Are you eligible for FEMA assistance if you have insurance? ABC7 answers your top FEMA questions

ByCarlos Granda

Sunday, January 19, 2025 6:03AM

Are you eligible for FEMA help if you're insured? More top Qs answered

ABC7 took some of the questions you submitted about FEMA assistance to a FEMA spokesperson and here are the answers.

While FEMA is helping cover firefighting costs of the Palisades and Eaton fires, the agency is also helping people cover the costs of immediate needs and recovery efforts.

There are now two FEMA centers in Southern California where fire victims can go and get help, but there are still plenty of questions.

ABC7 took some of the questions you submitted to us about FEMA assistance to a FEMA spokesperson and here are the answers.

I was told since I have insurance for my house, I'm not eligible for help from FEMA. Is that true?

Nicole Wilson, FEMA: "FEMA offers assistance to individuals who are uninsured and underinsured, so many times, insurance will cover some things, but not everything and so why we say we need that letter from your insurance company is because it will tell us what they covered and then we will do our very best to try to supplement some of the items they did not cover."

Am I eligible to receive the $770 from FEMA if I have fire insurance coverage?

FEMA can provide what they call Serious Needs Assistance, which is a one-time grant up to $770 for costs and expenditures you might have had while you evacuated, like water, food, and baby formula.

Wilson said even if you have fire insurance coverage, she urges people to talk to a FEMA specialist because you may still be eligible for that $770.

"Every case is going to be different, but we want to make sure that people understand that even if they have insurance, it doesn't disqualify them from certain types of funding from FEMA," she said.

Is the FEMA money a grant or a loan?

Wilson: "FEMA money is grants. You do not have to pay FEMA money back. If you are looking for a loan, the Small Business Administration is on the ground. They do offer low interest loans for those who feel like they need additional funding, but FEMA money, the money you receive from FEMA, does not have to be paid back. It is a grant."

I rented a home with multiple people who reside there and FEMA only allows one of us to use this address. It just says "duplicate application."

Wilson: "We just want to make sure that people who live in a home are actually renters, and so if you are renting in a home, you're in a roommate situation, you have four rooms in a home and each person is renting there and actually paying rent, show us some documentation, a lease some sort of paperwork that shows that you have an agreement that you are paying rent."

To learn more on FEMA disaster assistance, click here.