Latest Homeowners Headlines
All the headlines from our Homeowners Topic Page, ordered by recency.
South Carolina Homeowner Claims in Suit Airbnb Guest Threw Party, Trashed Home
Jan 27 2020 // The owner of an island home off South Carolina’s coast is suing Airbnb, claiming it only reimbursed him for a “fraction” of the damages that a guest who threw a big party did to his home. In a federal...
Ratings Agencies Disagree Over Financial Strength of Florida Family Insurance Co.
Jan 23 2020 // The credit ratings of homeowners insurer Florida Family Insurance Co. and its subsidiary, Florida Family Home Insurance Co., have been downgraded by AM Best due to a deterioration in underwriting results for the insurer....
Florida Legislative Session 2020: Insurance Bills to Watch
Jan 16 2020 // The Florida insurance industry will be focused on several key issues this session, including reform for auto glass (windshield) assignment of benefits (AOB) abuse, reforms to the state’s legal system, as well as...
HCI to Acquire Policies of Florida’s Anchor P&C; Weston to Acquire Anchor Specialty
Jan 15 2020 // Two Florida-based homeowners insurers, Anchor Property & Casualty and Anchor Specialty Insurance, have succumbed to market pressures in the state and will be acquired by other companies. Tampa, Fla.-based HCI Group has...
Valuation of Manufactured Homes
Jan 15 2020 // Building valuation can be confusing at best. If you go to a real estate website like Zillow, it’ll give you an estimated market value for a building. It’s doubtful that anyone really knows how they come up with...
Australians Evacuate Their Homes as Soaring Temperatures, Winds Fan Bushfires
Jan 10 2020 // Australia urged nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes on Friday and prepared military backup as authorities said the next few hours could be “very, very challenging” even as rain poured...
Insurance Journal’s Top 10 West Region Stories of 2019
Jan 2 2020 // California wildfires dominated the news in Insurance Journal’s Western region in 2019, despite it being a quiet year relative to two consecutive years of deadly blazes that came before. Three of the year’s top...
Typhoon Phanfone Kills at Least 41 in Philippines, Destroys Homes, Crops
Dec 30 2019 // Typhoon Phanfone killed at least 41 people when it slammed into the central Philippines on Christmas Eve, with dozens still injured or missing, according to the agency which oversees disaster response. The 21st cyclone to...
Plymouth Rock Assurance Expands Home, Auto Coverage to New York
Dec 24 2019 // Plymouth Rock Assurance, a data-driven home and auto insurance provider in the Northeast, has expanded its home and auto insurance coverage to residents and agents in New York. This marks the first time the 37-year old...
Australia’s Bushfires Destroy Nearly 200 Homes, Claim Another Life
Dec 23 2019 // Australia’s devastating wildfires, which at the weekend destroyed close to 200 homes and claimed another life, show no sign of abating and are poised to blight Christmas celebrations. Around 200 blazes were burning...
California Department of Insurance Issues Revised Plan of Operation for FAIR Plan
Dec 19 2019 // Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from a FAIR Plan official. The battle between the California Department of Insurance and the FAIR Plan will continue to rage on in the wake of two severe...
FAIR Plan Asks Court to Stop California Insurance Commissioner’s Order
Dec 13 2019 // Note: This is been updated with a statement from Lara’s office. The FAIR Plan today filed a petition for a writ of mandate seeking to have a court annul, vacate, or withdraw an order issued last month by the...
Sage Insurance Increases Capacity, Coverage for Secondary Homes in California
Dec 12 2019 // Sage Insurance Holdings LLC (Sage), a California wildfire-focused homeowners insurance provider, has increased its capacity and will now write exposures up to $4 million TIV. For a primary home, that translates to an...
Industry Representative Puts Fire Insurance Availability at Feet of Commissioner
Dec 6 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara will have to choose whether he wants insurers to charge higher rates or to stop writing homeowners insurance in fire-prone areas, an industry representative said following new...
California Commissioner Calls for Statewide Non-Renewal Moratorium, More Measures to Protect Wildfire Victims
Dec 5 2019 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara on Thursday issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing policyholders, a move he says will help at least 800,000 homes in wildfire disaster...
FedNat Completes Acquisition of 1347 Property Insurance Homeowners Operations
Dec 4 2019 // FedNat Holding Company (FNHC), an insurance holding company, has completed its acquisition of the homeowners insurance operations of 1347 Property Insurance Holdings, Inc. (PIH), consisting of Maison Insurance Co., Maison...
Some Changes to California’s FAIR Plan Could Go into Effect Early Next Year
Dec 2 2019 // Note: This has been updated with FAIR Plan comments below. Changes to the insurance plan offered by California’s property insurer of last resort could possibly go into effect as early as the next few months – that...
Up-Market Home Insurtech Openly Opens for Business in 2 States After Raising $7.6M
Dec 2 2019 // The tech-enabled high-end home insurance provider Openly has begun selling in Illinois and Arizona at the same time it announced a $7.65M seed round of funding led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture...
Wildfire Crisis is Roiling California’s Insurance Market
Nov 27 2019 // Lauris Bye, a homebuilding industry veteran who moved to Southern California’s wildfire-prone hills decades ago, felt confident about the newly built house he was buying about 30 miles north of downtown Los...
Up-Market Home Insurtech Openly Opens for Business in 2 States After Raising $7.6M
Nov 26 2019 // The tech-enabled high-end home insurance provider Openly announced it has begun selling in Illinois and Arizona at the same time it announced a $7.65M seed round of funding led by Gradient Ventures, Google’s...
