Maui Wildfire Victims Sue Insurers

Some of the victims of Maui’s wildfire in 2023 have filed a lawsuit against State Farm and Allstate. They claim the insurers have disrupted a $4 billion dollar settlement by demanding $2 billion back from what the insurers claim are overpayments to the victims.

The lawsuit claims by law the companies cannot ask for reimbursement until all policyholders are made whole.

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.

“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,” the lawsuit states.

The tentative $4 billion settlement falls way short of the $5.5 billion in assessed damages.

The suit says insurers like State Farm and Allstate need to be barred from recovering money from a “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 fire killed 102 people and destroyed more than 2,200 structures.

Source link: Insurance Business America — https://bit.ly/4cPJXhF

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/46yyqB3