02 Jun Looting: Will Insurance Companies cover the damages?

Yesterday, The Fairfax district, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Long Beach businesses were burglarized by lotters.

COVID-19 has already taken a tremendous toll on them. Now, in order to recover, these businesses are relying on their insurance companies.

Unfortunately, this will depend on their policies.

Sean Witherspoon, owner of Round Two store on Melrose saw looters take more than $250,000 worth of merchandise. According to Witherspoon, ” We are insured but I don’t know whether we are covered for losses. In a civil disturbance, we mahy not know for a week or so.”(full article In LA TIMES)

Landlords usually require basic liability in a lease agreement, in the event a proprietor faces a lawsuit. However, it is up to the individual business to decide how much insurance they want to buy in case of theft.

According to Janet Ruiz, director of strategic communication at the Insurance Information Institute, “Large chains such as Target, Starbucks, and Apple, use their deep pockets to buy sophisticated policies that cover the entire chain for losses stretching into the millions of dollars.”

For small businesses, how much an insurance company will cover varies according to their policies. Some of these policies are expensive.

Until the weekend, the two most costly civil disturbances were the Watts Riots and the Riots of 1992 as a result of the beating of Rodney King.

The 1992 unrest in Los Angeles caused by nearly $1.4 billionin property damage the most costly in U.S. history.

California Insurance Commissioner RIcardo Lara ordered insurance to move quickly to help the affected businesses.

According to Michael Soller, spokesman for the state insurance department ,” Commissioner Lara is expecting adjusters to be on the ground as soon as possible,”

It is heartbreaking to witness and I pray for the violence to stop.

Michael Bloom