fire victims trust payouts

In April 2002, he was named Managing Editor. Trustee, Most vulnerable in this process are the wildfire victims who were uninsured, underinsured or have potential claims against the company for personal injury and wrongful death. The trust, which he took over two years ago, was funded with $13.5 billion, half in cash and half in the PG&E common stock. (2022, May 25). https://santarosapressdemocrat-ca.newsmemory.com/?token=CRID_john.stalcup@sbcglobal.net_26654&message_id=22606q2IXHqZd6krXsywJL3uC1IEx3QU&utm_source=emailMarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email+stats, (14) https://www.counties.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/inverse_condemnation_fact_sheet_league__csac.pdf, (15) https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/FAQs.pdf, (16) https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-victims-lawyer-scrutinized-over-Wall-15241511.php#:~:text=San%20Antonio%20lawyer%20Mikal%20Watts,that%20became%20public%20days%20earlier, (17) https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/judge-refuses-to-approve-fire-victims-letter-attacking-pge-04-09-2020, (18) https://www.reinsurancene.ws/pge-pays-11bn-settlement-to-re-insurers-joins-wildfire-fund/, (19) https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/Trustee_Response_to_5-28-22_Editorial.pdf, Ramona D. ElliotDirector, United States Trustee Program, https://www.kqed.org/news/11891626/hedge-funds-cash-out-billions-in-pge-stock-fire-survivors-suffer-and-wait, https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2022/05/06/666497.htm, Https://Inthesetimes.Com/Article/California-Fire-Victims-Awaiting-Payment-from-Utility-Company, https://inthesetimes.com/article/california-fire-victims-awaiting-payment-from-utility-company, https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/05/17/a-cascade-of-outrage-follows-investigation-into-pge-fire-victim-trust-expenses/, Https://Leginfo.Legislature.ca.Gov/Faces/billTextClient.Xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1054, https://abc7news.com/pg-e-fire-victims-victim-trust-fund-ca-wildfire-not-paid-taxpayer/11593929/, https://www.kqed.org/news/11851347/pge-bankruptcy-yields-700-million-legal-fee-bonanza-for-wall-street-firms, Https://Www.Pbs.Org/Newshour/Show/Most-Fire-Victims-Are-Still-Waiting-to-Be-Paid-by-Pges-Fire-Victim-Fund-Investigation-Finds, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/most-fire-victims-are-still-waiting-to-be-paid-by-pges-fire-victim-fund-investigation-finds, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/They-need-help-now-In-Gold-Country-PG-E-16407001.php, https://santarosapressdemocrat-ca.newsmemory.com/?token=CRID_john.stalcup@sbcglobal.net_26654&message_id=22606q2IXHqZd6krXsywJL3uC1IEx3QU&utm_source=emailMarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email+stats, https://www.counties.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/inverse_condemnation_fact_sheet_league__csac.pdf, https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/FAQs.pdf, https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-victims-lawyer-scrutinized-over-Wall-15241511.php#:~:text=San%20Antonio%20lawyer%20Mikal%20Watts,that%20became%20public%20days%20earlier, https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/judge-refuses-to-approve-fire-victims-letter-attacking-pge-04-09-2020, https://www.reinsurancene.ws/pge-pays-11bn-settlement-to-re-insurers-joins-wildfire-fund/, https://www.firevictimtrust.com/Docs/Trustee_Response_to_5-28-22_Editorial.pdf. The news that PG&E agreed to a $13.5 billion fire settlement with lawyers for victims means that plaintiffs are a step closer to getting compensated. (17). NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - An experiment in compensating disaster victims with corporate stock has not gone well. The shares have lost 15% of their value in a month. Nine of the 10 biggest conflagrations in California since 1932 have occurred in the past decade, and PG&E told regulators that its equipment may be linked to the giant, currently raging Dixie Fire, too. United States Trustee Program Director Elliot - Fix the Biggest Victim Economy Ever Created by the U.S. Bankruptcy Program! Once PG&E filed for bankruptcy, however, the civil lawsuits were automatically stayed (or paused). and the Claims Administrator Cathy Yanni, the Fire Victim Trust provides an efficient and equitable process to compensate Fire Victims for both economic and non-economic damages caused by these fires, including destruction or damage to real estate and personal property, additional living expenses, lost wages, business losses, emotional distress, personal injury and death. (2022, May 6). (2021a, May 17). Meanwhile, the Trust disbursed just $7 million. The fund had been criticized by fire victims, who complained about slow processing times and administrative costs taken out of the settlement. . Any potential claimants who have not yet hired an attorney should be aware that the bankruptcy court will announce a bar date, after which time no further claims may be included in the proceeding or compensated. He will be replaced by Cathy Yanni, who has been with the trust since it was created two years ago as the claims administrator. As of January 12, 2023, the FVT had issued determination notices to 91% of all claimants and paid claimants over $5.93 billion. Closing this discount would more than double its $18 billion market capitalization. I think that is a positive for the trust and the fire victims, Crowder said on Wednesday afternoon. "We don't have enough to rebuild and we're just essentially stuck," Camp Fire Survivor David Breed recently told ABC7 News. A. The court-ordered trust of over $13 billion was established for survivors of devastating Northern California wildfires including the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay Or I knew when to call it good., When disaster hits, FEMA can help communities recover under the Stafford Act (Disasterassistance.gov). Victims, however, have been waiting 4, 5 and 6 years for their compensation which, when it comes to the lucky few, is pennies on the dollar. This is different from a class action lawsuit. