Palisades Couple Files Lawsuit Against California FAIR Plan, Other Major Insurers

The Jungwirths, who moved to Pacific Palisades last June with their three-year-old daughter, purchased a FAIR Plan policy after struggling to find other home insurance options. On January 7, they fled their home as wildfires spread

Scott and Lissette Jungwirth, a Pacific Palisades couple, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the California FAIR Plan Association (CFPA) and several major insurers, alleging bad faith, breach of contract, and violations of state insurance laws following the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.

The couple seeks a court order to compel CFPA, the state's insurer of last resort, to release claims-related documents, including photographs and narrative reports from a field adjuster who inspected their fire-damaged home.

The Jungwirths, who moved to Pacific Palisades last June with their three-year-old daughter, purchased a FAIR Plan policy after struggling to find other home insurance options. On January 7, 2025, they fled their home as wildfires spread, witnessing flames and smoke engulfing the area, the suit claims. Though their house survived, it was contaminated with soot, ash, and toxic substances like heavy metals, lead, and cyanide, rendering it uninhabitable, according to testing by a professional hygienist. The couple has since relocated between hotels, Airbnbs, friends' homes, and relatives' residences while awaiting insurance support.

The lawsuit claims CFPA failed to thoroughly investigate the damage, delayed payments, and refused to provide requested claims documents despite multiple requests since March 2025. This refusal, the suit argues, violates California Insurance Code, which mandates insurers to share such documents within 15 days of a request. The couple cites a January 6, 2025, Fresno Superior Court ruling in Ortega v. California FAIR Plan Association, which ordered CFPA to release similar documents to another policyholder, as precedent. CFPA's ongoing noncompliance, they assert, affects thousands of policyholders statewide.

The complaint also accuses CFPA of systematically underpaying wildfire claims, a practice the California Department of Insurance (DOI) deemed illegal in 2021 and 2022. The DOI found CFPA's 2017 policy revision, which limited coverage to "permanent physical changes," unlawfully restricted smoke damage claims. Despite DOI directives to revise the policy, CFPA has continued the practice, the lawsuit alleges.

Named defendants include State Farm General Insurance Company, CSAA Insurance Exchange, and other major insurers that fund and control CFPA. The Jungwirths seek declaratory judgment, public injunctive relief to enforce document disclosure for all policyholders, and damages for unpaid benefits, emotional distress, and legal costs. They have demanded a jury trial.