Latest Homeowners Headlines

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

Protesters Visit AIG Officials’ Lavish Connecticut Homes

Mar 23 2009 // A busload of activists representing working- and middle-class families paid visits Saturday to the lavish homes of American International Group executives to protest the tens of millions of dollars in bonuses awarded by...

La. Regulator Reminds Homeowners About Citizens’ Tax Break

Mar 23 2009 // Louisiana homeowners have several ways to save money on their 2008 taxes. State Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is reminding homeowners that they can get a tax rebate if they were charged a Louisiana Citizens Property...

Florida Home Insurer People’s Trust Ordered to Stop Writing New Policies

Mar 20 2009 // One of Florida’s new startup property insurance companies has been told to stop selling policies — at least for a while. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said Boca Raton-based People’s Trust has not...

More Iowa Flood-Damaged Homes Face Demolition with FEMA OK

Mar 19 2009 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has given Cedar Rapids approval to proceed with the demolition of about 300 flood-damaged homes. City utilities director Pat Ball says the agreement with FEMA specifies that homes...

Mississippi Homeowners Urged to Buy Flood Insurance Now

Mar 17 2009 // Mississippi residents cannot afford to ignore the reality that 90 percent of all natural disasters in the nation involve flooding, according to Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. Chaney said that Flood Safety Awareness...

Ohio Windstorm Losses in Feb. Reach Nearly $89M; Ike Losses Rise

Mar 16 2009 // Ohio’s Feb. 11-12 windstorm caused at least $88.9 million in damages, based on preliminary insured loss estimates from the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII), an insurance industry trade group. Widespread losses were...

Bills Filed to Roll Back Texas 2003 Insurance Reforms

Mar 16 2009 // Reforms to the Texas insurance regulatory system put in place by Senate Bill 14 in 2003 are under attack by a coalition of state lawmakers who have filed bills to, among other things, return the rate setting process for...

$100 Million Iowa Relief Plan Would Include Buying Flooded Homes

Mar 13 2009 // Iowa Democrats have unveiled a $100 million flood relief package and are negotiating how to pay for it. The biggest part of the plan would be $20 million for flood prevention efforts. The plan sets aside $12.5 million to...

Buy Flood Insurance, Wisconsin Officials Tell Homeowners

Mar 11 2009 // State emergency officials want homeowners to get flood insurance. Flooding in August 2007 caused $112.4 million in damage to property and crops. Another round of floods in June 2008 caused more than $765 million. Wisconsin...

Mississippi’s Rep. Taylor Renews Push for Federal Wind Insurance Policy

Mar 10 2009 // Rep. Gene Taylor, D.-Miss., isn’t letting opposition by major insurance companies keep him from pushing his plan to make wind coverage for properties available through the federal flood insurance...

Pacific Specialty Expands Texas Residential Property Programs

Mar 10 2009 // Pacific Specialty Property and Casualty Company, the Texas affiliate of California-based Pacific Specialty Insurance Company (PSIC) announced a new suite of preferred tier residential property insurance products in...

Illinois Homeowner Sues to Obtain Claim Information on Explosion

Mar 9 2009 // A southwestern Illinois woman has filed a suit seeking information about why her home exploded last month. Laura Williams filed the suit in Madison County Circuit Court. A Feb. 13 blast destroyed her Pontoon Beach home and...

State Farm Makes Homeowners Insurance Rate Changes in Nevada

Mar 6 2009 // Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott J. Kipper has approved a rate change for homeonwers insurance premiums as filed by State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. The rate change will become effective on April 1, 2009, for new...

Louisiana, Mississippi Among Highest Homeowner Rates in 2006

Mar 5 2009 // Louisiana homeowners paid the third-highest home insurance rates in 2006, while Mississippi was hit with the sixth-highest average bill for coverage, according to a report by a national group of state insurance...

Florida Homeowners’ Lawsuit Alleges Defective Chinese Drywall

Mar 4 2009 // A group of Florida homeowners sued German drywall maker Knauf Gips KG, its Chinese plasterboard units and several U.S. homebuilders on Monday, alleging contaminated drywall is sickening U.S. homeowners. The lawsuit said...

Texas Insurer Group Takes Issue with NAIC Homeowner Report

Mar 4 2009 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioner recently issued its annual report on homeowners insurance. The report, based on figures from 2006, the latest year from which data is available, ranks Texas as having the...

Oregon Home Insurance Costs Below National Average

Mar 4 2009 // At an average cost of $502 per year, home insurance in Oregon is among the least costly in the nation, according to a nationwide survey. For example, the average homeowner’s premium was $1,257 in Louisiana and $603...

Texas Legislator Aims to Limit Power of Homeowners’ Associations

Mar 2 2009 // Texas State Rep. Burt Solomons (Carrollton) has announced plans for a sweeping reform of the state’s homeowners’ association laws, including a constitutional amendment that would prohibit foreclosure of a...

Cox Joins Homeowners of America as VP, Director of Marketing

Feb 26 2009 // Texas-based Homeowners of America Insurance Company announced that Michael S. Cox has joined the firm as vice president and director of Marketing. Cox has more than 12 years of insurance industry experience with most of...

North Carolina Insurance Chief Warns Against Coastal Rate Freeze

Feb 25 2009 // Legislative efforts to freeze big insurance rate increases for coastal homeowners risk making policies less available and more costly for all state residents, North Carolina’s new insurance commissioner said. Such...