Useful Links
Below is a list of links that United Policyholders find both reliable and useful.
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Link Categories:
Government Agencies and State Insurance Regulators
Rating Companies
Other Non-Profit Sites
Other Policyholder-oriented Sites
Resources for Preparing and Protecting
Shopping for Insurance
General Insurance Information and Publications
Tax Info
Note: All external links will open in a new browser window for your convenience.
Government Agencies and State Insurance Regulators
www.naic.org
This is the official site of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Although NAIC members’ actions tend to be heavily influenced by insurance industry lobbyists, their site provides a research library, information about current insurance issues and an easy to use map that allows you to visit all 50 state insurance regulatory agencies.
earthquake.usgs.gov
USGS — The United States Geological Service offers detailed information on earthquake risks by region of the U.S.
www.fema.gov
This is the official site of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA is an independent agency of the federal government, reporting to the President. Disaster victims who are uninsured or underinsured can apply to FEMA for disaster assistance grants which do not need to be repaid. FEMA also administers the national flood and crime insurance programs. (See UP Tip Sheet on Flood Insurance for more information).
www.sba.gov/disaster_recov/
This is the official site of the Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA provides low-interest (generally 4 percent or less), long-term (up to 30 years) loans to help homeowners, renters and non-farm businesses recover from a disaster. Loan proceeds may be used to repair or replace disaster damaged property that is not fully covered by insurance. Homeowners may apply for up to $200,000 to repair or replace their primary home to its pre-disaster condition, including required city or county building codes that require structural improvements. The loan may not be used to upgrade the home or make additions to the home. Also, loans may be increased by as much as 20 percent for mitigating devices to protect the real property from possible future disasters of the same kind. Homeowners and renters may apply for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, such as clothing, furniture and automobiles. The loan proceeds cannot be used to replace extraordinarily expensive or irreplaceable items, such as antiques, collections, pleasure boats or recreational vehicles.
www.insurance.ca.gov
The California Dept. of Insurance official website offers info on the department’s activities, consumer tips, homeowners insurance premium comparisons and useful links to the California Insurance Code and the Fair Claim Settlement Regulations.
www.ncoil.org
This is the official site of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators. Like the NAIC, NCOIL members tend to be heavily influenced by insurance industry lobbyists. Their site offers information on the current insurance legislative issues being debated by the chairs of state assembly and senate insurance committees around the United States.
Rating Companies
If you're considering buying insurance from a company you've never heard of or that is not "admitted" in your state, (i.e. covered by your state's guaranty association in case they run out of money), check out one or more of the following sites to verify their financial condition:
www.ambest.com
A.M. Best Co.'s insurance company rating service rates 6,000 life, property/casualty and health companies according to their financial strength and ability to meet ongoing obligations to policyholders. Their opinions are derived from an evaluation of a company's balance-sheet strength and operating performance as compared with Best's quantitative and qualitative standards. A.M. Best also publishes Bestweek, a well-respected trade publication.
www.standardpoor.com
Standard & Poor’s Insurance Ratings Services rates the financial strength of more than 4,000 insurance companies worldwide, within the life, health, property/casualty, reinsurance, mortgage, and title sectors. In addition, Insurance Ratings rates bonds and commercial paper issued by insurers.
www.moodys.com
Moody's provides credit ratings on roughly 700 insurance companies worldwide, with coverage growing rapidly in Europe and Asia. They also rate the major reinsurers and financial guarantors. In addition, they provide performance ratings and supporting research on the Lloyd's syndicates through a Lloyd's Market Service.
Other Non-Profit Sites
United Policyholders' website is a unique source of valuable "road-tested"reliable information on insurance issues. Our writers include top national experts on insurance matters, experienced disaster victims, and personal finance professionals who are oriented toward giving good advice to consumers. United Policyholders is a charity, a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit. The following are websites maintained by other non-profit organizations that serve the interests of consumers:
www.badfaithinsurance.org
This site is sponsored by "Fighting Bad Faith Insurance Companies", a non-profit organization dedicated to publicizing insurance industry abuses. The site offers attorney referrals and rankings of good and bad insurers based on a "proprietary" evaluation system.
www.consumersunion.org
This site is sponsored by the nation's most established consumer organization and publisher of Consumer Reports. CU is actively advancing consumers interests on many fronts including privacy protection, financial equity and health and safety.
www.consumerwatchdog.org
This is the site for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a non-profit public interest organization active in insurance regulatory and legislative matters and a range of pro-consumer initiatives. FTCR is the umbrella for the Proposition 103 Enforcement Project, Ratepayer Revolt, the Oaks Project, Consumers for Quality Care, the Fair Justice Project and the Bills Project.
