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UNITED POLICYHOLDERS

EIN 94-3162024 SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Browse the largest nonprofits in California

Revenue 2024
$1,348,420
Expenses 2024
$1,970,981

Program services were 86.0% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
Z99Z
Classification
1000
Street
917 IRVING ST STE 4

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

United Policyholders (UP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1991 that serves as a voice and an information resource for insurance consumers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. UP guides consumers on shopping for insurance, reducing risk and keeping their assets protected, offers extensive resources related to loss recovery, coverage and the claim process, and is engaged in ongoing advocacy efforts to advance fair insurance practices and uphold policyholders reasonable expectations of coverage.Through a Roadmap to Recovery(R) program, we empower disaster victims, individuals and businesses to successfully navigate the insurance claim and loss recovery process and secure fair, full and prompt payouts and settlements. We do this by creating and disseminating free guidance and tools--including a workshop series, a free online claim guidance library, educational videos, a professional help directory, and volunteers and staff who are experts in personal finance, co

Activities or mission (Part I)

United Policyholders ("UP") is a voice and an information resource for insurance consumers throughout the country. UP helps people make good decisions when buying insurance and filing insurance claims.

  • ROADMAP TO RECOVERY(R) HIGHLIGHTS 2024 * Empowered over 500,000 disaster victims, individuals and businesses to successfully navigate the insurance claim and loss recovery process and secure fair, full and prompt payouts and settlements.* Presented 50+ Roadmap to Recovery events in California, Colorado, Florida and Hawaii (in-person and online workshops, Q&A forums, Survivor to Survivor support forums and Claim Guidance Office Hours). * Supported households impacted by the following 2024 California wildfires through online and in person resources: Franklin Fire (Los Angeles County), Mountain Fire (Ventura County), Airport Fire (Orange and Riverside Counties), Boyles Fire (Lake County), Bridge Fire (Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties), and Line Fire (San Bernardino), Borel Fire (Kern County), French Fire (Mariposa County), Hawarden Fire (Riverside County), Lake Fire (San Bernardino County), Nixon Fire (Riverside County), Park Fire (Butte and Tehama Counties), and Thompson Fire (Butte Fire). * Established and maintained 12 dedicated online help libraries for hurricane, flood and wildfire survivors in California, Maine, Texas, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, New Mexico, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, West Virginia.* Distributed 800 free copies of The Disaster Recovery Handbook and Household Inventory Guide and Roadmap to Recovery Organizers to catastrophic loss victims throughout the U.S.* Provided individualized insurance and recovery support to through our Ask an Expert forum, Q & A during R2R events and webinars, and answers to questions submitted to the organization through emails and phone calls. UP staff answered questions and processed consumer complaints with assistance from volunteers with expertise in construction, claim, forensic, and legal professionals as well as people with personal experience in disaster recovery.* Conducted trainings for employees of entities and organizations providing Case Management services to individuals and families across the country whose homes were damaged or destroyed by natural disasters.* Supported over 705 volunteers that serve through our Team UP volunteer program of previous disaster survivors and professional volunteers that support our programs with 136 individuals volunteering 727 volunteer hours.* Distributed client help materials to NGO, faith-based, and government agency partners.* Expanded our national Find Professional Help and State-by-State Assistance directories.

    Expenses $765,543

  • ROADMAP TO PREPAREDNESS 2024* Served as expert presenters at 100+ insurance-focused disaster preparedness events throughout the country.* Informed California residents on how to find and maintain insurance on their homes through our Wildfire Risk Reduction and Asset Protection Project (WRAP), outreach and educational activities.* Created a Colorado-specific shopping website that aggregates info and help resources: www.uphelp.org/coinsurancehelp while updating Colorado-specific publications and handouts and delivering a webinar to introduce the new resource.* Translated and distributed insurance and preparedness tips in five languages (Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, and Tagalog) thanks to a grant from the CA Office of Emergency Services. * Created localized risk reduction help and resource info for all 58 counties in California.

