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

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…

Read More

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

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…

Read More

Property and casualty insurance sees largest ever Q1 statutory underwriting loss

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…

Read More

Can Floridians afford another 40% property insurance rate hike?

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…

Read More

FEMA flood insurance rate update released by ZIP code and county

Flood Insurance Rates - Property

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has unveiled its price increase updates. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Risk Rating 2.0 flood insurance calculation method caused an uproar among advocates and critics who said that homeowners were destined to send prices skyrocketing for thousands of property owners. Homeowners in low-elevation coastal locations would be particularly affected, said critics. FEMA has now released data that reveals where prices will be increasing and decreasing, based on county and ZIP codes. The Miami Herald conducted an analysis of the new data and determined that…

Read More

Congress considers 17 changes to flood insurance program

Flood insurance - Home Floating in Water - Changes

The proposed changes are expected to reduce the cost of coverage to low-income homeowners. Low-income homeowners stand to pay less for coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) if the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) proposed 17 changes are implemented. NFIP has been struggling with its finances amid more frequent and severe storms due to climate change. FEMA is seeking to create a more thinly spread risk by drawing more property owners to purchase flood insurance policies. The agency’s goal is to implement a number of changes in federal…

Read More

Florida insurance adjustors alleging fraud in Hurricane Ian payments

Insurance adjustors - Fraud

Independent licensed professionals are providing evidence of fraud among certain insurers. Independent licensed insurance adjustors in Florida have been providing state regulators with evidence of alleged fraud relating to payouts made following Hurricane Ian. Hurricane Ian was the third most costly storm in the United States and the most expensive ever for Florida. The storm caused about $109 billion in damage in Florida. Field insurance adjustors are providing evidence to state regulators of allegedly fraudulent conduct by insurers which would affect thousands of homeowners in central and south Florida. Some…

Read More