Latest Homeowners Headlines
All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Alabama Special Session on Home Insurance Possible in January
Sep 19 2011 // The special legislative session that Gov. Robert Bentley has promised on the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance could come in early 2012. The governor and the chairman of his insurance commission said a...
Irene Raises Hurricane Deductible Questions in Northeast States
Sep 19 2011 // New York and New Jersey regulators said recently that hurricane deductibles should not apply on homeowners’ insurance policies for Irene damages in their states. That’s because Irene was downgraded and...
Home Insurers in Georgia Want to Hike Rates
Sep 19 2011 // A year after most Georgia insurers increased homeowners premiums by 9 to 23 percent, a new wave of increase requests is pending. State Farm, Georgia’s largest writer of homeowners policies, is seeking a 7 percent...
Wildfires in Texas’ Bastrop County Destroy More than 1,500 Homes
Sep 19 2011 // The number of homes destroyed by wildfires in a single Texas county had risen to 1,554 as of Sept. 11, 2011. The massive Bastrop County Complex fire was one of a rash of wildfires that broke out across drought-stricken...
Tennessee Court Gets General Contractor Liability Case
Sep 19 2011 // The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering a case that could change a homeowner’s ability to recover damages when a subcontractor botches a home repair or remodeling job. The case involves a Hamilton County couple...
Customer Satisfaction with Home Insurers Improves, Says J.D. Powers
Sep 19 2011 // Customer satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies this year is up from 2010, but still remains below levels achieved in 2009. Overall satisfaction with homeowners insurance companies averages 769 in 2011 —...
New Insurance Laws Go Into Effect in Missouri
Sep 16 2011 // Missouri homeowners hit by damaging storms now have stronger protections in place under two new state laws that recently went into effect, insurance regulators announced. The laws allow insurance companies to better serve...
Insurance Rates for Coastal Alabama Homeowners Going Down
Sep 15 2011 // Alabama homeowners insured by the state’s property insurer of last resort are paying less after the insurer implemented its first rate decrease in three years. The Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association last...
Florida’s Citizens Faces Critics at Public Hearing Over Sinkhole Rates
Sep 14 2011 // Florida homeowners came by the hundreds in cars and buses to speak out against the state-backed property insurer’s plan to increase sinkhole rates by an average 429 percent. At an unprecedented public hearing in...
State Farm Seeks 10% Homeowners Rate Hike in Texas
Sep 14 2011 // State Farm Insurance has filed notice seeking an average 10 percent increase in Texas homeowner rates. But company officials say discounts will be boosted to hold the actual premium hike to 1.4 percent statewide. The...
Nearly 2,000 Homes Destroyed in Texas Since Labor Day Weekend
Sep 13 2011 // The Texas Forest Service reports that an estimated 1,939 homes have been destroyed in the state by wildfires since the Labor Day weekend. The insured losses from the Bastrop County Complex fires alone could reach $150...
How Can Insurance Agents Help the Texas Fire Victims?
Sep 13 2011 // As fires tear through Texas, businesses and homeowners struggle to determine their losses. According to the Insurance Council of Texas, this year’s fire losses are Texas’ worst on record. The Texas Forest...
Chubb Executive McElwee Joins Homesite Insurance in Boston
Sep 12 2011 // Homesite Insurance Co., a Boston-based property insurer, appointed Chubb veteran Andrew McElwee Jr. as executive vice president and chief underwriting officer. In this position, he will be part of Homesite’s...
As River Recedes from Lee, Pennsylvanians Return to Wilkes-Barre Homes
Sep 11 2011 // Tens of thousands of evacuated Pennsylvania residents were allowed to return home starting Saturday as rivers swollen by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee receded across Pennsylvania after flooding that was the worst in...
North Carolina County to Buy Flood-Damaged Homes
Sep 9 2011 // Mecklenburg County in North Carolina plans to buy more than a dozen homes damaged by flooding last month. County commissioners saidthey plan to spend up to $2 million as part of an effort to remove homes located in...
Texas Fires Kill 4, Destroy More Than 1,600 Homes
Sep 8 2011 // One of the most devastating wildfire outbreaks in Texas history has left more than 1,600 homes in ruins and stretched the state’s firefighting ranks to the limit, confronting Gov. Rick Perry with a major disaster at...
60 Homes Destroyed in Fire Northwest of Houston
Sep 8 2011 // Central Texas is not the only area in the state fighting wildfires. The Texas Forest Service says 60 homes have been destroyed and another 150 are threatened by a wildfire raging about 40 miles northwest of...
Irene Raises Hurricane Deductible Questions in Hard-Hit Northeast States
Sep 7 2011 // New York and New Jersey regulators said recently that hurricane deductibles should not apply on homeowners’ insurance policies for Irene damages in their states. That’s because Irene was downgraded and...
Alfa Raising Rates for Alabama Homeowners
Sep 6 2011 // Alfa Mutual Group has raised insurance rates for homeowners by 20 percent across Alabama, with bigger increases for landlord and farm policies. Charles Angell, the state’s actuary, said the increase isn’t...
Tennessee Supreme Court Hears General Contractor Liability Case
Sep 6 2011 // The Tennessee Supreme Court is considering a case that could change a homeowner’s ability to recover damages when a subcontractor botches a home repair or remodeling job. The case involves a Hamilton County couple...