Editor’s note: Ellen Bennett is the founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett, the Los Angeles company that makes aprons for chefs and home cooks. Her mother lived in Altadena for more than 20 years before her home was destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton Fire. Here, Bennett describes what happened when insurance didn’t cover the cost to rebuild, and why fossil fuel companies should help pay for climate disaster recovery in California.
By Ellen Bennett, founder and CEO of Hedley & Bennett
The home my mom lived in wasn’t just a house. It was where I grew up. And in a matter of hours, it was gone.
Like so many Californians, my family watched a wildfire tear through everything we knew. But the loss didn’t end when the flames were extinguished. For my mom, losing her home meant discovering how deeply broken California’s insurance system has become.
She had insurance. She paid her premiums. Yet when her home burned down, the coverage fell catastrophically short. She was still responsible for the mortgage on a house that no longer existed, while insurance payouts reflected the value of the house decades ago, not what it actually costs to rebuild today.
The financial strain didn’t stop there. She lost the supplemental income she relied on from renting out spare rooms, income that helped cover everyday expenses and keep her afloat. All while navigating the exhausting, full-time job of recovery, endless paperwork, confusing claims processes, back-and-forth with insurers, and long delays turned an already traumatic experience into a prolonged battle. Recovering costs became another source of stress, uncertainty, and financial strain at a time when she had nothing left to give.
Insurance companies are retreating from high-risk areas, raising premiums beyond affordability, or dropping coverage entirely. Homeowners are being pushed onto the FAIR Plan, where coverage is limited and costs continue to rise. Renters and small business owners are caught in the middle.Â
When insurance becomes unaffordable, it doesn’t just impact individual households. It ripples through entire communities. Families are forced to leave. Small businesses shut down. Local economies weaken. Recovery slows to a crawl after disasters. Neighborhoods sit half‑rebuilt or not rebuilt at all. If we don’t act, this will only get worse.Â
My mom lived in Altadena for more than 20 years, a neighborhood rich with working‑class families, artists, and culture. LA isn’t just real estate, it’s kitchens, studios, garment districts, production sets, workshops, and creative spaces. If homes and workspaces become uninsurable or prohibitively expensive, what happens to the city’s creative backbone? We risk hollowing out the very communities that make Los Angeles what it is.
Here’s the truth: insurance companies didn’t create the climate crisis driving these disasters.
For decades, fossil fuel companies knew their products were driving the climate crisis. They spent years misleading the public and delaying action, all while continuing to profit. Now, the consequences of that deception are showing up in the form of more intense wildfires, floods, and extreme weather events, and families like mine are being left to foot the bill.
We need a path forward rooted in fairness and stability that requires major fossil fuel companies to contribute to the cost of disaster recovery, help stabilize insurance markets, and strengthen support for disaster survivors. In short, the corporations that helped drive this crisis should help pay for the damage.
My mom was able to start rebuilding not because the system worked, but because her community did. She lived in my creative studio. Friends and strangers stepped in. We raised money through community dinners. Charitable support and small loans helped close the gaps insurance refused to cover.Â
Many people don’t have that kind of help. Older residents, immigrants, people without digital access or outspoken advocates, they’re being left behind. Some families in our neighborhood have already walked away, selling their lots because rebuilding is financially impossible. That loss compounds with every fire.
Nothing can undo what my mother lost. But a solution rooted in fairness can prevent others from enduring the same compounded hardship of losing their home and then discovering that the system meant to help them recover isn’t there.
Recovery shouldn’t depend on how much help you can rally after you’ve already lost everything. Lawmakers must listen not only to the loudest industry voices, but to the families living with the consequences of a system that no longer works. It’s time to fix the foundation, before more homes, and more communities, are reduced to ash.