California Wildfires Are An Insurance Nightmare

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Sorry, occupational hazard: This is not legal advice, nor can I give you legal advice. I AM NOT YOUR LAWYER. Sorry! Everything here is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Nothing here should be construed to form an attorney-client relationship. Also, some of the links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning, at no cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. But if you click, it really helps me make more of these videos! All non-licensed clips used for fair use commentary, criticism, and educational purposes. See Hosseinzadeh v. Klein, 276 F.Supp.3d 34 (S.D.N.Y. 2017); Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc., 139 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2015).

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[mammoney]

My dad was a forest service firefighter. He died in 2015 fighting a California wildfire. All of this hits home for me. My heart goes out to everyone

[xerofelix]

The frustrating part, is that we were warning people about this for *nearly 2 decades!* I remember people in 2006 talking about how the wildfires would just keep getting worse and that the insurance companies would stop insuring people because it won't be profitable at some point. And *_nobody listened!_*

[TaKaytOh]

Bro, I'm from Paradise, and my step-dad is career USFS.

They (PG&E) WERE NOT saddled with poor equipment, they never maintained their infrastructure.

[robloughrey]

My nephew Michael is one of those prison inmates currently fighting this fire. He got into that program a couple of years ago and is due to get out in 2025. It's been a wonderful opportunity for him, He's turned things very much around from his teenage years and we're all very proud.

[rickemmet]

Devin, PG&E had a historical policy known as "run to failure." They didn't think it was good business practice to attend to ANY maintenance on their infrastructure. What could possibly go wrong?

[nathansavage]

Prison firefighters get such a bad deal on all sides. They risk their lives for crap salaries and once released, they are not eligable to become standard firefighters!

[BatAmerica]

Regular civilians, grieving families, surrounding wildlife, these are groups to feel sorry for, not insurance companies.

[izMelissa]

It is vital to highlight that many "regular" individuals lived in rentals and inherited properties in those neighborhoods. There are many more of them injured than millionaires with mansions, many of whom do not even live there.

[jamiegilbert]

I am an underwriter for an insurance company in New Zealand, seeing this is crazy, cannot imagine all the future restrictions, endorsements and premium increasing that will happen on renewal.

[malleus]

Devin, my man. I will never have pity for a corporation like PG&E who makes plenty of money to replace a century old piece of equipment.

[LeviMcClain]

As someone who lost their home in the Paradise Camp Fire, there should be absolutely no leeway granted to PG&E for failing to maintain their equipment. They are 100% to blame for that fire, hence their open admission of guilt.

[cbrownjc]

I'm from Altadena. We moved there in the late 70s when I was 10 months old, and I lived there for over 40 years. I moved about 3 years ago after my mother passed away. And I only found out after she passed that the insurance on the house had been canceled around 2018, because the insurance company dropped it. Our house was almost 100 years old, and was over 100 years old this past year. All the houses in my old neighbood were of the same age as well. And now my old neighborhood is completely gone, including my childhood home.

The thing everyone should know about Altadena and the Eaton Fire is that we've had MANY wildfires in the mountains before this, some very much starting in Eaton Canyon. However, even just 15 years ago, we used to have heavy rains during this time of year in Altadena, which would satuate the ground and actually make us vulnerable to mudslides if we went though a wildfire in the summer. But rains like that haven't happened for a few years now. So the dry brush, coupled with the super high winds help lead to this. Places in Altadena that have NEVER been under a wildfire evacuation before (such as my old neighborhood), not only had to evacuate, but are now gone. And who knows how many had their home insurance dropped just like my mom did.

[templarw]

"Doing the best with what they have" is fine if they were given the stuff without the time or resources to do anything, but PG&E has spent decades refusing to do even basic upkeep on their infrastructure, instead choosing profits over responsibility. That they are still allowed to be a publicly traded for-profit company is a grave injustice.

[CitanulsPumpkin]

And people wonder why Luigi Mangione has a higher approval rating than all of congress, all federal judges, and every insurance company executive.

[maryhales]

My cousin is a nurse at UCLA medical center and the Hurst fire is closest to her. She's seen the glow of the flames over the mountain. I've been keeping in touch with her and it's terrifying.

[WigWoo]

So if every insurance company pulls out of the state, yet in order to get a mortgage you legally have to have homeowners insurance, then how would you get a mortgage?

[RobertFletcherOBE]

funny how insurance companies are allowed to profit wholesale but when it comes to doing their actual job and paying out..

[sonjialeyva]

Thank you for this and for setting up the donations. I live about five miles from Eaton Canyon. Fortunately, the worst we had was a lot of downed tree branches and ash *everywhere*. The media only shows you so much. Most of Altadena is gone. Those 7, 000 structures include schools and businesses in addition to homes. As of 1/16, most residents still cannot go into the area and check on their homes. Nearly everyone knows of someone who lost everything. It's not just the loss of homes - it's the loss of community and livelihoods.

[kineticstar]

The silver lining here is that the insurance companies can't litigate their way out of this tragedy.

There's too much money and wealthy people in this natural disaster to try and wait them out or drown them in court cost.

[MalenkyGoblin]

Thank you for bringing up the floods and super bloom's roles in the fires. I remember talking to a friend of mine who lives in LA and said it was great to see California was no longer in a terrible drought and was getting all these wonderful flowers blooming, and he said it worried him because it was potential fuel for a wildfire. He's now watching the fire maps religiously to see if he needs to evacuate or not.