To the editor: I appreciated your article about the effects of last winter’s blizzard on residents of the San Bernardino Mountain communities and the poor government response. You noticed that insurance companies denied claims of those you interviewed and that residents depleted or ran out of their retirement savings.
I hope you continue your research but in the future focus on insurance companies. It was alarming to discover that many of the people whose homes were damaged had their claims denied.
Teri Ostlie, whom you interviewed, was denied insurance benefits because her roof did not completely collapse. Instead, the weight of the roof sagged and separated the walls of the structure. Claim denied.
People across the state pay enormous amounts of money to insurance companies to protect our homes. Then when we make a complaint about something that serious, it is rejected.
Continue your research by focusing on insurance companies. There’s something rotten there.
Jeri Simpson, Lake Arrowhead, California.
