Latest Homeowners Headlines

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

Vertafore, StoneRiver Partnership Aims to Make Selling Flood Insurance Easier

Mar 5 2014 // Insurance software firm Vertafore has formed a partnership with flood insurance policy processing firm StoneRiver National Flood Services (NFS) to provide independent agents a new way to quote and cross-sell flood...

U.S. Congresswoman: Flood Insurance Bill Bad for Michigan

Mar 5 2014 // A U.S. Congresswoman from Michigan wants her state to opt out of the National Flood Insurance Program, saying it’s not good for Michigan homeowners.U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) voted against H.R. 3370,...

House Passes Flood Insurance Bill; Key Senators Sign On

Mar 4 2014 // The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday evening passed legislation to curb some of the premium increases in the nation’s flood insurance program that have been causing “sticker shock” for property...

JPMorgan $300M Settlement Over Force-Placed Insurance Approved

Mar 3 2014 // A U.S. judge approved a settlement Friday of a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for its force-placed insurance practices, an agreement that could pay more than $300 million to about 750,000 mortgage...

AG Coakley Testifies in Support of Flood Insurance Bill in Massachusetts

Feb 28 2014 // Concerned that increased insurance rates caused by new flood zone maps will “tip the balance” for homeowners who weathered the economic downturn but are still feeling its effects, Massachusetts Attorney General...

Florida Sinkhole Tragedy: One Year Later

Feb 28 2014 // Chuck Holloway didn’t sleep well for a week after a sinkhole swallowed his neighbor Jeffrey Bush in Seffner last year.“And neither did anyone else around here,” he said from his front patio recently....

Northeast PIA Survey Shows Prices Rising, But at Slower Pace

Feb 24 2014 // In the first month of 2014, the PIA affiliates in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New Jersey and New York conducted their second-annual Market Trends Survey and found that the heralded hard market may not be launching as...

House Republicans Release Flood Insurance Relief Bill

Feb 24 2014 // House GOP leaders last week put the final touches on legislation that would significantly water down a recently enacted overhaul of the much criticized federal flood insurance program, easing many premium increases and...

Maine’s Insurance Rates Lowest in New England, Gov. Says

Feb 24 2014 // Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration says Maine’s auto and homeowners insurance rates are the lowest in New England and among the lowest in the country.The Maine Bureau of Insurance is...

Indiana Homeowners Fear Flood Insurance Sticker Shock

Feb 21 2014 // Homeowner Wally Cantrell’s finished basement was destroyed in the June 2008 flood in Columbus, Ind., but his flood insurance policy helped cover a good bit of the repairs.Now, Cantrell wonders if he will soon face a...

North Carolina Hearing on Homeowners Increase Set for August

Feb 21 2014 // North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin has scheduled a hearing on August 6 in Raleigh on the insurers’ request to raise homeowners insurance rates an average of 25.3 percent.Goodwin said the proposed...

Consumer Group Blasts ‘Misleading’ Senate Bill to Delay Flood Insurance Hikes

Feb 19 2014 // The House of Representatives should defeat flood insurance legislation passed by the Senate in January because it “would have the effect of misleading tens of thousands of homeowners concerning their vulnerability to...

Flooded U.K. Homeowners Face Declining Values: No Mortgages or Insurance

Feb 19 2014 // Homeowners in some of Britain’s wealthiest districts face a drop in property values and the prospect their homes may be uninsurable as record floods blight towns along the River Thames.About 5,800 homes have been...

House Leader Promises Vote on Flood Insurance Rate Delay

Feb 14 2014 // The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is promising to take up legislation to delay certain flood insurance premium increases during the week of Feb. 24.The details of any House bill remain a mystery but...

Moore, Joplin Mayors: Majority of Tornado-Stricken Homes Being Rebuilt

Feb 12 2014 // Mayors from two communities hit by deadly EF5 tornadoes in recent years say more than three-quarters of residents who were displaced have rebuilt their homes or intend to do so.It’s been almost three years since the...

Feds Approve $26.3M to Buy Out Flood-Prone Homes in N.J.

Feb 11 2014 // The federal government has awarded New Jersey $26.3 million to enable it to buy 89 homes in flood-prone sections of Woodbridge.The state is in the process of buying homes from willing sellers affected by Superstorm Sandy...

Early California Wildfires Risk To Homes And Vineyards

Feb 11 2014 // California’s worst drought in decades is feeding what may become a devastating wildfire season, one that is starting about five months early.Extremely dry conditions have sparked 487 wildfires so far in 2014,...

Flood Insurance Premium Hikes from New Maps Could Be Delayed Until 2015

Feb 10 2014 // Some flood insurance premiums required under a 2012 law now won’t be raised until the fall of 2015 at the earliest.The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said the $1 trillion bipartisan funding bill passed by...

How to Encourage Private Sector Flood Insurance

Feb 10 2014 // New technologies and a better understanding of flood risk may have increased private insurers’ interest in providing flood insurance but real obstacles remain to the private sector getting involved.The obstacles...

Flooded N.Y. Homeowners Regret Dropping Insurance

Feb 10 2014 // Some western New York residents whose homes were damaged by a snow-swollen river in January had only recently cancelled their federal flood insurance policies because of rate increases. About 70 houses in West Seneca, just...