Maui wildfire victims sue State Farm, Allstate and others

Maui wildfire victims sue State Farm, Allstate and others | Insurance Business America

Catastrophe & Flood

Maui wildfire victims sue State Farm, Allstate and others

Insurers accused of putting “own selfish profits ahead of the suffering of the people of Maui”

Catastrophe & Flood

By
Terry Gangcuangco

A group of Maui wildfire victims from 2023 has taken the likes of State Farm and Allstate to court, accusing insurers of disrupting a pending $4 billion settlement deal.

“This action arises out of the greed of Hawaii’s insurance industry to put their own selfish profits ahead of the suffering of the people of Maui who are the true victims of the Maui fires,” states the lawsuit filed on Friday in a Maui state court.

Bloomberg reported that the insurers are demanding nearly $2 billion from the settlement fund to recoup payments made for last year’s wildfires that devastated more than 2,200 structures and claimed 102 lives.

The lawsuit alleges that the companies are wrongfully seeking reimbursement for claims paid before fully covering their customers’ losses. It was pointed out that, according to Hawaii legislation, policyholders need to be “made whole” first before reimbursement can be pursued.

Insurers should be prevented from reclaiming funds from the “limited settlement fund before each and every one of their insureds – who are the only real victims of the Maui fires – has been fully compensated,” the lawsuit argues.

Among the plaintiffs is Nelda Pagdilao, who lost her home and husband in the wildfires. Although Pagdilao received insurance payments, they did not cover her entire loss, as detailed in the lawsuit.

The tentative settlement – the amount of which falls short of the estimated $5.5 billion in capital costs resulting from the fires, based on last year’s damage assessment – is aimed at resolving lawsuits from thousands of residents against Hawaiian Electric Industries and other entities held responsible for the fires.

Meanwhile, the Bloomberg report noted that representatives from State Farm and Allstate did not respond to emails or calls for comment on Saturday.

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