A retired nurse in California lost everything in her forever home to the Palisades Fire in early January, and her insurance company is refusing to pay, Fox59 reported.
What's happening?
The Palisades Fire, which burned nearly 23,500 acres of land, began on January 7, according to Cal Fire, only a minute's drive from nurse Pamela Jane Nye's home.
According to Nye's LinkedIn post, within two days of the fire starting, her home had burned down to the ground, taking with it everything Nye had worked for and built over the last quarter of a century since she purchased her home in 1999, per Fox59.
Among these losses were her achievements as a lifelong nurse, along with business equipment that allowed her to run her nonprofit organization, Operation Scrubs, Inc., which provides tuition-free continuing nurse education and nursing advocacy.
Despite Nye paying over double the average annual cost of homeowner insurance for top-tier coverage, extending to her dwelling value, personal property, loss of use, and other benefits, her insurance claim was denied after being "deliberated on" for 10 weeks.
"I hate to fight. But what I hate more is losing," Nye said, per Fox59.
Why is losing homeowners insurance concerning?
People are losing their homeowners insurance due to living in high-risk areas, which is becoming more common because of changing weather conditions.
Human actions, such as burning dirty energy sources for energy and deforestation, release harmful gases that contribute to rising global temperatures. As the planet warms, extreme weather events, such as natural wildfires or flooding, become more frequent, affecting larger swaths of land and more homeowners.
Those whose insurance companies aren't completely dropping their coverage are seeing a drastic hike in insurance costs, making daily living even less affordable.
Even with adequate insurance coverage and as a loyal customer for 25 years, Nye was denied her claim, which begs the question: What is insurance good for if it's not there when you need it most?
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What's being done about homeowner insurance?
While cases where insurance companies are turning their backs on policyholders are, unfortunately, becoming more frequent, state governments are working towards implementing feasible solutions.
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Definitely 🙁 California's insurance commissioner has mandated insurance companies offer homeowners coverage in high-risk zones, but allows insurers to factor in the new cost burden into updated rates. Recently, Colorado passed a bill that requires insurers to disclose their wildfire mitigation risk reevaluation criteria.
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