HomeRebuilding Without Renters Insurance: Rob’s Story
After a movie-like getaway, Rob lost his car, home, and work equipment to the LA wildfires. Weeks later, another family tragedy hit.
When Rob Ingersoll, now 60, first moved to Los Angeles decades ago, he was eager to pursue a career in acting. He spent years working in the movie business. As acting work dried up, Rob launched his own deejaying company that kept him involved in LA’s entertainment industry.
The lifelong renter spent time living on the beach in Los Angeles before settling in Pacific Palisades, a secluded hillside neighborhood known for its small-town charm. After leaving a rent-controlled apartment, Rob found another opportunity: renting a discounted guesthouse in exchange for watching the owner’s dogs, who lived in the main house next door. Though the area was deemed high-risk by insurers and he could not find rental coverage, it was the ideal, quintessentially LA setup – until his life changed.
For Rob, losing his home also meant losing the equipment for his deejaying business.
When the wildfires started, Rob didn’t grasp the severity at first. It wasn’t until the last few hours before evacuating that he realized the danger of the escalating situation. With one packed bag and a lifetime of mementos left behind, Rob made it out of the fire. His home was not as fortunate.
As one of 22 million households in the U.S. without renter’s insurance, Rob was only able to collect money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). According to Rob, the payout doesn’t begin to cover the cost of what he lost.
Then, just weeks later, another blow: Rob’s father passed away. While the grief added to his sense of loss, his father’s life insurance policy became an unexpected financial lifeline.
Here’s his story.
I was born in upstate New York and went to Los Angeles when I was 19 years old on a vacation and fell in love, because it was the 80s. I got an apartment on the beach and never left. I lived in a rent-controlled apartment in Santa Monica until 2010, when a friend of mine offered me a great deal on a house in the Palisades, so I’ve lived there ever since.
The Palisades were probably the greatest place you could ever want to live. It was very family-oriented. Recently, there was a lot of new construction where people were coming in and all the old houses were just being bought up, torn down, and rebuilt. It has a small-town feel in a giant city.
My rental was a guest house near the homeowner’s pool. Their dogs would come in and hang out with me – one of the dogs was 180 pounds. People were calling me the Palisades Dog Whisperer, so if somebody had a dog that wouldn’t obey or behave properly, they would ask me to help.
Rob with his recently adopted Alaskan husky. As a dog lover, Rob got a discount on rent in exchange for caring for the owner’s dogs.
The day of the fire, I walked out the door to drink my morning coffee outside, like I do most days. I realized I smelled smoke. So I turned the corner and looked behind the Palisades. I took a photo and sent it to the owner. Most people weren’t worried. But then the phone started going crazy with that horrible alert sound. I helped the family because we had to load the dogs.
I packed a few days’ worth of clothes, thinking that I would be back. I grabbed my toothbrush and stuff and put it in the car. I went outside, and I’m like, ‘Wow, I got to get out of here.’ I literally had some shorts, some T-shirts, jeans, and pretty much that’s it.
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As fire engulfed the Palisades neighborhood, Rob soon realized the severity of the blaze.
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Smoke billowing from homes nearby as Rob started to flee.
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Rob’s view as he evacuated shortly before his home burned. “Afterward, you really are just in shock,” he says.
I had to drive out like it was a movie. There’s just smoke everywhere and little fire tornadoes. The wind was blowing like I’ve never felt before.
When I got down to the corner, I stopped the car and realized this is life-changing. I said, ‘Tomorrow, all of this is going to be gone.’
Afterward, you really are just in shock. For my business, I lost about 5,000 karaoke CDs, PA systems, speakers, and mixing boards. I started the company in 1991, and over the decades, I’ve bought thousands of CDs. Personal things, too. My mom passed away and put together a nice book of photos, and I lost that. All my collectibles I lost, including a Michael Jordan card…. I’ve seen that card for sale for half a million dollars. That one hurt.
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Rob’s 1998 Hummer H1, which had skyrocketed in value since he purchased it years ago.
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Post-fire, Rob’s Hummer was reduced to ashes. “The fire was crazy hot,” he says.
I had no place to live. I went to an Airbnb because I still didn’t know what I was doing. My dad was like, ‘Well, come live here.’ So I went to Henderson, Nevada.
When I got here, my dad got sick and passed away a month later. I’m still in Nevada, taking care of his affairs. Now I’ve got to take care of all of that stuff on top of my stuff. So yeah, it’s been a little stressful.
“It’s very emotionally testing and it’s draining. Very draining.”
“To this day, something will pop up that I used to have, and then I remember it was burned.”
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After the passing of his father, Rob is still sorting out his father's affairs in Henderson, Nevada, and contemplating a return to Los Angeles.
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