Helping people rebuild their lives

The Fire Victim Trust was established in 2020 from the bankruptcy of PG&E to offer an efficient and equitable claim review process to compensate Fire Victims for damages by the 2015 Butte, 2017 North Bay, and 2018 Camp Fires. Secondary

Latest Progress

Last updated on May 31, 2023

Total Payments and Awards

38,091

67,122 (97%)

$17.04 billion

$9.42 billion

Submitted Claims Questionnaires

CQs submitted as of 5/31/23 (38,091)

Claimants with Submitted Claims Questionnaires (CQs)

69,556

Submitted CQs

38,091

Claims Asserted

245,455

Claimants with Determination Notices

67,122 (97%)

CQs with Determination Notices Issued

36,708 (96%)

CQs with Accepted Determination Notices

32,672 (86%)

Paid Claimants

55,435 (80%)

Amount Paid

$9.42 billion

Amount Awarded

$17.04 billion

A Message from Trustee Cathy Yanni

June 1, 2023
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This month I want to discuss the remaining work that needs to be done to complete our mission. We have worked diligently from the beginning to compensate fire survivors for their losses. I want to share with you the plan we will be implementing in the coming months to finalize the claims process.

  • As of today, we have issued Determination Notices for 96% of all claims. Our goal is to issue initial Determination Notices on 100% of all claims by December 31, 2023.

  • Approximately 14% of Determination Notices have not been accepted by claimants. We call this the overhang, and we are working with firms and claimants to fully resolve these claims. We cannot finalize pro rata payments without knowing the full amount of the Trust’s payment obligations.

The Road to Completion

To focus on these unresolved claims, we are implementing the following procedural modifications effective 7/1/23:

  • Claims Questionnaires with initial Determination Notices can receive one 30-day extension to respond to the Notice by accepting the award or requesting reconsideration;

  • Reconsideration Determination Notices can receive one 30-day extension to respond;

  • If no response is received by the notice deadline, the Notice will be deemed accepted, making the determination final and, if eligible, the awards will proceed to payment.

Implementing these guidelines will help all fire survivors by eliminating the uncertainty associated with unresolved claims, which affects the Trust’s ability to make additional pro rata payments.

Resolution of Opt-Out Claims

I also want to address another important aspect of finalizing the Trust’s work—resolving the Opt-Out claims. The Bankruptcy Court granted permission for 12 cases to be able to litigate their claims after receiving a Determination Notice from the Trust. We have worked on these claims with Linda Klamm, Insurance Recovery Partner at Hanson Bridgett, who has achieved favorable resolution of these claims. Here are a few thoughts from Linda:

Let me explain what the designation of a claim as an Opt-Out means for the Trust. Opt-Out claimants (there were 12 in total, three individual cases and 9 businesses) were still required to go through the same review procedures as other claimants and exhaust their claims through the Trust’s regular process. But they were granted the option of pursuing their claims in the Bankruptcy Court if they deemed the Trust’s final determination unacceptable. The option to revert to the Bankruptcy Court left the Trust open to the potential of years-long, costly litigation and uncertainty about its financial obligation for these claims. Opt-Outs also created an administrative challenge for the Trust, which has had to reserve the full amount of asserted damages and withhold that money from distributions until the claims were resolved. That makes it imperative that we resolve these Opt-Outs as fairly and quickly as possible to know what funds remain available for fire survivors. As of today, 11 of the original 12 Opt-Outs have been resolved, with only one claim that is still outstanding. The parties will be meeting in June with the hope of reaching a resolution of this last claim.

I will continue to update you on our efforts to complete the work of the Trust in the coming months. In the meantime, our progress continues. Looking at current performance, as of May 31, 2023, the Trust has issued Determination Notices on over 96% of all submitted CQs and has paid $9.43 billion to claimants, and nearly 86% of all CQs have an accepted, final determination.

Thanks,

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Cathy Yanni



Latest Trust Updates

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April 13, 2023 | Trust announces the sale of 60 million additional shares of PG&E stock

The PG&E Fire Victim Trust today announced the sale of 60 million shares of PG&E stock as it continues its work to compensate the victims of fires in Northern California from 2015 to 2018.

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February 2, 2023 | Letters in support of H.R. 176

Following up on last year's efforts, the Trustee sent additional letters requesting support for H.R. 176 by Congressman Doug LaMalfa, co-sponsored by Congressmen Thompson, McClintock and Huffman.

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January 11, 2023 | Trust announces a pro rata payment increase to 60%

Trustee of the Fire Victim Trust announced a pro rata payment increase from 45 percent to 60 percent effective January 31, 2023.

Contact Us

If you need assistance with questions related to the Fire Victim Trust, use one of the following methods to contact the Claims Processor for the Fire Victim Trust.

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Mail
Fire Victim Trust
P.O. Box 25936
Richmond, VA 23260

Important: The contact information and methods listed on this page are for communications with the Claims Processor for the Fire Victim Trust. Kroll Restructuring Administration (formerly Prime Clerk) is the claims and noticing agent in the PG&E Bankruptcy Cases responsible for filing Proof of Claim forms with the Bankruptcy Court. Kroll is not responsible for receiving and processing information related to your Fire Victim Trust claims.

 
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