United Policyholders takes action and gets things done for policyholders regarding the insurance gap issue. United Policyholders is tackling the insurance gap coverage problem by providing staff and resources to collect rogue property insurance policy forms being issued by insurance companies, to show examples of how insurers are stepping over each other to silently gain a competitive advantage of lower price with cheap insurance.
Continue Reading
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
Last night at the Thousand Points of Light banquet Garth Brooks stated, “If you do not have love in your life, you have to look at yourself about why” I became involved with this organization following Superstorm Sandy and still remain an active supporter because the basic philosophy is so fundamental to whom we should strive to be.
Continue Reading
Insuring to value is becoming an increasingly discussed topic with so many buildings underinsured. I noted this problem in a recent post, Do I Have Enough Insurance? Underinsured Homes Are Epidemic.
Continue Reading
Public adjuster Guy Cohen and I discussed various issues of property insurance and adjustment at a recent lunch. He raised a very serious topic of coverage gaps being created in the small print of property insurance policies which Florida insurance regulators are allowing to be sold. He thinks that these coverage gaps are the most serious issues facing insurance consumers. He is not alone.
Continue Reading
Merlin Law Group previously blogged about Konrad Kurach v. Truck Insurance Exchange,1 where an appeal was recently filed at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on this question:
Did the Superior Court err as a matter of law in finding that the limitation of payment of General Contractors Overhead and Profit from actual cash value in a replacement cost policy, although violative of binding precedent, was nonetheless valid and enforceable?
Continue Reading
The San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association is the largest and oldest Association of consumer attorneys in the San Francisco Bay area. Every year they honor a member as the Trial Lawyer of The Year, the Judge of The Year, and a New Lawyer of the Year. The Association’s past presidents include some of the best American trial lawyers to have ever practiced in the courtroom.
Continue Reading
In an opinion issued yesterday, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that labor cannot be depreciated when considering actual cash value.1 Merlin Law Group participated in this victory for policyholders by writing an amicus curiae brief on behalf of United Policyholders.
Continue Reading
Can you imagine Allstate Insurance Company running an advertisement explaining that it tries to deduct labor costs as depreciable items when you make a homeowners claim? Allstate runs television ads trying to warn against “cheap” insurance but fails to disclose that it instructs its claims adjusters to cheapen its insurance product when it comes to paying its customers’ insurance claims.
Continue Reading
Amy Bach is on the side of angels when it comes to fighting for policyholder rights. She is the Executive Director of United Policyholders which is the nation’s largest not for profit advocacy. She and her staff have spent considerable time in Florida educating the public and Florida lawmakers about insurance and sound public policy impacting the Florida insurance landscape.
Continue Reading