Insurance is compartmentalized. While the structure owner may have some insurance on the structure, those leasing space likely did not. They may have some general liability coverage for their business and possibly some fire insurance. In general as lease holders they might only have the equivalent of renter's insurance like some apartment dwellers may contract. They likely may also have coverage under their liability policy for loss of income but that can be limited to certain specific conditions to be met.

Insurance companies rarely do not pay out full amounts of coverage and claims can take as much as a year or more to be processed. Like the rest of the world, their companies are also backlogged and short handed.

A friend of mine lost their business due to building damages to years ago and they had to vacate. They only received a fraction of what their loss was for damaged and no longer usable furniture and supplies. Similarly loss of income which was also in the policy only paid out a meager sum, and it took over a year for the claim to be processed. I'd also note that this was also a situation of no challenge to the insurance company's pay out. Had that happened the claim would have been recycled back to square one and a new and full recalculation would take place. The claim could have carried on for years.

Near me a home owner had a fire and his coverage was less than what current damages are rated at. When most of these policies were written it was before current inflation and replacement or repair costs. The building remains vacant and the fire happened over 6 months ago. The claim is still being processed. Sad to say, this is now the norm. We expect the boarded up structure to be in that condition for at least 6 more months if not more while the haggling continues.

My own property insurance was increased by over $350 for the coming year whereas in the past we only saw a few dollars per year increase over a 5 year period. That is quite a jump and other property owners are seeing as much if not more with their annual premiums. If you do maintain renter's insurance expect a big increase when you renew.

So the GoFundMe is seeking to span the gap and the time lag. At this point, no one is making any money to exist. Hopefully some will have savings or other fallback position.

And the host of the GoFundMe is a well-established attorney in that community.