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported. Turns out were still getting soaked while the lawyers, insurance companies, cities and counties, Hedge Funds and Trust fund managers were and continue to be paid in full. I hope 2023 will be a good year for fire survivors and am delighted to share that the Fire Victim Trust announced today that it will be increasing pro rata payments from 45 percent to 60 percent effective January 31, 2023. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Contacts For Fire Victims and Attorneys, Throwback OCP&R Tip: storms can cause power outages. 141 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<5282CBEF541C3F44B3C7ABABD9F0131F><7AF137A6936E014296BF315C2A3AFEF3>]/Index[115 39]/Info 114 0 R/Length 117/Prev 236867/Root 116 0 R/Size 154/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Under the terms of their bankruptcy, PG&E pledged to pay victims $13.5 billion in cash and expected stock sales. By filing for Chapter 11, PG&E will be allowed to continue its business operations while restructuring its debts and resolving liabilities. Trotter said that once the trust was created, the only employees working for it were he and Yanni, who was his claims administrator. Under the direction of Cathy Yanni (Trustee), the Fire Victim Trust is ever-focused on resolving Fire Victims claims to help them recover and move on successfully with their lives. PGEs trust to pay wildfire victims is millions short; bill proposed would bail them out, but how? We never share your information with third parties. However, that tweaks failure to reduce the need of central bank intervention has left the BOJ with little appetite for more compromises. This petition focuses on the victims of the Northern California wildfires between 2015 and 2018, including all wildfires in this period for which PGE was held legally responsible for victims losses in their 2019 U.S. Bankruptcy filing and proceedings and codified in their exit from their bankruptcy process, resulting in the creation of the PGE Fire Victim Trust. You brought an important and unique perspective to the hearing, that of homeowners themselves., Whenever I felt confused about any topic I first looked it up in the yellow book. The new payout, effective Feb. 15, will allow victims to gain 45% of claim value, instead of the current 30%. Trotter, who has faced increased criticism in the last six months, including a letter from the Butte County Board of Supervisors asking for more transparency, said at the end of his letter to victims that the decision to resign before the end of July was an effort to keep a promise to his family that he would retire after just two years on the job. Bipartisan legislation could make that money tax-free from the federal government -- but the bill is stuck in Congress. Quick and fair compensation rang through the courtroom and, at last, us victims felt financial retribution was finally on the way after waiting now 5, 3 and 2 years after our respective fires. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. He was born in Chico and attended Butte and Chico State. In a letter to fire victims in April, fund trustee John Trotter said it had retained Richmond, Virginia-based BrownGreer to process claims and that the firm has 300 staff members committed to this project, including attorneys, project managers, analysts, claim reviewers, and software developers.". All Rights Reserved. Today @GavinNewsom announced Nancy Ward as the next Director of Cal OES. But the bill is stuck. He said in his letter that the trust still owns 377 million shares of the utilitys stock. In addition to the program statistics below, you can access Trust information using the Information and FAQs menu tabs above. If you have previously retained an attorney for your wildfire claim, you do not need to take any further action. Legal claims arising out of the 2017 North Bay Fires and the 2018 Camp Fire will now proceed to resolution through the bankruptcy court rather than the civil courts. Many, many thanks., The disaster recovery resources you provided helped many individuals and families., Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of your outstanding contributions to the Third Supervisorial District and the County of San Diego., (United Policyholders) provided helpful insights into the state of the current insurance market for earthquake, fire and flood coverage, and the critical rile insurance plays in the ability of our communities recover from such catastrophic events. Accordingly, it is important to understand the full scope of your legal damages, how to properly document your losses, how to complete the claim form process, and how to ensure a fair amount is allocated to your claim. Many, if not all the victims lawyers, surely wanted the clock to start as soon as possible. "We remain right on the exact same spot with the identical house we replaced," said Internicola. "What's the biggest hold up here," asked ABC7 News I-Team Reporter Melanie Woodrow. The Butte Fire, North Bay Fires and Camp Fire burned 400,000 acres, destroying 10s of thousands of homes and other structures. