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Although the 2009 hurricane season got off to a slow start, it heated up significantly over the last few weeks with four named storms. Many home and business owners are now stocking up on supplies, but the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (FAPIA) encourages Floridians to also make insurance-related preparations in the event a…

State regulators are investigating how the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association handles certain roof claims related to Hurricane Ike. At issue is whether unsealed asphalt shingles are considered damaged, and if so, whether Ike was the cause. The windstorm association doesn’t always think so. But some homeowners say they have valid claims because Hurricane Ike lifted…

Myths, legends and lies are hard to dispel and correct, especially when doing so appears to financially harm the teller or believer. If the myth is true, the client (the teller/believer) does not need to purchase the coverage on which the lie is based; but if the information is false, the insured is forced to…

General liability carriers specializing in contractor insurance for builders and drywall subcontractors (subs) are “sweating it out” over the potentially massive claims dollars that could be paid out in litigation, settlement, and adverse jury verdicts arising from Chinese drywall. However, due to the impact of little known policy exclusions and evolving case law in many…

State Farm Florida has been given the green light to eliminate some homeowners insurance discounts but the insurer must continue to offer discounts for storm mitigation steps taken by insureds unless it supports that change with more information. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved a State Farm filing to eliminate discounts for…

Failure to acknowledge, pay or deny claims within specified timeframes tops the list of insurer violations that examining regulators find, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services said. The Waltham, Mass.-based firm said that sort of infraction led its annual list of the top 10 reasons insurance companies are found to be out of compliance during market conduct…

Half of Consumer Reports’ readers who filed insurance claims resulting from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 said they had problems with their insurer, the magazine reported. In the September issue of the consumer watchdog’s magazine, the organization says 26 percent of its readers also complained that they were paid too little for their claims. “A disaster…

A class-action settlement involving homeowners policies written by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and its affiliates could lead to homeowners receiving money for claims submitted over the last 13 years. The settlement is between Nationwide and its affiliates and homeowners policyholders who say they were not paid enough for claims submitted between 1996 and March 20,…

A Miami lawyer has filed class action suit against The Hartford alleging the company failed to pay replacement cost on Hurricane Wilma claims to insureds who had purchased the coverage. The suit claims The Hartford refused to pay replacement cost coverage unless and until the insured actually replaced the property, which lawyer Steven Simon says…

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin wants North Carolinian homeowners to be aware of a class-action settlement with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. for which he estimates some 304,995 consumers across the state may qualify. The settlement is between Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and affiliated companies and homeowner policyholders who say they were not paid enough for claims…