Southern California Edison Settles All Insurance Subrogation Claims For Woolsey Fire - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Southern California Edison or SCE, a unit of Edison International (EIX), said Monday that the company and the holders of Woolsey Fire insurance subrogation claims have entered into an agreement settling all subrogation claims in the pending litigation arising from the 2018 Woolsey Fire.

SCE also has reached settlements with about 1,000 individual plaintiffs in litigation arising from the 2017/2018 Wildfire/Mudslide Events, which include the Woolsey Fire, the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires, and the 2018 Montecito Mudslides (TKM). No admission of wrongdoing or liability was made in reaching these settlements, the company noted.

Under the settlement, subrogation plaintiffs will receive $2.2 billion within 90 days for claims based on payments they have already made to individual and business policyholders associated with the Woolsey Fire.

SCE said it will pay additional amounts for claims arising from future payments that may be made to policyholders on or prior to July 15, 2023, up to an agreed-upon cap.

"Combined with the settlement announced on Sept. 23, 2020, in the TKM litigation, SCE has resolved all subrogation plaintiff claims for the 2017/2018 Wildfire/Mudslide Events. The company continues to explore reasonable settlement opportunities with other parties," said Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International.

SCE noted that after consideration of the settlement and other available information, its best estimate of total losses accrued for the 2017/2018 Wildfire/Mudslide Events remains unchanged. As of September 30, 2020, SCE's best estimate of expected potential losses for remaining alleged and potential claims related to the 2017/2018 Wildfire/Mudslide Events was $4.6 billion. This estimate does not include any potential fines and penalties.

SCE noted that this amount will be reduced by the initial $2.2 billion to be paid under the settlement. The company has about $700 million remaining in expected recoveries from insurance for the Woolsey Fire litigation.

SCE expects that this insurance will be exhausted after expected recoveries for the settlement.