Search results for: Protection Gap

As a follow up to the Insurance Protection Gaps webinar mentioned in yesterday‘s post, Water Loss From Toilet Overflow Is Covered Despite State Farm Denial, Professor James Hilliard of Temple University’s Department of Risk, Insurance, and Healthcare Management provided a basic outline and his presentation is somewhat similar to Professor Jay Feinman’s much more detailed work on the matter. Continue Reading Fighting Insurance Coverage Protection Gaps Is Sound Public Policy

Chip Merlin and FAPIA Executive Director Nancy Dominguez

The largest public adjuster conferences are with the Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (FAPIA). Nancy Dominguez is the Executive Director pictured with me at this past weekend’s conference. Two major themes resonated at the conference—insurance protection gaps and forgotten catastrophe-victim policyholders. Continue Reading Insurance Protection Gaps and Forgotten Policyholders are Major Topics at FAPIA

The First Party Claims Conference in Providence, Rhode Island was very much a success. I was late to the event and missed hearing a presentation where a sponsor said that meeting with legislators and insurance regulators is a waste of time. Ironically, I was late because I was in Tallahassee testifying as an invited panelist to represent the policyholder’s viewpoint before the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. Obviously, I could not disagree more with this sponsor and I believe their viewpoint is simply wrong and dangerous. The one person and organization that has been taking action, getting pro-policyholder laws passed, and stopping bad proposed legislation with more success than anybody is Amy Bach of United Policyholders. Continue Reading United Policyholders Has a Seat at the Table With Insurance Leaders and Takes Action to Stop the Insurance Protection Gap

Professor Jay Feinman

On March 29, 2019, I had the distinct pleasure of joining a distinguished panel of practitioners, educators, and policy makers at The Protection Gap in Property Insurance program sponsored by Rutgers Insurance Law Professor Jay Feinman, Rutgers law School and The Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility.1 Continue Reading Pitfalls For Policyholders: Rutgers Protection Gap Seminar Zeros In On Things Your Insurer Won’t Tell You

Professor Jay Feinman

Gaps in Insurance coverage are an increasingly significant issue. The Rutgers Center for Risk and Responsibility and the Rutgers Law School will hold a conference on The Protection Gap in Property Insurance, on Friday, March 29. This conference will address the protection gap in residential and commercial property losses and related types of losses in the United States. Continue Reading The Protection Gap in Property Insurance—Why Nobody Should Buy Farmers Smart Plan Insurance

The recent Colorado wildfires have highlighted a countrywide claims issue for residential homeowners having total losses—most are far underinsured. Insurance agent commentator Bill Wilson recently published a blog on the topic: Another Cautionary Tale of Underinsurance. While there are myriad reasons for this epidemic of homes being underinsured to replacement value, Wilson’s post noted in part:

One would think that, among the parties involved in the insurance process – insureds, insurer, and if an agent was involved, the agent – someone would have questioned the large gap between purchase price and homeowners Coverage A limit.

…

The insurer is identified in the story and my first thought was that the insurer needs to reimagine their ‘You only pay for what you need’ sales pitch. Maybe, ‘We only pay for what you buy’ or ‘You only pay for what you mistakenly bought.’

Continue Reading The Wildfire Underinsurance Gap

United Policyholders (“UP”), a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to be a trustworthy and useful information resource and a respected voice for consumers of all types of insurance in all 50 states, launched its national Restoring the Insurance Safety Net Coalition (RISC) initiative in 2020. The purpose of this initiative is to reverse the trend of insurance policy re-writes that are shrinking coverage for damage to homes. One of its stated approaches is to identify wording that is causing protection gaps. I encourage you to read more about the initiative at uphelp.org/risc. Continue Reading Beware of Avoidable Coverage Gaps with California FAIR Plan Companion Endorsements

This Friday, October 11 at 12:30 p.m. EST, Holly Soffer, who is the general counsel of the American Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (AAPIA), and I will co-host a free live webinar on the subject of coverage gaps and what can be done to stop this problem. Rutgers insurance law professor Jay Feinman, author of, Delay, Deny, Defend – Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims And What You Can Do About It, will have a guest video appearance on the topic. Continue Reading Insurance Gaps Are Killing Policyholders, Your Business and Your Ability to Restore Damaged Property—Sign Up For This Friday’s Insurance Gaps Seminar

Rutgers Law Professor Jay Feinman has written an excellent paper regarding insurance protection gaps (of which insurance gaps are a subset) involving residential structures: The Protection Gap in Homeowners Insurance: An Introduction. I recently mentioned this emerging issue in, Coverage Gaps Plague Policyholders! Merlin Law Group and AAPIA Host Webinar Explaining What Is Being Done To Fight This Problem. Continue Reading Insurance Coverage Gaps—An Increasing Insurance Crisis Which Needs To Be Addressed and Stopped