Over the past few weeks, I have received a surprising number of calls from Palisades and Eaton wildfire victims who have been told they need to file a lawsuit before January 7, 2027.
When I ask where they got that date, I keep hearing some version of the same answer: an out-of-state attorney trying to sign up California wildfire cases told them that January 7, 2027, is the statute of limitations.
That is not quite how California law works.
California Insurance Code section 2071 contains the standard form fire insurance policy and provides that a lawsuit generally must be commenced within 12 months after inception of the loss. For a loss “related to a state of emergency,” however, the statute expressly extends that time period to 24 months after inception of the loss. So, yes, January 7, 2027, is an important date for the January 7, 2025, wildfires. But that does not mean every Palisades or Eaton fire victim has to file a lawsuit by that date.
California has another very important rule: equitable tolling. In Prudential-LMI Commercial Insurance v. Superior Court (1990) 51 Cal.3d 674, the California Supreme Court held that the contractual limitations period is tolled from the time the insured gives the carrier timely notice of the claim until the insurer formally denies the claim in writing. In plain English, the clock generally is not running while the insurance company is adjusting the claim.
A new published case, Kumar v. Mid-Century Insurance Company (Cal. Ct. App., 1st Dist., Div. 2, June 30, 2026, A173097), certified for publication July 22, 2026, is a good reminder of how this works. There, Mid-Century made a partial payment and expressly told its insured that it had completed its adjustment and was closing the claim. The Court of Appeals held that the carrier had unequivocally denied further benefits and that the tolling period had ended. The insured’s later submission of additional information did not automatically restart the clock.
That is a very different situation from a Palisades or Eaton claim that is still actively being adjusted. If you timely reported your wildfire claim and your insurance company is still investigating, requesting documents, obtaining estimates, inspecting the property, or otherwise actively adjusting the claim, January 7, 2027, should not automatically be treated as your drop-dead filing date.
That does not mean policyholders should ignore limitation periods. They absolutely should not. It also does not mean that simply sending the carrier another estimate will indefinitely extend the time to sue. Kumar makes that point pretty clearly.
But there also should not be an artificial race to the courthouse. A property insurance case is generally better positioned for litigation when the damages have been properly investigated, documented, and presented to the carrier. Filing a lawsuit simply because someone told you that every January 7, 2025, wildfire claim expires exactly two years later may result in filing a case before it is ready.
For some Palisades and Eaton policyholders, litigation may already be the right option. There are certainly claims where the carrier has denied coverage, significantly underpaid the loss, or the adjustment process has simply broken down. But the decision to file suit should be based on what is happening with your particular claim, not just a date circled on a calendar.
