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Construction defect lawsuits, a constant presence in the building industry, are on the rise, and legal observers expect the trend to continue over the next few years.

Since insurance coverage for construction defect claims is not iron-clad, it's important for construction firms, contractors, architects, engineers and even material suppliers to understand the drivers behind this trend.

Medicare Annual Open Enrollment is drawing near, and in late September, you should receive your Annual Notice of Change, a document you should study carefully. It lists any updates coming to your health plan next year, including changes to its physician network and drug coverage.

While it's tempting to just let your plan auto-renew, it could end up costing you if you have a Medicare Advantage plan that drops your personal physician or preferred medical facility from its network.

The Stopping Addiction & Falls for the Elderly (SAFE) Act, a bipartisan bill before Congress, could soon make it easier for Medicare recipients to get screened for the risk of falling.

Sponsors of the legislation say they have two main objectives:

• Reducing the risk of falls among seniors through early detection and preventive care.
• Reducing dependence on opioids by encouraging non-drug pain management after falls.

Here's how you could benefit if it becomes law.

After an automobile accident, most people are a bit confused, tense and frightened. And the last thing on your mind at the time is trying to figure out whether you need to report the accident to law enforcement authorities and what your insurance company requires of you.

Depending on the nature or location of the accident, different law enforcement authorities will get involved, such as the Highway Patrol, city police or the county sheriff's office. Here is your guide on who to call and when.

As the weather cools and the seasons change, new perils arise for everyone — from an uptick in certain auto accidents to a rise in homeowner's insurance claims.

Fall is a season when incidents in several categories tend to increase compared with the rest of the year. As it approaches, be mindful of these heightened risks.

The threat of wildfire is growing in many parts of the country, even in areas that have traditionally avoided them until the last few years as climate change has exacerbated risks. Thousands of homes have burned to the ground and thousands of people have been displaced this year alone

During a time of crisis, when you've lost what is for most people their largest investment, you'll need to make sure that you get your claim paid fast so you can rebuild your life.

Buying life insurance can be complicated since there are so many different products - all of them with unique benefits that you need to know about before making a decision. 

Permanent life policies are one option, but you have to understand how they work before opting for this type of coverage. 

More and more Americans are falling victim to a scam called "spoofing," which is when criminals call from a number that is the same as their bank's 800 number or a loved one's phone number.

The end goal of these calls is to either extract a large sum of money from the victim or gain access to their bank accounts to drain them or open new accounts (bank and credit) using their Social Security number. Here's how to identify spoof calls and what to do if you think the caller is trying to scam you.

People who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace could see a significant jump in their premiums next year, according to a new report. If those projections hold, it would be the biggest increase since 2018, when policy uncertainty also drove rates higher.

The preliminary rate filings from 312 insurers across all 50 states and the District of Columbia point to a mix of cost pressures behind the hikes, estimated at an average of 18% across all jurisdictions. Here's what's going on and what you need to keep in mind during open enrollment in the next few months.

Umbrella insurance, once a relatively inexpensive way for homeowners to add an extra layer of liability protection, is rapidly becoming more costly.

As jury awards grow larger and medical expenses rise, insurers are increasing rates, tightening underwriting and in some cases, pulling back from the California market entirely.

Americans are increasingly renting space in self-storage facilities to keep excess belongings that they don't have room for at home.

These spaces offer a convenient way to keep your possessions safe, but once in a while things can go wrong and your items can be damaged by fire, water or vandalism, and sometimes thieves abscond with your goods. If that happens, will your homeowner's or renter's insurance cover the loss?

At some point, the odds are that a company will be affected by some form of employee theft or outright fraud.

Fraud can severely crimp a company's finances and put the firm in a serious bind if the theft is large enough. With technology, fraud has in some ways become easier, but at the same time, it typically leaves a trail of electronic breadcrumbs that may be hard to disguise.

Here are the five main types of employee fraud, and what you can do to thwart it.