Santo Riccobono of Wildfire Recovery Attorneys [Courtesy photo]
The Wildfire Recovery Attorneys team, comprised of Baron & Budd, Ellis Riccobono, and Diab Chambers, has recovered more than $1.7 billion for utility-caused wildfire damages over the past decade.
They are currently pursuing litigation against Southern California Edison for the Eaton Fire.
“When we have an initial consultation, we sit down with the potential client and we go through literally every aspect of damages in a wildfire case,” Riccobono said. “For the ones that do apply, we will dive deeper into those specific damages and see how we can help them.”
Riccobono pointed out several key areas where insurance typically falls short.
“One of the big things that people don’t realize aren’t covered is with personal property, typically insurance pays for the depreciated value of the personal property and not the cost to replace it,” he explained.
For example, if a homeowner purchased a refrigerator 10 years ago, insurance would only provide the value of a 10-year-old refrigerator rather than the cost of a new one. “When you’ve lost everything in your home, that adds up on every single item,” Riccobono said.
Emotional damages represent another significant gap in insurance coverage. “One of the biggest aspects of these cases is emotional damages, which insurance never covers, and that’s pain, suffering,” Riccobono said. “Being within the zone of danger, evacuating, all that is terrifying.”
Other uncovered losses often include erosion to property, lost income, and increased rebuilding costs. Riccobono noted that insurance typically only covers about 5% of rebuild coverage for code upgrades, “which is never enough.”
This limitation is particularly relevant for Eaton Fire victims due to the unique characteristics of the affected area. “It certainly won’t be enough here, given the unique Altadena community and all the mature vegetation surrounding each home,” Riccobono explained. “Our experts have been on the ground and their damage assessments and just the vegetation are well into the six figures with policies covering about 20 to $40,000.”
The legal team brings personal experience to their work with fire victims. “What makes our firm a little different: we have multiple attorneys that have evacuated from fires, including myself, and we know how terrifying it can be and everything that goes along with being a fire survivor,” said Riccobono.
For those considering legal action, Riccobono emphasized there’s no rush despite what some attorneys might suggest. “The statute of limitations is two years to file a lawsuit. We are filing the lawsuits within weeks of signing up clients just to make sure that all the claims are in. But there’s a lot of attorneys out there that are trying to create false deadlines just to sign clients up.”
Based on previous cases, Riccobono estimated these cases typically settle between a year and a half to about four years after the fire.
He encouraged victims to reach out for a consultation, which is always free.
“There’s literally no downside in talking to someone and finding out if you have a case.”
For more information, click https://www.fireattorneys.com/
