Latest Homeowners Headlines
All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hurricane Hugo Today Would Cause $20 Billion in Damage in South Carolina
Sep 22 2009 // Hurricane Hugo was the most costly hurricane ever to hit the United States when it made landfall in South Carolina in 1989, causing $4.2 billion in insured damage. Since then, the total insured property along South...
The Coverage Conundrum in Chinese Drywall Claims
Sep 21 2009 // The Latest Mass Tort Unless you live in Florida or Louisiana, or regularly read the Insurance Journal, you may only now be hearing about the latest mass tort craze: Chinese-Manufactured Drywall (often simply referred to as...
Home Insurers Use Lava Maps to Limit Exposure on Hawaii’s Big Island
Sep 18 2009 // The U.S. Geological Survey’s 35-year-old maps of lava danger zones in this southern corner of Hawaii’s Big Island are a tableau of earthy colors and odd shapes originally meant for scientific and planning...
Residential Water, Electrical, Sewer Lines Covered By Hartford Steam Insurance
Sep 17 2009 // Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. (HSB) is offering a new service line coverage, which can pay to repair underground outdoor water, sewer and electrical service lines that fail because of damage that would...
Homeowners Insurance Rates Going Up in Alabama
Sep 14 2009 // Insurance rates are going up for many Alabama homeowners. Officials with three of the four companies that insure the most homes in Alabama say that they are raising rates. The company that sells the most homeowners...
Homeowner’s Insurance Rates to Rise 10% In Arkansas
Sep 14 2009 // Homeowner insurance premiums in Arkansas are expected to rise this year by an average of 10 percent as the industry works to rebound from 2008’s dual blows of foul weather and nasty financial markets. The Arkansas...
Another New Florida Home Insurer, Sawgrass Mutual, Open for Business
Sep 14 2009 // Sawgrass Mutual Insurance Co. is now selling residential property insurance coverage to Florida homeowners through independent agents. The company was launched last month with $10 million in initial capitalization. CEO...
Los Angeles Wildfire Has Destroyed 82 Homes, New Estimate Finds
Sep 11 2009 // Fire officials say a new damage survey shows 82 homes have been destroyed from the blaze burning north of Los Angeles, up four from the previous report. The U.S. Forest Service also increased containment of the fire to 71...
Court: Homeowner’s Policy Won’t Pay Damages for Overdose Death
Sep 7 2009 // A homeowner’s policy will not pay damages to the mother of a teenager who died after overdosing on painkillers he stole from the man with whom he and his mother lived, a panel of justices from the Massachusetts...
State Farm Scrapping Some Florida Homeowners’ Discounts
Sep 7 2009 // 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 unless it supports that change with more...
Florida Agents Say Home Mitigation Effort Is Riddled with Fraud, Inefficiencies and Errors
Sep 7 2009 // Florida’s efforts to encourage homeowners to harden their homes to better withstand big storms by giving them insurance premium discounts is not getting the job done, according to a report from insurance agents in...
Coastal Home Owners Face Huge Losses from Rising Seas
Sep 3 2009 // Australians Lesley and Doug McGrath have for decades battled ocean swells that have eaten away at the backyard of their multi-million dollar Sydney home. They bought an old beach shack on Collaroy Beach in 1976 and...
California Wildfires Threaten Thousands of Homes
Aug 31 2009 // A wildfire in the mountains above Los Angeles has surged in every direction, going in a single day from a modest threat to a danger to some 10,000 homes. The blaze nearly tripled in size in triple-digit heat Saturday,...
Florida’s Tower Hill Insurance Downgraded by A.M. Best; Tower Hill Responds
Aug 27 2009 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength ratings (FSR) to D (Poor) from B (Fair) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “c” from “bb” of Tower Hill Preferred Insurance Co., Tower Hill Prime...
Hurricane Bill Served Warning to North Carolina Island Homeowners
Aug 25 2009 // Although Hurricane Bill made no direct impact on the North Carolina coast, the seas that the storm churned up has caused worries for some homeowners. The Star-News of Wilmington reported Sunday that residents of Bald Head...
Study: Buyers of Home, Auto Insurance Say They’re Happy with Insurers
Aug 25 2009 // Most consumers of auto and homeowners insurance seem to be happy with their insurers, says a new indsutry study. A new public opinion study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) reported that 91 percent of respondents...
Court: Homeowner’s Policy Won’t Pay Damages for Overdose Death
Aug 24 2009 // A homeowner’s policy will not pay damages to the mother of a teenager who died after overdosing on painkillers he stole from the man with whom he and his mother lived, a panel of justices from the Massachusetts...
ACORD to Reintroduce Homeowners Insurance Application Form, ACORD 80
Aug 19 2009 // The insurance industry standards organization ACORD says it will reintroduce its monoline homeowner application form (ACORD 80) this October. The form was withdrawn from the ACORD Forms Library in October 2008 and replaced...
Watercraft Rentals: It’s Good to Know What’s Covered and What’s Not
Aug 17 2009 // It’s summer, do you know where your homeowners insurance customers are? Perhaps they’re out on a lake somewhere, playing on rented jet skis or blowing with a gentle wind in a borrowed sailboat. Do they know...
USAA to Lower Homeowners Rates for Most Policyholders in Texas
Aug 14 2009 // San Antonio, Texas-based USAA has announced it has filed a plan with the Texas Department of Insurance to reduce its homeowners insurance rates in the state by an average of 6 percent. The reduction will equate to an...
