70,000 California wildfire victims may miss out on payments
They face a Monday deadline to file claims against
Concerned that as many as 70,000 victims may miss out on payments, attorneys filed court papers Friday to alert the bankruptcy judge that wildfire survivors — many still traumatized and struggling to get back on their feet — aren't aware of their rights to file a claim.
"People really are overwhelmed and don't understand what they need to do," said
"Renters, lower-income people were simply too exhausted by their day-to-day circumstances to deal with it," she said.
However, many victims said in court papers supporting a deadline extension that the legal notice didn't reach them because they have been displaced, or if they did receive it they mistook it as a scam.
Some said they thought they couldn't pursue a claim because
Others thought they couldn't make a claim without a lawyer.
"I thought I wasn't a victim because I got out alive," said
A man who said his house in
Mooney said he and his wife and his aunt and uncle who lived close by barely escaped the fire after they woke up to the smell of smoke and saw a wall of flames coming over a canyon.
"All of us are still grappling with the trauma to this day," he said. "We are constantly planning fire escape routes and putting together emergency kits. When there is smoke outside, we get nervous."
Dumas said wildfire survivors can additionally claim for hardships such as lost wages, lost business and emotional distress. Renters can seek to recover the cost of finding alternate housing.
Dumas wasn't certain a deadline extension will lead to more people making claims. However, she said she felt a moral obligation to inform the judge so he can grasp the scope of the problem.
Among people who knew about the deadline, some wrestled with whether to pursue it.
"It took a while for me to decide if it was the right thing to do," said
Beauchamp said she hesitated to ask for a payout because she reasoned the wildfire was a natural disaster and that she considered herself lucky to buy a house in the nearby city of
But when investigators concluded that
"Nothing is going to replace what I had in that house or make that day better," Beauchamp said. "I am forever changed. And while money is not going to bring back the community I knew, it feels a little bit like even Stevens."
Instructions for filing a claim form is available at: https://restructuring.primeclerk.com/pge/EPOC-Index
28 options for Ohio seniors seeking drug coverage in 2020
Federal suit against Santa Maria Police moves to trial in case of teen’s attempted hanging
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News