A new federal bill could help California homeowners who can’t get insurance because of the risk of natural disasters, including severe storms and wildfires.
The INSURE Act would require insurers to provide coverage for these events.
“It absolutely should be covered. People should not have to pay for it out of their pocket,” said Orcutt resident Leona Sexton.
She says after seeing how flooding damaged her town last winter, measures should be taken to protect homeowners from the impacts of future storms.
“It would be good for them to know that if there is a bill passed and something devastating like that happens again, that it would be covered,” she added. “It shouldn’t make their insurance rates go up either because it is out of their hands.”
According to Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), the bill’s approval would create a Federal Reinsurance Program that would cap insurer’s liability and also require participating companies to cover natural disasters.
Orcutt community member George Korn says while his home was spared from damage last winter, the INSURE Act could benefit his friends.
“We had to get sandbags to make sure their houses were protected. They needed to route the water away, but they were not fully unscathed. A few of them had some damage to their houses,” Korn explained.
Long-time Santa Barbara County resident Karla Norling adds that after seeing the impacts of the Montecito mudslide of 2018 and the January 9 storm last year, local homeowners should be equipped with dependable insurance coverage.
“We should be looking more into that to make sure people definitely are covered because they were really affected over where the sinkhole was,” she told KSBY.
The introduction of the bill comes after major insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate and USAA announced last year that they would stop writing new policies for California homeowners and businesses as a result of rising costs and an increased risk of natural disasters.
The bill requires a signature from the president and must pass through the House and Senate before it becomes a law.
