Latest Homeowners Headlines

All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Court Sides with Florida Nursing Homes in Emergency Generator Battle With Gov

Oct 30 2017 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s push to force nursing homes to add generators in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma could be blocked after a judge ruled there was no pressing danger that justifies the order. Scott called for...

Doesn’t Special Form Mean Everything has Special Coverage?

Oct 25 2017 // Over the last several weeks, I’ve been looking at several policy forms because of different writing and teaching assignments. I’ve been looking especially at property forms. One way that property insurance has...

Home, Auto Insurance Rates Rose Slightly in Ohio in 2016

Oct 18 2017 // Ohio Department of Insurance Director Jillian Froment says that the average rates in 2016 for the top 10 homeowners and private passenger auto insurance groups in Ohio increased 1.9 percent and 3.1 percent,...

Collaborative Project Saved Homes in Oregon from Fires. Can It Be Duplicated?

Oct 17 2017 // Lightning started a forest fire one August afternoon near Sisters, an Oregon tourist town, and it was spreading fast. Residents in outlying areas evacuated as flames marched toward their homes. Just a few months earlier,...

U.S. Homeowners’ Premiums Grow Despite Insurers’ Decreasing Return on Equity: Aon Benfield

Oct 17 2017 // When this year’s results are tallied, direct U.S. homeowners’ insurance premiums will have continued to grow, despite a decreasing return on equity for insurers. According to Aon Benfield’s annual...

Hiscox Re Offers Private Label Flood Insurance Endorsement for U.S. Insurers

Oct 16 2017 // Bermuda-based reinsurer Hiscox Re, along with insurance linked securities investors (ILS), has launched a flood insurance product for personal lines insurers to sell in the U.S. The turnkey flood insurance product, named...

Developers Built Homes Inside Houston’s Reservoirs. But No One Warned Buyers.

Oct 12 2017 // Note: This story was originally published by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica. When Jeremy Boutor moved to a master-planned community in Houston’s booming energy corridor, he saw it as idyllic. Lakes on Eldridge...

How Does the Homeowners’ Policy Deal with Trees?

Oct 11 2017 // We went to a birthday party over the weekend. At one point the conversation spun into hurricane talk, as it does after a storm passes over. We had folks that live all over Florida and the questions always start with,...

Insurers, Reinsurers Tally Maria, Irma, Harvey and Other Disaster Losses

Oct 10 2017 // Losses from Hurricane Maria and other recent natural disasters, including hurricanes Irma and Harvey, the Mexico City earthquake and other events, have led global insurers and reinsurers to issue profi warnings.t Below are...

Northern California Wildfires Burn Wine Country Homes, Force Evacuations

Oct 9 2017 // Firefighters battled roughly 10 wind-whipped fires across Northern California’s wine country early Monday, triggering a rush by residents to flee the area. Mandatory evacuations were ordered after blazes broke out...

Trump Wants to Halt Government Flood Insurance for New Homes in Flood Zones

Oct 5 2017 // President Donald Trump proposed ending federal flood insurance for new homes in areas most at risk of flooding, a change that could curtail new construction in vast parts of Florida, Louisiana and along the Eastern...

UPDATE 2: Global Re/Insurers Estimate Price Tag of Q3 Hurricanes & Quakes

Oct 3 2017 // Losses from Hurricane Maria and other recent 2017 natural catastrophes, including Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, the Mexico City earthquakes and other events, have led global insurers and reinsurers to issue profit...

Chubb, Homeowners Settle High-Dollar Suit over Ohio Mansion Fire

Oct 2 2017 // A dispute over a multi-million-dollar insurance claim for a suburban Cincinnati mansion that burned down in 2014 has settled weeks before a trial was scheduled to start. A federal court filing says attorneys for Jeffrey...

States Should Implement Stronger Safeguards for Consumers in Natural Disasters: Rutgers Report

Oct 2 2017 // As homeowners file insurance claims in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, many could find their level of protection depends on the state where their damaged home is located, according to a research report released by...

Despite Rise in Catastrophe Losses, Home Insurance Loss Costs Declined in Recent Years

Sep 28 2017 // In 2016, Colorado and Texas homeowners suffered the greatest percentage of catastrophic losses due to extreme weather and other perils, according to a study of home insurance trends. The six-year LexisNexis Risk Solutions...

Texas Homeowners Say They Weren’t Warned about Flooding Risks

Sep 28 2017 // More than 20 years before Hurricane Harvey, officials in suburban Houston were aware that a heavy storm could cause a reservoir to overflow and inundate nearby homes with water. So they issued a warning to potential home...

Firefighters Save Numerous Homes From Southern California Canyon Blaze

Sep 27 2017 // Firefighters working in steep canyons on Tuesday got help from retardant-dropping aircraft flying around-the-clock as they saved homes from a smoky blaze that surged through suburban canyons in Southern California and sent...

Does ALE Coverage Include Cost to Evacuate?

Sep 27 2017 // Since the first forecasts showed Hurricane Harvey approaching Texas to the impact of Hurricane Irma in the Florida Keys, millions of people were ordered, recommended and asked to evacuate their homes. That gave rise to one...

2 Wildfires In Northern California Destroy or Damage Multiple Homes

Sep 25 2017 // Authorities say multiple homes and other structures have been destroyed or damaged in two wildfires that broke out over the weekend in Northern California. Fire officials in Auburn northeast of Sacramento said flames that...

Note to Texas, Florida: Insurance Fights Over Sandy Rage On

Sep 25 2017 // The destructive floodwaters of Superstorm Sandy receded quickly, but some storm victims are still neck-deep in a battle over insurance payouts. And many victims of this year’s storms in Texas, Florida and elsewhere...