What protections are essential for homeowners?

States regulate many aspects of homeowners insurance, and the Essential Protections for Policyholders project focuses on those that are—essential. We had two selection criteria for deciding what to include:

First, the issue had to be important. United Policyholders has decades of experience aiding and advising homeowners about their insurance which provided a unique resource to generate and evaluate potential topics. I have studied the insurance landscape and written scholarly and popular works on the topic. Both UP and I also talk to many people professionally involved in insurance.

Second, the issue had to be one in which state legislation or regulation directly concerns the relationship between homeowners and their insurance companies. That excluded many potential topics such as improving the consumer complaint process that insurance departments administer or interpretation of insurance policy language.

The product is a list of key issues for insurance consumers in four categories: Buying insurance, Coverage, the Claims Process, and Disaster Victims.

Jay Feinman