    Expenses $489,077

  • ADVOCACY AND ACTION HIGHLIGHTS 2024 * Continued gathering data, raising awareness about and proposing solutions to a growing affordability and availability crisis related to home, auto and commercial property insurance that is impacting residents of Florida, Louisiana, California, Colorado, New York, and a growing number of other states.* Addressed public officials, realtors, insurance industry and legal professionals at numerous conferences on the negative impacts that climate change, technology and inflation are having on insurance consumers.* Testified at California, Colorado and Oregon legislative hearings, submitted comments on legislative proposals in Florida, Utah, California, Colorado, Louisiana, engaged in numerous conversations with elected officials and their staff members on matters impacting insurance consumers and solutions to patterns of problems that are manifesting. 40+ appearances before government and lawmaking bodies.* Attended meetings of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in our capacity as an official consumer representative. Briefed state insurance regulators and their staff members on challenges that insurance consumers are encountering, discussed and proposed solutions, commented on proposed NAIC publications and participated in various working groups, and was a presenter in Phoenix, AZ, Chicago, IL, and Aurora, CO.* Participated as a panelist during a Center For Insurance Policy and Research special event titled Measuring and Assessing (Homeowner) Insurance Affordability.* Spoke on several panels during in-person and virtual meetings of the National Conference of State Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) and engaged in ongoing communications with state lawmakers who are members of the organization on issues impacting consumers.* Testified by invitation before the Little Hoover Commission in California on the topic of Californias home insurance market. * Continued collecting samples of coverage limits and exclusions that are appearing in policies across the United States and creating coverage gaps, and using them to advance UPs Restoring Insurance Safety Nets (RISC) Project. This project is aimed at reversing the erosion of insurance protection through policy language changes that reduce the amount of available benefits for repairing and replacing damaged properties. These wording changes and exclusions, designed to protect insurer profitability, are dangerously eroding the financial safety nets that homeowners are paying for and expecting to be able to rely on when disaster strikes. They are causing a ripple effect of harm to people, communities, real estate values, lenders, and ultimately, all of us. * Advocated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for improvement reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program * Served as a voice for consumers and a source for broadcast, print and online media outlets in over 340 articles.* Actively monitored property insurance markets, premiums and insurance consumer experiences in high population states across the country, aggregated data and provided it to regulators, legislators and journalists.* Drafted and advanced model legislation to establish reasonable regulations on insurers use of aerial images, provide consumers with the right to access images of their property and give property owners the opportunity to cure conditions that are out of compliance with an insurers underwriting guidelines in order to retain their coverage.* Coordinated with a lawmaker in Massachusetts on the introduction of legislation matching UPs proposed model law related to aerial images.* Supported and helped enact legislation in Colorado to facilitate risk reduction (mitigation) of individual homes and condominiums (CO), a Mortgage Homeowners Bill of Rights, and a bill to establish standards for wildfire smoke remediation and insurance claim handling of claims via an initial study group and subsequent rulemaking.* Engaged in extensive communications with CO DOI staff and stakeholders to help build a FAIR Plan in that state to serve as a safety net for households that cant find coverage in the private marketplace.* Advocated with legislators and the Hawaii Division of Insurance to protect policyholders insurance consumer rights. * Filed comments supporting H.R. 7849 the Disaster Resiliency and Coverage Act of 2024* Filed comments supporting RE: H.R. 6944 - INCORPORATING NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR UNPRECEDENTED RISKS AND EMERGENCIES (INSURE ACT)* Filed 11 "friend of the court" legal briefs presenting policyholders perspectives in both state and federal appellate and supreme courts, bringing the total number of amicus briefs filed by UP since our inception to well over 600.

    Expenses $239,534

  • Program Expenses not allocated to a particular program.

    Expenses $200,914

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Amy Bach

    Exec Director

    Total calculated
    $241,622
    From this org
    $214,668
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $26,954
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $214,668
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    not reported
    Nontaxable benefits
    $26,954
    Filer's total
    $241,622
  • Valerie Brown

    Deputy Exec Dir

    Total calculated
    $157,156
    From this org
    $128,800
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $28,356
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $128,800
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    not reported
    Deferred
    not reported
    Nontaxable benefits
    $28,356
    Filer's total
    $157,156
  • Emily Rogan

    Sr Prgm Officer

    Total calculated
    $108,753
    From this org
    $108,741
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $12
    Hours/week
    40
  • Steve Falk

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Maureen Simons

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Norm Boone

    Treasurer/Dir

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2
  • John Ellison

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Bill Hedden

    President/Dir

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2
  • Rani Gupta

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Martin Kirkwood

    Vice Pres/Secty

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Robert Muriel

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Doug Wertheimer

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • Dan Veroff

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1
  • William Chip Merlin

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $1,348,420
    Expenses
    $1,970,981
    Contributions
    $1,294,166
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $1,304,255
    Expenses
    $1,531,648
    Contributions
    $1,225,858
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $2,679,886
    Expenses
    $1,225,805
    Contributions
    $2,674,394
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,265,932
    Expenses
    $1,192,369
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,175,090
  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $897,321
    Expenses
    $1,014,828
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,199,888
  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $1,023,985
    Expenses
    $779,736
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,194,810
  • 2018 · 990

    Revenue
    $897,748
    Expenses
    $661,659
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,000,812
  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $801,015
    Expenses
    $631,410
    Assets (EOY)
    $698,637
  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $285,160
    Expenses
    $508,676
    Assets (EOY)
    $510,963
  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $316,808
    Expenses
    $501,970
    Assets (EOY)
    $732,859
  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $262,928
    Expenses
    $520,418
    Assets (EOY)
    $982,622

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 9 November 2026 and read 9 November 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.