We Californians lost our homes in the Eaton and Palisades fires last year. In the aftermath, we lost the naive belief that insurance would work the way we were promised.

We knew rebuilding would be hard, but we believed we were protected.

We had paid insurance premiums for decades. We assumed that when disaster struck, insurance would be there.

We never imagined delays and denials would become one of the biggest barriers to recovery.

Insurance was supposed to be our safety net. Instead, it became a wrecking ball.

California has some of the strongest consumer protections in the country against insurance delays and denials.

Yet today, 70% of insured Eaton and Palisades survivors report that insurance delays or denials are actively blocking their recovery.

The consequences have been devastating: Survivors have drained retirement accounts, maxed out credit cards and watched the futures they worked so hard to build for their children slip away.

Local mental-health providers report rising suicidal ideation tied directly to extreme financial and housing insecurity.

Insurance companies are able to operate this way because most survivors are isolated.........

© New York Post