California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has issued a moratorium prohibiting insurance companies from canceling or not renewing home insurance policies in the Eaton fire zone of the Pacific Palisades and San Gabriel Valley.
The moratorium, issued Thursday, protects homeowners living within the fire perimeter and adjacent ZIP codes from losing their insurance policies for one year after Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. be.
Moratoriums provided under state law are typically issued after a major fire and apply to all policyholders, regardless of whether they have suffered a loss.
Lara also asked insurers to suspend for six months pending non-renewals or cancellations issued within the 90 days before January 7, which was scheduled to take effect after the fire. Mr. Lara does not have the authority to ban it.
“I call on all property and casualty insurance companies to end these non-renewals and cancellations to provide essential stability to our communities and allow consumers to focus on what is important at this time: safety and recovery. ,” Lara said at a press conference on Friday. Downtown Los Angeles.
California insurance companies have wide latitude not to renew your home insurance policy after it expires, but they must give you at least 75 days’ notice. However, a valid insurance policy can only be canceled for reasons such as non-payment or fraud.
Insurers have canceled hundreds of thousands of policyholders across California in recent years, citing the increased risk and severity of wind-driven wildfires due to climate change. The Health Bureau has warned that residents living in fire-restricted areas may be subject to a sudden suspension of renewals and that the suspension is necessary.
Lara also called on insurance companies to extend premium payment deadlines for policyholders affected by the fires beyond the current 60-day grace period required by state law.
It’s unclear how many homeowners in Pacific Palisades and elsewhere were uninsured, but many homeowners reported that their insurance companies had not renewed their policies before the disaster. Last year, State Farm notified the Department of Insurance that Pacific Palisades’ 1,626 policies would not be renewed after they expired starting in July of last year.
Residents can visit the Department of Insurance’s website at insurance.ca.gov to find out if their zip code is included in the suspension. If you believe your insurance company is violating the law, you can also contact the department at (800) 927-4357 or via chat or email.
The Pacific Palisades Fire, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, had grown to more than 20,000 acres and burned more than 5,000 homes, businesses and other buildings as of Friday morning. It included 6%.
The Eaton Fire, which has burned many buildings in Altadena and Pasadena, has spread to nearly 14,000 acres and is 3% contained as of early Friday morning. Ten people died in the fire.
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