www.harp.org
The Health Administration Responsibility Project, ("HARP"), is a resource for patients, doctors, and attorneys seeking to establish the liability of HMOs, Managed Health Care Organizations, and Nursing Facilities for the consequences of their decisions.
www.oldfirerecoverygroup.org
This site was set up for survivors of the 2003 wildfires in Southern California to access information on recovery and rebuilding issues. The coordinator has done an excellent job tracking down useful articles and internet resources on key topics. The Old Fire Recovery Group is a project of Community Partners. www.communitypartners.org
www.sfagentswhocare.org
This site is maintained by "good guy" State Farm agents who are critical of some of State Farm's practices.
www.sure-net.com
This is the Policyholder Network, a site that offers useful claims tips from former industry insiders, an on-line discussion forum, referrals to public adjustersÊand extensive links to other consumer organizations, disaster aid and government resources.
www.cej-online.org
Center for Economic Justice. An Austin, Texas based not-for-profit that advocates for consumers on economic issues including insurance. Thorough and well-written explanations of the factors and institutions that impact how insurers treat policyholders.
Other Policyholder Oriented Sites
www.allstateinsurance.org
This site is sponsored by policyholders who have been cheated or defrauded by insurers.
www.homeclaimshelp.com
Home Claims Help offers expert advice and personal assistance to help you settle your homeowners insurance claim in the best possible way.
www.ican2000.com
This site offers a very useful "Self-Help Library" for consumers with claim questions, particularly about auto insurance claims.
www.insurerfraud.com
This website was created by an attorney in private practice. It offers insurance consumers the opportunity to share their experiences regarding fraud by insurers against insureds and the response of regulators to consumer complaints.
www.napaausa.org
This site is maintained by Allstate agents who are critical of some of the company's practices.
Resources for Preparing and Protecting
www.disasterprepared.net
This is an excellent site. It offers practical and saavy tips on preparing for and recovering from disasters by making the most of your insurance protection.
www.iso.com
Order a free copy of your claim history from A Plus.
www.knowyourstuff.org
Free software for inventorying your home prior to a loss.
Shopping for Insurance
Shopping for insurance online has its pros and cons. It’s easier to find a good deal price-wise than it is to compare the more important factors like coverage and what you’re actually buying. A live person, particularly an experienced professional insurance agent, can answer questions about the type of coverage you need and/or can buy. You can get a sample policy from most good agents. If you buy insurance online and it turns out you bought the wrong coverage or not enough coverage, you’ll have noone to blame but yourself. We recommend shopping via a combination of online research and old-fashioned human contact. Here are some shopping sites to visit:
www.bankrate.com
This site offers articles on shopping for insurance, being prepared for and recovering from losses. It's operated by Bankrate Inc., an Internet consumer finance marketplace that owns and operates a portfolio of Internet-based personal finance channels including banking, investing, taxes and small-business finance. Their insurance lingo glossary is a good resource.
www.insure.com
An excellent resource offering a wide range of information on insurance. Visitors can get information about buying insurance, claims, current news, industry information, links to state regulators, legal developments, etc. Zealots can subscribe and get periodic newsletters that are informative and very current.
www.insweb.com
Consumers shopping for auto, home, motorcycle, condo, renters, small business and individual health, term life, variable annuity or pet insurance can complete an application online any time of day and get a quote at this commercial website. Although the site boasts 41 affiliated companies, none are currently selling homeowners insurance in California. We had difficulty completing a test auto insurance application.
www.insurecom.com
A commercial site that allows you to complete an application online for auto, home, health and life insurance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also call an 800 number and speak to a live person. The application form for a homeowner's policy is appropriately detailed but easy to complete. Once you complete the form, a message tells you that up to five agents will contact you regarding your application within 24 hours. Two agents contacted us within 24 hours, one faxed a quote, the other left a phone message.
www.disabilityinsurancesource.com
This is a commercial site aimed selling disability and long term care insurance policies to consumers that offers basic info about the different types of available coverage.
General Insurance Information and Publications
biz.yahoo.com/news/insurance.html
Current developments in the insurance industry, breaking news stories. Oriented toward financial analysis of insurers.
www.insurancenewsnet.com
Current developments in the insurance industry, breaking news stories. Articles of general interest on specific topics.
www.insure.com
See "Shopping for Insurance" above for a description of this excellent site.
www.ultimateinsurancelinks.com
This is truly the ultimate link site for insurance junkies. It provides links to hundreds of insurance company websites, industry publications, trade associations, rating/financial companies, e-commerce info, etc. You can use this site to link to the major trade publications, which include
Tax Info
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p547.pdf
IRS Publication 547 describes the basic tax relief provisions applicable to disaster survivors.
www.calcpa.org
This site is operated by the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, a non-profit trade association. It offers disaster recovery information.
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=147240,00.html