How to Prepare For a Hurricane and Other Natural Disasters
How to Prepare For a Hurricane and Other Natural Disasters

It’s natural to worry about the effect of wildfires, floods and other natural disasters on your home. Get ready for whatever might come your way. As a resident of storm-prone central Florida for close to 40 years, Rich Franco is prepared for pretty much anything…
Do You Rent? Take These Steps To Prep Before The Next Quake
Do You Rent? Take These Steps To Prep Before The Next Quake

A big earthquake could strike Southern California at any time. If you’re a renter, you need to take steps to make surviving and rebuilding your life a bit easier. At the bare minimum Check out FEMA’s earthquake prep list and buy earthquake supplies. Protect yourself…
Marin lawmaker aims to protect home insurance for seniors in fire-prone areas
Marin lawmaker aims to protect home insurance for seniors in fire-prone areas

A bill introduced by Assemblymember Damon Connolly of San Rafael would prohibit home insurance providers from dropping coverage for seniors living in high fire-risk areas and would cap premium hikes. The bill, AB 478, would forbid insurance providers from dropping policies for residents 65 and…
Gentrification by Fire
Gentrification by Fire

The West’s new climate is exacerbating housing inequality in the quintessentially blue state of California Climate change and its most extreme consequences are pushing up the price of homes throughout much of the American West, as fires and flooding carve into existing housing stock and…
The Best Time to Plan for Your Funeral? At Your Wedding.
The Best Time to Plan for Your Funeral? At Your Wedding.

My marriage to Eli was an unceremonious affair. We both got off work early on a Friday afternoon and drove to the courthouse to say “I do” before it closed at 5 p.m. It was summer 2020 and COVID-19 was raging, so we donned face…
Policyholders Counting on Calif. High Court for COVID Loss Claims
Policyholders Counting on Calif. High Court for COVID Loss Claims

Courts around the nation have held that SARS-CoV-2 cannot cause direct physical damage or loss to property, but policyholder advocates are hoping the California Supreme Court will turn the tide. In a case that pits a concert organizer against its insurer, United Policyholders argues that…
Businesses and Residents Hope for Post-Storm Relief
Businesses and Residents Hope for Post-Storm Relief

Costs continue to add up even with assistance from FEMA and flood insurance When Watsonville resident Amy Thomas reached out to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for help, she had already paid thousands of dollars to repair damages caused by a spate of recent…
Devastated by storms and denied by insurance, Lompico residents navigate uncertain recovery
Devastated by storms and denied by insurance, Lompico residents navigate uncertain recovery

Since a colossal New Year’s Eve storm caused part of the hillside that his house sits on to collapse, Benjamin Short has been in a constant daily battle to save his home. The Dec. 31 storm and waves of atmospheric rivers that hit Santa Cruz…
Video: Why few California homeowners have flood insurance
Video: Why few California homeowners have flood insurance

Something doesn’t compute. Some 32 trillion gallons of rain and snow has fallen in California since Christmas. Yet, only about 2% of properties are covered against flooding, according to the Associated Press. Thats means only 230,000 homes and other buildings have flood insurance policies, which…
Damaged by the Santa Cruz storms? Tips from the pros on how to deal with insurance
Damaged by the Santa Cruz storms? Tips from the pros on how to deal with insurance

Just days after the end of a historic series of damaging storms, Santa Cruz County residents are trying to pick up the pieces. One of those pieces is navigating the world of insurance. To help residents get started, several local organizations have hosted information sessions…
California just got slammed with a series of severe storms but only about 2% of properties are covered by flood insurance
California just got slammed with a series of severe storms but only about 2% of properties are covered by flood insurance

On Sunday morning, Kyle Starks woke up to floodwaters that reached the door of his Jeep after yet another heavy rain storm drenched California. Emergency crews showed up with boats to float Starks and other residents of his rural mobile home park in Acampo to…
Financial help available for California storm victims, but it can be difficult to get
Financial help available for California storm victims, but it can be difficult to get

Soon after President Joe Biden declared a major disaster for the areas of California besieged by a series of atmospheric river storms on Jan. 9—a move that allowed victims to request financial help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency—Watsonville resident Amy Thomas reached out to…
Deciding to Rebuild After a Fire Is Just the First Step
Deciding to Rebuild After a Fire Is Just the First Step

Four years after the devastating Woolsey fire, Malibu residents who lost everything are still waiting for approvals, and contending with complicated mortgage and insurance processes, underlining what starting over really costs. To step into Barbara Ferris’s new house, you have to first grapple with what…
California Court Gives Policyholders a Boost: Appellate Panel Publishes Pro-Policyholder COVID-19 Decision
California Court Gives Policyholders a Boost: Appellate Panel Publishes Pro-Policyholder COVID-19 Decision

This is the case of Shusha Inc. v. Century-National Insurance Co., in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District. A recent decision by a California state appellate panel has given hope to policyholders seeking insurance coverage for their COVID-19-related losses.…
Storm recovery: Find resources here as Santa Cruz County agencies, community groups scramble to coordinate
Storm recovery: Find resources here as Santa Cruz County agencies, community groups scramble to coordinate

Santa Cruz County community organizations and government agencies are scrambling to both respond to current urgent storm-related conditions as well as provide recovery resources. Several organizations and officials are providing info sessions on filing claims Thursday and Friday, starting at 4 p.m. each day, while…
Meetings educate public on insurance, resources after floods
Meetings educate public on insurance, resources after floods

When filing an insurance claim for damage incurred during the recent storms, property owners are advised never to use the word “flood.” Insurance companies—driven by profit and therefore disinclined to part with their money—typically categorically deny claims for flood damage. That was among the advice…
Sneaky Ways Inflation Affects Your Money in 2023
Sneaky Ways Inflation Affects Your Money in 2023

By now, you’re probably familiar with the more obvious ways inflation affects your finances. Your money doesn’t go as far at the grocery store, for example. Credit card and other variable-rate debt is getting more expensive as the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates to…
Preschool and neighbors in San Francisco’s Mission facing major storm damage repairs
Preschool and neighbors in San Francisco’s Mission facing major storm damage repairs

One of the biggest impacts from the pouring rain is now showing up as damage to private property. For a preschool in a residential neighborhood in San Francisco’s Mission District, damage to a retaining wall has left young students without a playground and neighbors without…