The state's Department of Insurance has released a report showing that formal complaints against insurers rose by 22 times following the southern California wildfires of last year.

“This disturbing report, at the very least, demonstrates a systemic problem of underinsurance that is happening throughout the industry,” said Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. “At worst, it indicates that insurers, in many cases, have not held up their end of the bargain with fire survivors who are looking to rebuild their lives.”

The department's study of complaints found that, of the 2,734 total-loss claims filed with insurers following the fires, 22 percent generated complaints over the handling of the claim by the insurer. Of the 676 complaints filed, 316 involved underinsurance. Typically, the DOI receives complaints from about 1 percent of all claims in most lines of insurance.

Although some of the dramatic increase may be attributable to the high-profile nature of the wildfires, Garamendi believes that the system is not working as effectively as it could. “Consumers all over this nation are finding that the policies they bought for their homes do not adequately provide coverage to rebuild in the case of a total loss,” he said. “Yet, insurers already have models that, they say, provide an accurate estimation of the rebuilding cost. If that's so, why are so many people now facing financial hardship because they are being forced to pay much of the rebuilding cost from their own pockets?”

The report also documents numerous problems, including the slow pace of building permit issuances, that have hampered the rebuilding process. In San Diego County, 2,691 homes were destroyed, but, as of October 25, only 655 had received permits to rebuild and only 150 had been rebuilt and approved for occupancy. Although the reasons for the delays vary, the commissioner cited insurers' handling of claims as a factor.

“People cannot rebuild if they haven't been able to settle their claims with the insurers yet,” he said. “These people need help now, and they need the appropriate amount of cooperation from the insurers; otherwise, when their additional living expense money runs out, they may not have anywhere to live.”

In response to the report, the Association of California Insurance Companies has said that it finds the DOI's numbers to be inflated. According to the ACIC's figures, 18,636 post-fire claims were filed with insurers, of which 676, or 3.6 percent, resulted in complaints to the department, said Sam Sorich, president of the association.

“Granted, one justified complaint from an unhappy policyholder is too many,” Sorich said, “but the percentage of complaints is relatively low, considering the magnitude of the disaster and the numerous difficulties experienced during the recovery process, such as locating materials and builders.”

Sorich specifically addressed the issue of underinsurance, saying that those complaints accounted for less than 2 percent of the total claims filed. “In the few cases where underinsurance may exist, a number of factors may be involved,” he said. “For example, building materials and labor costs after a disaster increase to unusually high levels. Or, a policyholder may have failed to inform the insurer of major home improvements.”

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.