In the wake of the deadly California wildfires, the state’s insurance commissioner has initiated a one-year moratorium on insurance companies canceling or not renewing policies for homeowners, KCAL reports.
Ricardo Lara announced the news during a Jan. 9 press conference.
The ban applies to zip codes surrounding the Palisades and Eaton fires and adjacent areas. Homeowners who did not sustain any property damage will also be covered.
“I’m also calling on insurance companies to
suspend any pending non-renewals and cancellations that homeowners received before these fires started,” Lara said. “This means that if you received a non-renewal from your homeowner’s insurance between Oct. 9 and Jan. 7, essentially 90 days, your insurance company should do the right thing and retain you as a valued policyholder.”Before Lara’s announcement, close to 1,600 policies in the Pacific Palisades area were canceled by State Farm in July 2024 and, according to ABC 7, over 10% of homeowners and fire policies in Pacific Palisades failed to be renewed between 2020 and 2022.
Lara also encouraged companies to show compassion by extending the 60-day grace period for homeowners to pay their premiums. To help homeowners prepare for what’s next, Lara’s office is hosting two free insurance support workshops: Santa Monica on Jan. 18 and 29 and Pasadena on Jan. 25 and 26.
He encouraged homeowners to start the process of gathering documents
to file claims.“Start documenting every conversation,” he said. “I often tell survivors—even set up a new, different email where you’re getting all your emails around your insurance recovery policies so that you could keep that and track that and document that,” he said. “That’s critical.”
The wildfires serve as an opportune time for fraudsters to take advantage of victims’ vulnerability.
“Do not sign anything under stress,” Lara said. “You have out-of-state adjusters that make false promises that don’t know California law and how we protect consumers here.”
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