Latest Homeowners Headlines
All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.
House Passes Flood Insurance Bill; Key Senators Sign On
Mar 4 2014 // The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday evening passed legislation to curb some of the premium increases in the nation’s flood insurance program that have been causing “sticker shock” for property...
JPMorgan $300M Settlement Over Force-Placed Insurance Approved
Mar 3 2014 // A U.S. judge approved a settlement Friday of a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for its force-placed insurance practices, an agreement that could pay more than $300 million to about 750,000 mortgage...
AG Coakley Testifies in Support of Flood Insurance Bill in Massachusetts
Feb 28 2014 // Concerned that increased insurance rates caused by new flood zone maps will “tip the balance” for homeowners who weathered the economic downturn but are still feeling its effects, Massachusetts Attorney General...
Florida Sinkhole Tragedy: One Year Later
Feb 28 2014 // Chuck Holloway didn’t sleep well for a week after a sinkhole swallowed his neighbor Jeffrey Bush in Seffner last year. “And neither did anyone else around here,” he said from his front patio...
Northeast PIA Survey Shows Prices Rising, But at Slower Pace
Feb 24 2014 // In the first month of 2014, the PIA affiliates in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York conducted their second-annual Market Trends Survey and found that the heralded hard market may not be launching as...
House Republicans Release Flood Insurance Relief Bill
Feb 24 2014 // House GOP leaders last week put the final touches on legislation that would significantly water down a recently enacted overhaul of the much criticized federal flood insurance program, easing many premium increases and...
Maine’s Insurance Rates Lowest in New England, Gov. Says
Feb 24 2014 // Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration says Maine’s auto and homeowners insurance rates are the lowest in New England and among the lowest in the country. The Maine Bureau of Insurance is...
Indiana Homeowners Fear Flood Insurance Sticker Shock
Feb 21 2014 // Homeowner Wally Cantrell’s finished basement was destroyed in the June 2008 flood in Columbus, Ind., but his flood insurance policy helped cover a good bit of the repairs. Now, Cantrell wonders if he will soon face a...
North Carolina Hearing on Homeowners Increase Set for August
Feb 21 2014 // North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin has scheduled a hearing on August 6 in Raleigh on the insurers’ request to raise homeowners insurance rates an average of 25.3 percent. Goodwin said the proposed...
Consumer Group Blasts ‘Misleading’ Senate Bill to Delay Flood Insurance Hikes
Feb 19 2014 // The House of Representatives should defeat flood insurance legislation passed by the Senate in January because it “would have the effect of misleading tens of thousands of homeowners concerning their vulnerability to...
Flooded U.K. Homeowners Face Declining Values: No Mortgages or Insurance
Feb 19 2014 // Homeowners in some of Britain’s wealthiest districts face a drop in property values and the prospect their homes may be uninsurable as record floods blight towns along the River Thames. About 5,800 homes have been...
House Leader Promises Vote on Flood Insurance Rate Delay
Feb 14 2014 // The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is promising to take up legislation to delay certain flood insurance premium increases during the week of Feb. 24. The details of any House bill remain a mystery...
Moore, Joplin Mayors: Majority of Tornado-Stricken Homes Being Rebuilt
Feb 12 2014 // Mayors from two communities hit by deadly EF5 tornadoes in recent years say more than three-quarters of residents who were displaced have rebuilt their homes or intend to do so. It’s been almost three years since the...
Feds Approve $26.3M to Buy Out Flood-Prone Homes in N.J.
Feb 11 2014 // The federal government has awarded New Jersey $26.3 million to enable it to buy 89 homes in flood-prone sections of Woodbridge. The state is in the process of buying homes from willing sellers affected by Superstorm Sandy...
Early California Wildfires Risk To Homes And Vineyards
Feb 11 2014 // California’s worst drought in decades is feeding what may become a devastating wildfire season, one that is starting about five months early. Extremely dry conditions have sparked 487 wildfires so far in 2014,...
Flood Insurance Premium Hikes from New Maps Could Be Delayed Until 2015
Feb 10 2014 // Some flood insurance premiums required under a 2012 law now won’t be raised until the fall of 2015 at the earliest. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said the $1 trillion bipartisan funding bill passed...
How to Encourage Private Sector Flood Insurance
Feb 10 2014 // New technologies and a better understanding of flood risk may have increased private insurers’ interest in providing flood insurance but real obstacles remain to the private sector getting involved. The obstacles...
Flooded N.Y. Homeowners Regret Dropping Insurance
Feb 10 2014 // Some western New York residents whose homes were damaged by a snow-swollen river in January had only recently cancelled their federal flood insurance policies because of rate increases. About 70 houses in West Seneca, just...
Conn. Rejects Aid Request for Elevating Coastal Homes
Feb 10 2014 // Connecticut officials have rejected $18 million in requests for the latest round of Superstorm Sandy aid from shoreline homeowners who want to use the emergency funding to elevate their homes to avoid future storm...
Insurer Group: Texas Auto, Homeowner Complaints at a Record Low
Feb 10 2014 // In 2013, Texas drivers and homeowners filed the fewest number of complaints against their insurance companies since the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) began keeping records, the Insurance Council of Texas...
