Recently added insurance laws should help many fire survivors following the Southern California wildfires.  These laws include:

• An insurer is required to offer to renew a policy when the total loss is caused by a government-declared disaster and was not due to the negligence of the insured.
• An insurer is not allowed to cancel a policy while the primary insured structure is being rebuilt, except for existing statutory reasons for cancellation.
• Insurers are required to extend additional living expenses (ALE) up to 24 months, without increasing policy limits and without changing other policy conditions, following a "state of emergency" declaration.
  
• The time limit for replacing the destroyed structure is 24 months from the time of the first payment from the insurer when the loss is the result fo a "state of emergency."
• Insurers are required to provide copies of insurance policies within 30 days of receipt of request from the policyholder.  Copies must be provided free of charge.
• The Department of Insurance is authorized to establish mediation programs for fire survivors when the fire is declared a "state of emergency" by the governor.