What to Do if You’re Underinsured After a Wildfire
What to Do if You’re Underinsured After a Wildfire

After a wildfire, some homeowners experience a second shock when they open their policy and discover their insurance won’t cover the full cost to rebuild. If your policy limit is too low to restore your home, you’re considered underinsured, and it’s a problem that affects…
Think Your Homeowners Insurance Payout Is Too Low? Here’s How to Push Back
Think Your Homeowners Insurance Payout Is Too Low? Here’s How to Push Back

Many wildfire survivors in Los Angeles are running into the same frustrating pattern after filing their insurance claims. The payout falls short of what they need to rebuild, or the check might only cover part of the damage based on a computer-generated estimate that doesn’t…
Residents whose homes survived the wildfires are facing issues with their insurance claims
Residents whose homes survived the wildfires are facing issues with their insurance claims

People whose homes survived the deadly Eaton and Palisades fires are considered the lucky ones while they are surrounded by neighbors who lost everything. Those residents worry their homes may never be safe to live in again. Some very dangerous materials burned in the fires,…
‘Deny, deny, deny’: The shady insurance scheme fleecing thousands of homeowners
‘Deny, deny, deny’: The shady insurance scheme fleecing thousands of homeowners

As insurers flee the state, once-obscure, unregulated carriers have stepped up to take their place. And they’re denying an extraordinary number of claims. Michelle Fuller banked everything on the three-bedroom Victorian on 15th Street in the Castro, which she bought in 2005 for $985,000. After…
Wildfire survivors are finding out they are underinsured after losing their homes
Wildfire survivors are finding out they are underinsured after losing their homes

As many as two-thirds of fire victims are uninsured or underinsured, according to the consumer advocates at the non-profit United Policyholders. Most people don’t know the ins and outs of their homeowner’s insurance policy, and even if they do, they often buy it and let…
For L.A. Residents Whose Homes Burned, Aging Complicates What Comes Next
For L.A. Residents Whose Homes Burned, Aging Complicates What Comes Next

Losing your home in a disaster when you’re at or near retirement age can derail your finances and jeopardize the funds you were counting on. Sandra and Tom Johnson were at home in Los Angeles County one January night, watching the news of the Palisades…
Advocate answers questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery
Advocate answers questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery

After the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire destroyed and damaged thousands of homes across Los Angeles County, residents are being forced to navigate the complicated landscape of home and renter insurance. ABC7 Eyewitness News received dozens of questions about home insurance and wildfire recovery. Anchor…
Home insurance was already hard to get. Then came L.A.’s fires. Here’s what San Diegans need to know.
Home insurance was already hard to get. Then came L.A.’s fires. Here’s what San Diegans need to know.

Amid expected fire losses in the billions of dollars, here’s a primer on how to navigate the San Diego County insurance market and new regulations aimed at keeping carriers from leaving. Read more
Paralyzed by heaps of post-fire paperwork? Here are 8 tips to get started
Paralyzed by heaps of post-fire paperwork? Here are 8 tips to get started

Wildfire victims face heaps of bureaucratic paperwork, including insurance claims, loan applications and requests for FEMA assistance. Completing such forms can be time-consuming and overwhelming. We spoke to psychologists and insurance experts for tips on how to get through it. With containment of the Palisades…
How Will L.A. Rebuild? The Recovery From the Wine Country Fire Offers Clues.
How Will L.A. Rebuild? The Recovery From the Wine Country Fire Offers Clues.

The Tubbs fire in 2017 wiped out more than 5,000 structures in a Northern California county. Homeowners faced challenges, but hundreds were able to rebuild within two years. Donna and Bob Williamson call the strange souvenirs pulled from the ashes of their home their Museum…
The best way to claim insurance if you lost your home or business in the Los Angeles wildfires
The best way to claim insurance if you lost your home or business in the Los Angeles wildfires

More than 6,000 structures have been destroyed in Southern California this week after wildfires, fanned by brutal Santa Ana winds, ripped through multiple neighborhoods of greater Los Angeles. The affected home and business owners are preparing for a tough recovery ahead, one that is likely…
Bay Area agency works to help Southern California fire victims recover
Bay Area agency works to help Southern California fire victims recover

A Bay Area-based agency is stepping up to help those impacted by the deadly and destructive Southern California wildfires. After the Fire USA, based in Sonoma, is already getting to work in the Los Angeles area. CEO Jennifer Gray Thompson said the nonprofit group works…
How the wildfires in Los Angeles area could affect California’s home insurance market
How the wildfires in Los Angeles area could affect California’s home insurance market

The wildfires that destroyed homes in multiple sections of the Los Angeles area will test California’s efforts to stabilize the state’s insurance marketplace after many insurers stopped issuing residential policies due to the high fire risk. The wind-driven blazes that started Tuesday roared through neighborhoods…
An insurance crisis was already brewing in L.A. Then the fires hit.
An insurance crisis was already brewing in L.A. Then the fires hit.

In July, as California sweltered through its hottest month in history, the state’s biggest insurance company stopped providing home insurance to more than a thousand homeowners in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Tucked into the fire-prone hillsides on the city’s Westside, the neighborhood…
Changes to insurance may affect those impacted by Los Angeles area wildfires
Changes to insurance may affect those impacted by Los Angeles area wildfires

On this segment of Ask an Expert, we’re discussing the insurance implications of the devastating wildfires burning in Southern California. This as private insurance companies have canceled hundreds of policies in wildfire-prone areas and the state’s FAIR plan takes on more policies. To answer those…
Los Angeles Fires Burn Down Thousands Of Homes: Here Is How You Can Claim Insurance
Los Angeles Fires Burn Down Thousands Of Homes: Here Is How You Can Claim Insurance

Multiple wildfires have been ravaging Los Angeles County since Tuesday, resulting in at least five deaths and thousands of residents being displaced. Authorities called for more mass evacuations on Wednesday after hundreds of structures were destroyed. Now, locals are seeking insurance for their property loss.…
Tools for recovering insurance after wildfires
Tools for recovering insurance after wildfires

Amy Bach, executive director of the nonprofit United Policyholders, joined us to discuss how she and her team provide tools and resources for navigating insurance after disasters, such as devastating wildfires. For more information, visit UPHelp.org. This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News…
Insurance claim tips for homeowners affected by Southern California wildfires
Insurance claim tips for homeowners affected by Southern California wildfires

Multiple wildfires have been sweeping across Los Angeles County since Tuesday, killing at least five and pushing thousands out of their homes. The total damage is not yet known; the fires were 0% contained as of Wednesday. For the owners of the 1,000-plus structures destroyed…