State Farm will no longer sell home insurance in wildfire-prone California

Julie Campbell
Home insurance - House on fire

The giant has announced that it is leaving the state’s homeowners’ market due to high risk and construction costs. State Farm has announced that due to spiking wildfire risks and construction costs, it is leaving selling in California’s home insurance market altogether. The insurer is stopping new sales of the coverage in the state, which it says has become too expensive. State Farm issued an official media release to announce its withdrawal from the home insurance market in California. It stopped accepting business and personal applications on May 27. That…

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Are Outdoor Patios And Paving Properly Covered By Home Insurance Policies?

Guest Author
patio home insurance poilicy

A home insurance policy helps cover the contents of a building as needed, but does this extend to the outdoors as well? What happens to your patio or paving in case of damage? The short answer is that most home insurance policies do indeed cover both of these features in case of damage and will pay to have them replaced.  Your patio is usually covered under the buildings section of your home insurance policy. This section is also responsible for shed, paving, gates, and boundary wall coverage as well. In…

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2 health insurance companies say cyberattack compromised customer data

H. Cutner
Health insurance companies - Cyberattack - Digital security

The insurers say that they experienced a data breach and customer information was compromised. Two major health insurance companies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire are alerting their customers that they experienced a cyberattack in the form of ransomware in March and April, at which time some of their members’ personal information was compromised. The corporate parent of the insurers has confirmed that the threat impacted customer personal data. The corporate parent of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care health insurance companies, Point32Health, has announced that the threat impacted…

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Positive marijuana test results following workplace accidents reaches 25-year high

Marc
Positive marijuana test - Workplace accident - marijuana leaves

Results in the finance and insurance industry rose by a considerable 38.5% in five years. Workforce positive marijuana test results after accidents have reached a 25-year high, according to the recently published results of the Quest Diagnostics Drug Testing Index. The rise among the general workforce in the United States aligned with early recreational pot legalizations. Last year, the percentage of US workers who have had a positive marijuana test result after a workplace accident had increased to the highest level recorded in 25 years. This, according to a new…

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Property and casualty insurance sees largest ever Q1 statutory underwriting loss

Logan B.
Property and Casualty Insurance - net loss

Personal lines resulted in the US industry experiencing its first and biggest Q1 net loss in over a decade. Low personal lines have caused the US property and casualty insurance industry to experience the largest underwriting loss on record and its first in 12 years, according to a new data analysis of statutory financial statements by S&P Global market Intelligence. The analysis was a preliminary calculation based on the underwriting losses of P&C insurers. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s preliminary calculations, property and casualty insurers in the United States…

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Can Floridians afford another 40% property insurance rate hike?

Nordstrom
Property insurance Hikes Florida

Some experts are saying that premiums could experience another massive spike this year. Homeowners in Florida are already paying some of the highest property insurance rates in the United States, but experts are cautioning that even these high levels are likely to see significant increases this year. Some homeowners are already paying three times the national average for their coverage. The Florida Legislature recently passed a number of measures in the hopes of making a long-term impact that will gradually reduce property insurance rates. That said, while those advantages have…

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Will heat insurance help protect the poor against extreme temperatures?

G. Turner
Heat insurance - Thermometer

As climate change makes the world hotter, the poorest workers in the world might benefit from coverage. By April near Ahmedabad, India, temperatures had already reached 100ºF, an extreme being linked to trends relating to climate change, and one against which heat insurance has the potential to protect affected workers. Everyone from physical laborers to people selling products affected by heat could potentially benefit. Last year, temperatures there reached 114.8ºF, at a peak becoming increasingly commonplace, as 2016’s peak was an even higher 118ºF. That location is far from the…

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