FILE - In this Oct. 19, 2017 file photo, California's State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones talks during a news conference in Los Angeles. California's insurance commissioner says homeowners who lost their homes in last month's wildfires in Northern California have up to 24 months to collect insurance payments. Jones said Monday, Nov. 20, some out-of-state insurance adjusters brought in by companies to help with the high volume of claims have wrongly told homeowners they have between six and 12 months. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)
Hundreds of Sonoma County fire victims who lost their homes are learning they are underinsured on home policies. According to displaced homeowners and attorneys, some fire victims will likely have to pay tens-to-hundreds of thousands of dollars – and maybe more than one-million – out of pocket as they process their claims. About 97 percent of the more than 200 fire victims whose policies were examined by one law firm were found to be underinsured. In Sonoma County alone, policyholders have filed close to 15-thousand residential property claims, resulting in almost seven-billion dollars in damages, according to the state Insurance Department.