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. PG&E wildfire victims will soon be able to get a larger share of what is owed to them, thanks to a recent influx of $1 billion into the victim compensation trust fund, according to trust officials. The attorneys representing wildfire claimants will work with financial experts to arrive at an aggregate estimation of claims, i.e., the total liability PG&E faces for all wildfire damages. Trustee appointed 11 fire victims to serve on an official committee of tort claimants. These individual victims should not be left to fend for themselves in a creditor class outnumbered by sophisticated and deep-pocketed financial institutions and insurance companies.. We speak to claimants every day and know how hard this has been for everyone. An unidentified spokesman for the Fire Victim Trust told KQED the fund has now increased its payments to families, putting $195.2 million into the hands of those who lost loved ones, homes and businesses to fires caused by PG&E. He said the trust had begun to make partial payments to about 9,500 of the 67,170 victims. Https://Www.Pbs.Org/Newshour/Show/Most-Fire-Victims-Are-Still-Waiting-to-Be-Paid-by-Pges-Fire-Victim-Fund-Investigation-Finds Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/most-fire-victims-are-still-waiting-to-be-paid-by-pges-fire-victim-fund-investigation-finds, (9) Trust Distributed $1.69B to PG&E California Fire Victims in 2021. A total of 71,394 Fire Victims filed claims by the February 26, 2021, deadline. While insurers and municipalities took cash during the restructuring process, individual victims accepted a $13.5 billion bundle of cash and stock, to be injected into a trust on their behalf. the press release, the Trustee posted responses to fire survivors' questions submitted during a recent meeting hosted by Sonoma County Supervisors Susan Gorin and James Gore. And Gov. Still today, tens of thousands of these wildfire victims have received no settlement payments whatsoever. John K. Trotter (ret.) 4955). The court-ordered trust of over $13 billion was established for survivors of devastating Northern California wildfires including the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay Fires and the 2018 Camp Fire. Reach us by phone or through our brief online form at any time to discuss your claim. The Trust issues Determination Notices daily and issues payments twice a month. After any disputes over the value of claims are resolved, the appropriate amount will be designated for the compensation of wildfire claims and placed into a trust as part of PG&Es Chapter 11 reorganization plan (or, financial restructuring). My goal is to keep the cost of administration below or as close to 1% as possible, Trotter wrote of the Fire Victim Trust. Our work to process claims continues, and todays news is a sign of significant progress. Also, the trust gained another $480 million through the sale of 40 million shares of PG&E stock. Because unlike all the other bankruptcy claimants, the victims received one-half of their $13.5 billion dollar settlement in PGE stock. Today, the Fire Victim Trust holds almost a quarter of PG&E shares. Trust announced the sale of 60 million shares of PG&E stock, resolution of the 10th endstream endobj 116 0 obj <. While you may submit a claim on your own, we highly recommend consulting an attorney before submitting a claim form and electing to represent yourself in a complex bankruptcy matter. He said the fire victims had to push to get tax relief on the stock sale last year. And their fees are paid directly from PGE Fire Victim Trust funds designated primarily for the victims loss compensation from the PG&E settlement. This petition originates from one familys continued trials and tribulations with The Biggest Victim Economy Ever Created: The 2020 PG&E Fire Victim Trust, which was setup to fail the victims by bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali and continues to treat them unfairly, despite Montalis promise to pay the victims quickly and fairly. Check out Bay Area safety tracker, Bay Area Life; Sundays at 6:30 p.m. on ABC7, Fire Victim Trust answers questions about $51 million spent as CA wildfire victims await payments. Trotter pointed out that the insurance trust received $11 billion in cash to satisfy its claim of having to payout $16 billion to its insureds and for maintaining an additional $4 billion in reserve. Thank you @GavinNewsom for the appointment of #NancyWard. We are making every effort to pay as much as we can, as quickly as we can.. As PG&E Fire Victim Trust Racks Up $51 Million In Fees, Survivors Wait For Help While fire victims waited, a special PG&E Fire Victim Trust in charge of compensating survivors racked up $51 million in overhead costs last year. And all of the victim attorneys (with just a couple of exceptions) said at the time that this was the best