The suit was filed against the FAIR Plan as well as its member insurance companies. (Credit: Amanda Bronstad/ALM)
A new lawsuit filed against the California FAIR Plan is requesting that the plan be required to turn over its inspection records to all of its insureds.
The suit was filed by Scott and Lissette Jungwirth, two Palisades residents. While their home survived the wildfire in January, they say it suffered significant smoke and other damage, and the FAIR Plan hasn’t addressed their claims.
A FAIR Plan adjuster visited their home in February, but months have passed, and the Jungwirths are still waiting for news. They requested all claim-related documents from the plan, including the adjuster’s reports, but they never received them.
The suit is requesting a public injunction to force the FAIR Plan to turn over its inspection records, not just for the Jungwirths but for all of the plan’s insureds. The FAIR Plan as well as its member insurance companies are the named defendants.
The suit argues that California insurance code already requires the FAIR Plan to turn over the records, but the plan has a history of ignoring those requests. The plan was sued in January for similar reasons, and the court upheld the law — but, the suit says, the FAIR Plan hasn’t complied.
The attorneys in the suit, Kerley Schaffer LLP and Edelson PC, have also filed three other suits on behalf of 30 other FAIR Plan insureds, and they say they have many additional lawsuits coming.
"This is not the first time we've fought with FAIR Plan about turning over inspection records, but we hope it will be the last," said Dylan Schaffer, a partner at Kerley Schaffer LLP, in a statement. "If granted, FAIR Plan will no longer be able to avoid its basic obligations to its insureds."
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