Latest Homeowners Headlines
All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Fund Created to Help Displaced Vermont Mobile-Home Owners
May 25 2012 // Glenn French and his wife lost their mobile home and much of its contents when floodwaters from Tropical Storm Irene ripped through Weston’s Mobile Home park in Berlin.Debris from destroyed homes is stacked for...
South Carolina Weighs Sprinkler Mandate for New Homes
May 25 2012 // The debate over whether all new homes should have fire sprinklers is heating up in South Carolina. The South Carolina Building Code Council is considering whether to adopt the International Residential Code requiring...
R.I. Enacts New Law to Assist Homeowners With Hurricane-Related Claims
May 24 2012 // Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee on Tuesday signed into law legislation designed to provide additional protection to homeowners when they suffer damages from hurricanes. The legislation (House bill 2012-H7484A and Senate...
Tennessee Cracks Down on Roofing Contractor Fraud
May 21 2012 // Roofing contractors operating in Tennessee will have to provide residents whose homes are damaged due to tornadoes and other storms with more information about their company and about their rights to cancel contracts under...
The Next New Thing
May 21 2012 // Coverage Issues from Fracking Claims Every few years there are predictions of a new type of claim that threatens to engulf carriers. In the 1980s and 1990s it was environmental clean up claims and SuperFund, followed...
Massachusetts Regulators Reject FAIR Plan’s Rate Hike Request
May 21 2012 // Massachusetts insurance regulators on May 11 rejected FAIR Plan’s request to raise rates by an average of more than 7 percent. FAIR Plan, whose official name is Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriters...
New York Hearings on ‘Forced’ Insurance in Foreclosure
May 20 2012 // Premiums for so-called force-placed insurance have more than tripled since 2004, producing enormous profits for insurers and the banks that take out policies when a homeowner fails to maintain coverage required by the...
The Industry’s Role in Cutting Down Crooked Contractors
May 17 2012 // Approximately one year ago, on Sunday, May 22 at about 5:30 p.m., Joplin, Mo. was devastated by a massive EF 5 tornado that at times was one mile wide and traveled on the ground for more than 20 miles. This storm,...
Home Insurance Rates Rose 19% Nationwide in 2011: Report
May 16 2012 // Homeowners insurance premiums went up 19 percent on average nationwide, according to a report from an online insurance provider. Homeinsurance.com said the typical premium for a new policy in December 2011 was $810...
Mass. Regulators Reject FAIR Plan’s Rate Hike Request
May 11 2012 // Massachusetts insurance regulators on Friday rejected FAIR Plan’s request to raise rates by an average of more than 7 percent. FAIR Plan, whose official name is Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriters...
Alabama Governor Signs Texting Ban; Expects to Sign Home Insurance Bills
May 9 2012 // Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has signed into law a measure (HB 2) that prohibits texting while driving. “Signing this bill sends a message that drivers need to focus on driving – not on sending a text,”...
Replacement Costs Battle on the Road to Somewhere
May 7 2012 // Steve Young was somewhat upbeat when he was asked what he thought about the outcome of a long-brewing legal battle between three insurance associations and the California Department of Insurance. That upbeat attitude is...
Appellate Court Dismisses Challenge To CDI Replacement Costs Regulation
May 3 2012 // The California Court of Appeal summarily dismissed a legal challenge by the Association of California Insurance Companies and the Personal Insurance Federation of California to homeowner protection regulations adopted by...
N.H. AG: Homeowners Have to Wait on Foreclosure Settlement Help
May 3 2012 // New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney says homeowners hoping to benefit from a settlement over foreclosure abuses may have to wait several months to receive assistance. The state is expected to get $43.6 million...
Allstate Profit Jumps 46% in Q1
May 3 2012 // Allstate Insurance reported a first quarter profit of $766 million, up by about 46 percent from a year-earlier profit of $524 million. The increase was due to improvement in operating income and, to a lesser extent,...
Coverage for Paranormal Activity? It Depends on the Specifics
Apr 30 2012 // One of the biggest stories in Toms River, N.J., in recent weeks involved an alleged haunted house in the neighborhood. According to local reports, Michele Callan and her fiance Josue Chinchilla had moved into a home in...
N.Y. Regulators to Hold Hearings on Force-Placed Insurance in May
Apr 26 2012 // New York’s financial regulators will hold hearings on the so-called force-placed insurance next month. These hearings will be open to the public and will also be webcast over the Internet. Benjamin Lawsky,...
Conn. Senate Passes Anti-Price-Gouging Bill to Help Homeowners
Apr 26 2012 // The Connecticut Senate has voted to expand consumer protections from price gouging during major storms, such as the freak October snow storm that hit the state last year. Senators voted 33-to-3 Wednesday in favor of the...
Insurance Premiums Climb to a Record $30B in Missouri in 2011
Apr 16 2012 // Missouri experienced a number of insurance industry “firsts” in 2011, including a record number of premium sales dollars, the largest-ever amount in claims paid for a single event in the state, and an...
Missouri Home Insurance Rates Rise
Apr 16 2012 // Missouri insurance regulators report that homeowners premiums increased 5 percent between July 2011 and March 2012. The figure is based on an analysis of rates charged by insurers covering 80 percent of homes. Disaster...
