Latest Homeowners Headlines

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

Abandoning Flint, Michigan: As Homeowners Move Out, Fires Move In

Jun 18 2009 // Like the house across the street gone missing and the one at the corner stripped of its front door, the weathered brown bungalow at 1430 Jane Ave. bided its time, edging nearer to a meeting with a wrecking crew. But in a...

New Homeowners Earthquake Rating Plan Available

Jun 16 2009 // Wheaton, Ill.-based American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) has developed a new rating plan for adding earthquake coverage to policies based on standardized forms, manual rules, and rating information provided...

State Farm Could Owe $0 to $1 Billion to Texas Consumers

Jun 16 2009 // The years-long struggle between the State of Texas and State Farm Insurance Company over homeowners insurance overcharges may be coming to a close soon, as Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geesling is expected to rule on...

Chinese Drywall: Builders, Subcontractors, Home Owners Facing Potentially Massive Uninsured Losses

Jun 15 2009 // Policy Exclusions Favor Insurers But Builders Can Be Protected General liability carriers specializing in contractor insurance for builders and drywall subcontractors are “sweating it out” over the potentially...

Chinese Drywall: Builders, Subs Face Huge Uninsured Losses

Jun 15 2009 // Policy Exclusions Are a Problem, But Builders Can Be Protected There is a lot at stake for all parties because the damages on a per house basis are likely to be astronomical. General liability carriers specializing in...

Chinese Drywall: Builders, Subs Face Huge Uninsured Losses

Jun 15 2009 // Policy Exclusions Are a Problem, But Builders Can Be Protected General liability carriers specializing in contractor insurance for builders and drywall subcontractors (subs) are “sweating it out” over the...

Foremost Insurance Expands Dwelling Fire Program in Arkansas

Jun 3 2009 // Michigan-based Foremost Insurance Group is expanding its dwelling fire program in Arkansas. The company announced that effective June 1, 2009, Foremost’s new dwelling fire contracts specifically designed for the...

40% of Florida Home Carriers Losing Money Even With No Big Storms

Jun 1 2009 // With the start of the hurricane season just a few weeks away, a leading Florida consumer advocate joined independent agents at a press conference to warn that property insurance rates need to be raised if insurers are...

Americas Insurance to Write New Homeowners Policies in Louisiana

Jun 1 2009 // Americas Insurance Co., which previously took on nearly 1,000 homeowner policies that had been covered by Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., has said it expects to underwrite new policies in most Louisiana...

Home Defect Bill Divides Nevada Lawmakers

Jun 1 2009 // Members of the Nevada legislature are battling over a construction defect bill that has turned into one of the most contentious issues of the 2009 legislative session. Senators voted 19-1 in mid-April for SB349, which...

Coastal Insureds, Insurers Brace for Start of New Hurricane Season

Jun 1 2009 // As the 2009 hurricane season arrives, many homeowners are finding insurance is either more expensive, or harder to get. Homeowners from New York to Florida and in the Gulf Coast region are again seeing premiums rise and...

Unsecured Foreclosed Homes Pose Huge Risk as Hurricane Season Opens

May 29 2009 // Mike Manikchand points toward his neighbors in Lehigh Acres — a half-dozen empty, foreclosed-upon homes, sitting on weed-strewn yards — and he wonders: What will happen if a hurricane slams into southwest...

Western Pennsylvania Town Tackles Arson Rampage on Vacant Homes

May 28 2009 // A western Pennsylvania town is trying to find an arsonist who has set at least 35 vacant structures on fire in the past 18 months. New Castle Fire Chief Thomas Maciarello says 90 percent of the fires have been in the same...

ASI Enters South Carolina Homeowners Insurance Market

May 22 2009 // Florida-based American Strategic Insurance Corp. (ASI) has entered the South Carolina marketplace and is offering homeowners’ insurance coverage for coastal property owners through independent agents. “As the...

Home Defect Bill Divides Nevada Lawmakers

May 18 2009 // Nevada senators and sssembly members are battling over a construction defect bill that has turned into one of the most contentious issues of the 2009 Nevada Legislature, now in its final weeks. Senators voted 19-1 in...

What Additional Living Expense/Loss of Use Coverage Means to California Fire Victims

May 18 2009 // The skies are filled with smoke, and hundreds of homeowners were evacuated from their homes in Santa Barbara earlier in May. During November 2008’s Tea Fire, which occurred in roughly the same areas as this...

AIU Offers Hurricane Resources in 2 South Carolina Counties

May 12 2009 // Homeowners in the South Carolina counties of Charleston and Beaufort who purchase homeowners policies from AIU Holdings’ Private Client Group can now access the advanced disaster preparedness and post-hurricane...

Santa Barbara Wildfire Increase 448%, Insurers Ready for Calls

May 8 2009 // A wildfire that began on May 5 in Santa Barbara County, Calif., continues to burn, increasing 448 percent from 500 acres burned yesterday to 2,739 acres burned and at least 20 homes destroyed as of this morning, according...

Louisiana House Panel OKs Fee Increase on Homeowners Policy

May 8 2009 // A Louisiana House committee has challenged Gov. Bobby Jindal’s anti-tax stance, approving what amounts to a tax hike on Louisiana homeowners: a proposal to increase an existing fee added to insurance bills. The fee...

Ohio Insurer Group: Proposed Fire Service Fees Not Always Covered

May 8 2009 // The Ohio Insurance Institute (OII) says the City of Toledo, and other cities and municipalities considering an additional revenue stream by charging insurers for fire department service runs to local residences should be...