Attorney Michael Rehm — (800) 978-0754

The October 2017 North Bay fires remain the defining disaster in modern Santa Rosa history. The Tubbs Fire alone burned more than 36,000 acres across Napa and Sonoma counties, destroyed approximately 5,500 structures, killed at least 22 people, and eliminated roughly 3,000 homes in Santa Rosa — more than five percent of the city's housing stock — including nearly the entire Coffey Park neighborhood and large portions of Fountaingrove. The direct liability claims against PG&E arising from that fire have largely been resolved through the PG&E bankruptcy proceeding. What remains open for many Tubbs Fire survivors, and for victims of subsequent wildfires, are claims against their own property insurers for bad faith claims handling. Attorney Michael Rehm represents wildfire victims with unresolved insurance claims throughout Santa Rosa and Sonoma County on a contingency fee basis.

California Wildfire Insurance Law

California imposes specific obligations on insurers handling wildfire claims. The California Code of Regulations, Title 10, Chapter 5, Subchapter 7.5 sets out detailed fair claims settlement practices that apply to every licensed insurer doing business in the state. Under those regulations, an insurer must acknowledge receipt of a claim promptly, accept or deny the claim within 40 days of receiving notice, and pay any undisputed amount within 30 days of accepting coverage. An insurer that provides a repair or rebuilding estimate must prepare that estimate using costs that are accurate and representative of the local market — not artificially depressed figures that shift the shortfall onto the policyholder.

California Insurance Code § 790.03(h) defines a range of unfair claims settlement practices that California law prohibits, including misrepresenting policy provisions, failing to acknowledge and act promptly on claims, refusing to pay claims without conducting a reasonable investigation, not attempting in good faith to reach a prompt and fair settlement where liability is reasonably clear, and compelling insureds to initiate litigation to recover amounts due under a policy.

Common Insurer Conduct in Wildfire Claims

Wildfire insurance claims are among the most complex and most frequently disputed claims in property insurance practice. Insurers have delayed claims under investigation for extended periods, offered repair estimates that fall materially short of actual local construction costs, applied depreciation in ways that reduce payments to levels insufficient for rebuilding, denied additional living expense coverage for periods when the insured remained displaced, and interpreted policy exclusions in ways that reduce coverage beyond what the policy language supports. Each of these practices may constitute bad faith if it lacks a reasonable basis in fact or law.

California also requires insurers to provide extended Additional Living Expense coverage for wildfire victims. After declared disasters, insurers may be required to extend ALE coverage for up to 24 or 36 months for temporary housing while the policyholder is displaced. Under Insurance Code § 675.1, following a declared disaster, insurers are also prohibited from canceling or non-renewing homeowner policies for one year in the affected area.

Underinsurance and the Gap Problem

A significant portion of Tubbs Fire victims discovered after the fire that their policy limits were insufficient to rebuild at current construction costs — a problem compounded by the fact that construction costs in the Santa Rosa area rose sharply in the years following the fire as demand for contractors and materials surged. Insurers have a responsibility under California law to offer adequate coverage, and agents who failed to recommend timely increases to coverage limits as construction costs rose may have independent liability for the resulting underinsurance gap.

Filing Deadlines

The statute of limitations for insurance bad faith claims can be two years for tort-based bad faith claims or four years for contract-based claims, depending on how the claim is pleaded. The applicable period begins to run from when the bad faith conduct occurred or was discovered — which in wildfire cases, where insurers may have made a series of inadequate offers over time, requires careful analysis of when the limitations clock started. Whether a particular deadline applies, has run, or is subject to tolling requires individual analysis. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to assess the specific facts of your situation.

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Attorney Michael Rehm represents wildfire victims with unresolved insurance and injury claims throughout Santa Rosa and Sonoma County on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (800) 978-0754 for a free consultation.

The information on this page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts. The law can change — statutes are amended, cases are decided, and regulations are revised; nothing on this page should be relied upon as a statement of current law without verification. Deadlines and legal bars discussed on this page are general guides — whether a particular deadline applies, has run, or is subject to tolling, and whether a particular doctrine bars or limits recovery in your case, requires individual analysis. Contact Attorney Michael Rehm to discuss the specific facts of your situation.