Sonoma County Coalition of Hosts and Friends,

Are you aware of the insurance crisis that is gripping California? Whether it is your home, the home of a family member, or the home of a fellow host, insurance companies are making the rounds and canceling insurance policies across the State.

It is once again time for your voice to be heard, but this time at the State level. Our friends at the Sonoma County Hospitality Association have written a flyer below. Please make sure to contact Senator McGuire’s and Gov. Newsom’s offices before 5 p.m. TOMORROW and request they take action.

Your ability to host may be at stake.

With Regards,

Sonoma County Coalition of Hosts

Community Voices Are Needed Now: Fire Insurance Increases Dear Community. Your help and your voice is needed

NOW!

I am a small business owner in Guerneville that has very recently been working closely with other community residents and leaders to address the ongoing fire insurance crisis that is worsening by the week. Sonoma and Mendocino Counties are incredible communities; that’s why we all choose to live here, even after numerous challenges. For many of you, the past few year’s exorbitant fire insurance rate increases have become a financial crisis. A crisis that was not your doing.  As of now, the elected official who represents the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County has not adequately engaged and championed this issue. This escalating crisis has been well known for quite some time, so WE the community need to be the collective leader right now to ensure that those in Sacramento hear us.

Senator McGuire is a hard working leader. He understands that relief for seniors, families and small business owners is needed right now. Not next year…now. We have been directly working with the Senator and his staff over the last week to find solutions. The way we can all help right NOW is to equip the Senator with your stories and financial realities so he can work with the Governor’s office to find short and long-term solutions. Our goal is to get the request in front of the Governor’s office and make the argument for an executive emergency order.

Below are specific steps you can take to help people and small businesses now. We strengthen our communities and neighbors when we unify our voices and stand together.

-Bryce Skolfield, Co-owner of Mine + Farm

Your stories, Your Voice. It Matters. Please Email (or call) by Wednesday at 5 p.m. (The Senator’s and Governor’s Email and Phone contact info is below.)

Please communicate these 3 things:

1.       Your story and struggles with fire insurance and its’ financial impacts (priority)

2.       Share your story with data that can help ground this crisis in numbers

3.       Ask the Governor to declare an executive emergency order with emergency funding

1. Please email Senator McGuire and Governor Newsom with your story and struggles with fire insurance. Just write from the heart and share the facts of what financial challenges the insurance has caused you. Below you will find an example from the letter we wrote last week.

Example: This was adapted from a longer letter we sent last week.

Mine + Farm.         

This is our story. We purchased the business in early October of 2019 and we immediately made necessary investments into a full rebranding, much needed hospitality updates, numerous deferred maintenance needs and our most important asset; the staff. Our first of several serious existential challenges presented itself; the Kincade fire. A few short months later, the Covid epidemic began and required us to shut down off and on for the next 18 months. Because of our short tenure as owners, we were only able to secure a very small PPP Loan (24k) and did not qualify for any CA business grants. In August 2021, it was now the Wall Bridge Fires that necessitated our closure once again after we were finally generating revenue in the 6 weeks prior.

We have put everything we have into this business and have always put integrity and innovation at the forefront of how we operate. We have been bootstrapping it as inflation, grossly high PG&E rates, increased fuel costs and a major downturn in occupancy this summer created significant challenges. But not having a stable insurance market, with unfathomable high rates, will be the final straw for us and the other dwindling independently owned hospitality properties. Our passion and patience has kept us motivated to be good stewards of a business that has been integrated into the scenic corridor of West Sonoma County since 1906.

But the financial cliff that we have arrived at, along with many other business and residential owners, is now here and poses great dangers to all small businesses' viability.  Our insurance is currently set to have a 150% increase from last year.  Since the fall of 2020, our insurance premiums have increased by more than 400%.   We have had zero insurance claims.

2.  Please share some data that will help ground this economic crisis in numbers. This will not require you to share your unnecessary personal finances.

These data points can greatly assist. Below is info on how to calculate two separate data point percentages with examples.

What percentage of your annual income is now going to pay for fire insurance?

Example. Use the 2nd percentage calculator to calculate the following things.

●     If your salary is $52k annually and your insurance now costs $5k, 9.6% of your annual income is going to property insurance.

●     If your business has a gross revenue (not including taxes collected such as sales and lodging) of $380k and your insurance is $58k, your insurance cost as a percentage of your revenue is 15.3%.

What percentage has your insurance cost gone up from the previous year?

Example: Use the 3rd percentage calculator to calculate the following:

●     If your home insurance was $1,500 and it now cost $5,000, it increased by 233%

●     If your business insurance was $20,000 and it now cost $50,000, it increased by 150%

3.  When contacting Senator McGuire and Governor Newsom with your personal story, tell them immediate financial help is desperately needed. The Governor needs to act now with an emergency executive order.  Below is information and talking points that you can refer to or help guide you.

Governor Newsom, Declare an Emergency Executive Order With Emergency Grant Funding: We are past the point of only fixing this crisis through the legislative process. We strongly advocate for the emergency dollars to be immediately allocated to offset the significant negative impacts this will have on our residents, small businesses and local economy. Grant prioritization should include seniors, economically disadvantaged families and small business owners with gross receipts under a determined threshold.

Issues, such as food security and healthcare access will be undermined as our neighbors make painful decisions; should they pay their Covered California premium, put food on the table or pay their home insurance bill. Placing people in this no win scenario goes against all the values this great state stands for and proudly showcases for the rest of the country and world. Providing immediate relief in the form of grants is imperative as permanent solutions are found. Time is of the essence. But impactful solutions often take time and need to be thoughtful. Emergency grant funding will greatly assist in protecting our seniors, families and small businesses from economic catastrophe, that will otherwise take our communities years to recover from.

Senator Mcguire’s Email and District Office Phone: Email: senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov

State Capitol: Phone: 916-651-4002

Santa Rosa Office:Phone: 707-576-2771

San Rafael Office: Phone: 415-479-6612

Ukiah Office: Phone: 707-468-8914

Crescent City Office Phone: (707) 464-1255

Eureka Office: Phone: 707-445-6508

Governor Newsom’s Email Portal and Phone

Email: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/                 (The governor’s email is via a website portal)

Select “insurance issues/concerns” from the drop down menu. Phone: (916) 445-2841

Brief History + Recap of Recent Happenings in Sacramento:

Most of the big primary Insurance companies have pulled out of the CA market over the last few years in an effort to get the “reforms” they want. This means passing rate increases on to us based on their speculative prediction models. The industry also wants to have Californians pay for the insurance company’s insurance. So all said simply…a form of corporate bullying.

This leaves many of us, especially small businesses, to what is called the secondary market. These out of state companies gouge with 100%-400% increases and then drop you the next year even with no claims. The secondary market does not have to follow CA insurance laws, allowing them to do as they wish and unchecked on consumer protections.

The state assembly recessed until January without taking legislative action. Given this, the Insurance Commissioner is the lone person that can do anything with insurance regulations.

Commissioner Lara has been meeting with insurance industry leadership and not including Consumer Watchdog, a group dedicated to safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers across the state.

On September 21, Governor Newsom issued an executive order directing the commissioner to find solutions. While we all certainly want something done, we need our state’s insurance policy to be in favor of the consumer. Like with PG&E, we as consumers are often forced to do business with companies that have unfair advantages and market monopolies. It’s also imperative that it is done thoughtfully, with full transparency and meaningfully engage representatives from all community stakeholders.