July 21, 2022

Sonoma County homeowners jolted with insurance hikes as a result of wildfire risk

Lesley Muller said her jaw dropped when she got her renewal notice from the carrier that insures her Cloverdale home. The bill increased by $700 annually to $2,200.

“When I got it, it shocked me,” said Muller, a retiree whose insurer also covers her family’s cars and a home in Arizona.

She called up her insurance broker who checked with five other carriers that all declined to make an offer and said the only other option would be the state FAIR plan, which is the state’s insurer of last resort. That option would be considerably more expensive for less coverage.

“So, what do you do? Pay the high premium!” added Muller, who declined to name the carrier to prevent any repercussions.

She’s not alone.

Greg Lucas of Santa Rosa said his bill originally went up about 50% to $2,150 annually from CSAA Insurance. He checked around but could find no better deal and ended up reducing the price to about 25% spike by upping his deductible and lowering the amount of personal property coverage.

Torben Moller of Windsor renewed his policy at a 50% increase and added he “can’t complain too loudly” because wildfires have driven risk for carriers

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July 21, 2022 by INSURANCE

Italian Supreme Court Upholds Importance of Italian Law with PoA

The Italian Supreme Court confirmed, yet again, the crucial importance of complying with certain Italian law formalities for the validity in Italy of a power of attorney granted and notarized abroad (the “PoA”).

By decision no. 2866 of 5 February 2021, the Italian Supreme Court in Joint Session (Corte di Cassazione – Sezioni Unite) held that a PoA notarized abroad shall be considered null and void if it lacks the Italian translation of (i) the PoA itself and (ii) the notarization.

THE CASE

A German individual was notified of a fine by an Italian municipality as a consequence of an infringement of Italian road circulation rules. The individual challenged the sanction before the Italian judges, alleging a number of violations of law. After the procedures before the court of the first tier (justice of the peace) and the following appeal before the Court of Florence were completed, the case was eventually brought by the individual before the Supreme Court. The lawyer assisting the individual had been appointed by means of a wide PoA executed and notarized outside Italy years before.

In this respect, the Supreme Court stated that the appeal before the Court of Florence was inadmissible due to the

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July 21, 2022 by LAW