California has declared a State of Emergency for sixteen counties due to wildfires beginning August 18, 2020.The State of California Department of Insurance issued a Notice dated August 26, 2020 regarding the claims handling and billing grace period procedures, in an effort to assist victims in affected zip codes due to wildfires.

The Notice, in part states the following:

• Requires insurance companies to grant a 60-day extension of the grace period for customers residing within the designated wildfire disaster areas.
• This includes a moratorium on policy cancellations due to non-payment of premium, and all notices of cancellation issued should be withdrawn and reissued. The moratorium is effective August 26, 2020 through October 25, 2020.

The Department Notice can be viewed by accessing the following link: www.insurance.ca.gov.

On August 21, 2020, a State of Emergency was declared by the Governor, and a result, the Alabama Department of Insurance has issued Bulletin 2020-18, dated September 24, 2020, that prohibits insurance companies from cancelling policies for policyholders residing within the impacted areas.

This moratorium on cancelling policies affects specific areas in Alabama.

Currently Bulletin 2020-18 specifies the length of time for the moratorium to November 16, 2020, unless the state of emergency declared by the governor is extended.

The Order, in part states the following:

• The Bulletin applies to all kinds of insurance and all types of insurers.
• Policyholders living in the affected areas will receive an extension of time to pay insurance premiums due on or after September 14, 2020, without any late fees, penalties, cancellation or non-renewal.
• The Bulletin provides policyholders in affected areas additional time to submit documents to insurers for claims that were filed before the state of emergency but might be difficult for policyholders to send until they can return to their homes and businesses.
• To comply with this requirement, the grace period will be from September 14, 2020 through November 15. After November 15, 2020, all policies will resume normal processing.

The Department Bulletin and Order can be viewed by accessing the following link: https://www.aldoi.gov/