was like a scene out of a horror movie. Jessica Meadows, Serenity Ranch staff member and Nimmo’s fiancée, woke up around 8 a.m. Saturday, June 1, to make breakfast. Outside their window, their ranch in Levasy was starting to flood.

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board held its last formal press briefing on the crash, in which 10 people were killed when the small plane veered into an airport hangar. The plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft BE-350 King Air, was flying a private party of people to St. Petersburg, Florida. A cockpit recording captured two hours of audio from the plane…

Jul. 2– The New York Archdiocese has sued its insurance companies to demand legal protection and coverage as it braces for exposure it will face once sex abuse victims begin filing lawsuits next month under New York’s Child Victims Act. The complaint by the archdiocese, filed last week in Manhattan Supreme Court, lists more than two dozen insurers as defendants,…

Rental property ownership can be a rewarding path to financial freedom. However, whether the property is a vacation rental property that has tenants only renting for short periods of time, or an apartment building with year-round lessees, managing an investment property can also be intimidating. Without prudent safeguards in place to shield against…

Jul. 1– While most of the physical repairs have been made, many Craven County farmers are still struggling to recover ground lost to Hurricane Florence. According to Mike Carroll, Craven County Extension Agent, large-scale family farms producing grains, cotton, peanuts, sweet potatoes and tobacco have repaired most farm buildings and equipment from wind or…