A Pacific Pallisard couple is seeking a court order to force California’s last resort insurance company to take over claims that they had late payments to fix the home where the fire was damaged.
The lawsuit by Scott and Resett Johnverse blames California’s Fairplan Assn. Malicious intent, breach of contract, and temporary restraining and injunctions to take photos taken by field coordinators, and other misconduct in seeking communication with the Adjuster’s narrative report and plan.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit said the home remains but penetrated into soot, ashes and fire debris carried inside through a broken window. Tests by professional hygienists are said to have discovered heavy metals, lead, cyanide and other contaminants. This involves demolition, removal of drying walls and floors, and other repairs.
It forced the couple and their young daughter to live in the hotel along with friends, relatives and Airbnbs, but the lawsuit said the plan failed to restore the home and take over the documents to make it better understandable.
A Fairplan spokesman said he would not respond to pending lawsuits.
The lawsuit was filed by the same two law firms, Edelson and Carly Schaffer. This dealt with a lawsuit filed last month by 10 fair-planned policyholders.
The Fair Plan covers allegations of smoke damage required by law, pays independent industrial hygienists when necessary, and properly assesses the level of restoration the home needs.
The lawsuit on Monday is similarly named as the defendant, the state’s largest home insurance company, including the state’s farm general. The Los Angeles-based Fair Plan is run by a licensed California home insurance company.
State Farm General did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Dylan Schaffer, one of Jungwirth’s lawyers, argued that the plan would not hand over the adjustment document as the plan showed that it would require more treatment and more repairs than the plan would be willing to pay.
“A lot of these coordinators are telling the truth about California’s fairplans. These homes are really badly damaged,” he said. “They need all sorts of jobs, and then the California fairplan takes them and they cut them down.”
The lawsuit alleges that for many years there has been a plan that refused to take over claims-related documents despite the 2001 law amending the insurance code to the law arising from the 1994 Northridge earthquake and granting consumers the right to such documents.
It also cites the Jan. 6 decision in Fresno County Superior Court that recognized a fair planned policyholder who was damaged by wind in 2022 for accessing her claims. Schaffer, who also handled the case, said it had the same problems Johnverse encountered.
The request for an injunction was the second lawsuit filed against the Fair Plan on January 7th by fire victims in the past two weeks. Altadena homeowner Luis Cazarez sued the plan on May 2, alleging malice and breach of contract.
He claims the home has become unrestable due to fire and smoke damage, but the plan only pays him $55,850. The lawsuit points out that a study conducted by the Jet Propulsion Institute and Caltech exceeds the amount that Altadena’s residual ash levels are considered safe.
The incident was brought about by Bradley/Grandbacher, a village company in Westlake, and Eilstock of Whitkin, Kreis & Overholz, a personal injury and product liability company in Pensacola, Florida.
“I want to completely reassure him that he can rebuild his life,” Attorney Brian Eilstock said. “He paid the insurance premium. He deserves it. It’s a shame he hasn’t got it so far.”
The lawyer said he intends to add such cases. Last week they also filed a lawsuit against Edison in Southern California alleging that the utility was maintaining its infrastructure, causing the Eton fire, exposing people nearby to lead, asbestos and other toxic substances.
Edison officials have admitted that the equipment may have lit a catastrophic fire, but warn that the cause is under investigation.
The fair plan is also the subject of twin lawsuits arising from the Jan. 7 fire filed by property owners against the state’s highest real estate and victim insurance groups.
The lawsuit filed last month accused the insurers of conspiring to drop homeowners and force them into the plan, and although they paid higher premiums, they reduced the liability of the insurers, cutting efforts that benefited significantly after the devastating January 7 fire.
Although the Fair Plan was not appointed as defendant, the insurance industry trade group said the lawsuit “will focus on denying logic, moving forward with unworthy claims and solving challenges in the California insurance market.”
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