deal the victims could probably get, and if we rejected it, PG&E could file for Chapter 7 and we could lose almost everything and it could take years for that to happen. As to the victims payouts, to date (May 27, 2022), about 65% of the victims have received pennies on the dollars for their losses with 35% of the victims still waiting for a first pro rata payment, with most victims challenging their settlement determinations as unfair and underpaid as determined by the hundreds of Trust managers and staff, who incidentally are paid much more than fairly on time each and every month. With $2.82 billion in additional liquidity from our recent stock sales, we were confident we could safely increase the pro rata payment percentage for all Fire Victims, said Cathy Yanni. (2020, December 19). Scott McNutt, a former California State Bar governor and veteran bankruptcy attorney, told KQED the amounts charged are excessive for the meager results obtained so far and that the trust has been completely non-transparent about what its doing for this money., One of the hallmarks of the bankruptcy process is transparency, he said. Congressman LaMalfa says that gives them through the end of the year to get the legislation passed. In a bankruptcy settlement, claimants may not ultimately receive the full value of their claims, but they must all receive the same proportionate pro rata value. Analysts on average predict PG&E will make over $9 billion of EBITDA in 2023, compared with less than $6 billion in 2018. By our calculations, our attorneys for our PG&E Fire Victim Trust settlement were fairly compensated for the time they spent on our claims processing with the Trust. PG&E Bankruptcy Yields $700 Million Fee Bonanza. 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In January, PG&E made the final installment on its promised trust fund contribution, adding $592 million to the fund. Because of errors in the setup of how the trust was established, the tax issue was left unresolved, he said, triggering unnecessary delays that hindered victim compensation. (1) Moreover, Gov. I recommend them without reservation., We cannot thank you enough for all your support, education and assistance through our recovery from the 2017 Tubbs Fire. (1,2,5,13), The Sting - The PG&E U.S. Bankruptcy and PG&E Fire Victim Trust, This petition addresses how the unbridled power of the U.S. Bankruptcy system and its Judge (Dennis Montali), Wall Streets Hedge Fund Managers, Pacific Gas & Electric corporation (the largest U.S. public utility) and its lawyers, insurance companies and governments and victims lawyers worked together and/or independently to financially dominate and become the largest beneficiaries of the $55 billion PG&E wildfire bankruptcy payouts. Huge welcome back! As Governor Newsoms office stated in a letter to the U.S. CHP Responds To Fatal Rollover Crash On Hwy 128 In Napa County, Napa County Under Coastal Flood Advisory, Flood Watch, Wind Advisory, Most Napa County Government Offices Closed Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. According to claims data as of September 30th from the Fire Victim Trust, nearly half of the close to 70-thousand claimants are still waiting to receive a 45% partial payment from the trust. @TheDaraKam is back in the Terracotta Room talking about property insurance, this week with consumer advocate Amy Bach, executive director of @UPHelp See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. The House and Senate will be in session in mid-November. Without all your input I have no idea how we could have recovered. California Court Gives Policyholders a Boost: Appellate Panel Publishes Pro-Policyholder COVID-19 Decision, Storm recovery: Find resources here as Santa Cruz County agencies, community groups scramble to coordinate, Meetings educate public on insurance, resources after floods. (4,5,6,7,8). A. The PGE 2020 Bankruptcy and PGE Fire Victim Trust. PG&E declared bankruptcy in 2019 amid wildfire-related claims of $30 billion. Director Ward is one of the nations foremost emergency managers with broad experience working at @DHSgov @fema @FEMARegion9 as well as Cal OES. We will continue to move diligently on behalf of the fire victims to attain the highest level of compensation permitted under the Bankruptcy Court orders and the governing Trust documents., Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. hb```e"B eap@a~il=6Q,NwkGFGRWTl%Xl) c$sAf>OL2aT`fafa? "Down to about two feet of rubble," said Internicola. 115 0 obj <> endobj Prior Trustee updates are included on the Documents page here. It has been burning for 28 days and is 27% contained, the state agency said on Aug. - PG&E, the nations largest electric utility, told the California Public Utilities Commission on July 18 that its equipment may have been involved with the start of that fire. PGE is Fine and Raising Electric Rates on Customers Again. Read the responses here. (18), (1) Jamali, L. J. Prior to this months sales, the FVT had sold 230 million shares across five sales Jan 31, 2022 (40 MM shares); April 14 (60 MM shares); Oct 4 (35 MM shares); Oct 27 (35 MM shares); Dec 12 (60 MM shares). The insurance trust received $11 billion in cash to satisfy its claim of having paid $16 billion to its insured and for maintaining an additional $4 All such claims must still be filed on an individual basis.

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