18 / April 15th 2021 / Aptos Times www.tpgonlinedaily.com
COMMUNITY NEWS
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Fire Insurance Cancellation Moratorium: SB 824
n the wake of the 2020 CZU lightning fire, some homeowners in Aptos have received cancellation notices for their insurance policy. Jon Fernandez, associate insurance compliance officer with the California Department of Insurance, provided this information for homeowners and SB 824 moratoriums: We believe that Santa Cruz is affected by the CZU Lightning Fire and a State of Emergency was declared by Governor Newsom on Aug. 18, 2020. These are some of the related laws that may address your recent concerns after SB 824’s effective date Jan. 1, 2019: • California Insurance Code §675.1(b) — Cancellations and Non-Renewals Within Fire Perimeter Note: This code applies to undamaged properties and partial losses. Effective for losses occurring on or after Jan. 1, 2019, an insurer shall not cancel or refuse to renew a policy on a property located in any ZIP code within, or adjacent to, the fire perimeter for one year after the declaration of a state of emergency, based solely on the fact that the property is located in an area where the fire occurred. This subsection would not apply to situations where the insured’s acts or omissions have materially increased the risk or where other factors unrelated to the disaster have caused the property to become uninsurable. For the purposes of this section, it is important to note that the fire perimeter is determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in consultation with California Office of Emergency Services. The information is then provided to the California Department of Insurance with data describing the fire perimeter sufficient for the commissioner to determine the zip codes that are within or adjacent to the fire perimeter. • California Insurance Code §675.1(a) (3) — Non-Renewal After A Declared Disaster Note: This code applies to total loss of the primary insured structure. Except for the reasons specified in subdivisions (a) to (e), inclusive, of Section 676, the insurer shall offer, for at least the next two annual renewal periods (but no less than 24 months of coverage from the date of the loss), to renew the policy in
If you or someone that you know will need our assistance during this emergency, please complete our Request for Assistance form from our website: http://www.insurance. ca.gov/01-consumers/101help/index.cfm
accordance with the provisions of subdivision (a)(1) if the total loss to the primary insured structure was caused by a disaster, the loss was not also due to the negligence of the insured, and losses have not occurred subsequent to the disaster-related total loss that relate to physical or risk changes to the insured property that result in the property becoming uninsurable. If you or someone that you know will need our assistance during this emergency, please complete our Request for Assistance form from our website: http://www. insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/101help/index.cfm. There is a printable as well as an online complaint form on that page. The online complaint form link is titled “Consumer Complaint Online” inside the Consumer Complaint Center box. The Request for Assistance form is what we forward to the insurance carrier so we can access their file for a regulatory review. In the meantime, we recommend that you also visit our Wildfire webpage by clicking: http://www.insurance. ca.gov/01-consumers/140-catastrophes/ WildfireResources.cfm That information may be useful during this emergency since it provides updates and resources when dealing with the insurance companies. If we can assist you in the future with an insurance problem, or provide information, you may contact us through the email system or you may reach the Consumer Communication Bureau at 1-800-927-4357. n
